Alix 'could have been saved by seatbelt' (From Gazette & Herald)

Alix 'could have been saved by seatbelt'

A YOUNG woman motorist may have survived a fatal car crash had she worn a seatbelt, an inquest heard.

Alexandra Potter, 19, died on September 1 last year when her car hit another vehicle on the A169 Malton to Pickering road.

The Kirkbymoorside teenager, known to friends as Alix, was thrown from her Vauxhall Astra, suffering multiple injuries, and was declared dead at the scene of the crash.

John Massheder, the driver of the second vehicle, a Rover Maestro, suffered serious injuries and spent two days in Scarborough District Hospital.

Alix was found to have traces of alcohol and cannabis and high levels of amphetamine in her blood.

Crash investigator Traffic Constable John Morton said the driver's compartment was undamaged and Miss Potter may have survived had she been strapped in.

He concluded she had been travelling anywhere between 72mph and 111mph seconds before the crash.

Pathologist Dr David Morgan, who carried out a post-mortem examination on Miss Potter, said traces of alcohol and cannabis and high levels of amphetamine were found in her blood.

"It is recognised that this can interfere with a person's ability to drive," he told the Whitby inquest.

Adam Gibson, of Gillamoor, was driving along the A169 and was overtaken by Miss Potter only seconds before the crash. "The car was travelling extremely fast. It cut in front of me and seemed to be out of control," he said.

He said the car swerved into the middle of the road and collided with Mr Massheder's vehicle, which was heading in the opposite direction.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, the coroner, Michael Oakley, said drugs and alcohol in Miss Potter's blood and the speed at which she was travelling were contributing factors.

Updated: 11:11 Saturday, April 27, 2002