A fatal accident inquiry has heard evidence that a Muthill woman might have survived a road accident if she had been wearing a seatbelt.
The FAI at Perth Sheriff Court into the death of Carrie Anderson (29) heard she died of a cranial injury and blunt force trauma consistent with her being thrown from her car.
Her Peugeot 206 was involved in an accident with a minibus adapted for disabled use on February 23 on the Huntingtower to Crieff road at its junction with the Gorthy to Auchterarder road.
A post-mortem by Dundee University pathologist Helen Brownlow found that her injuries were consistent with an unrestrained driver being thrown from a vehicle.
The victim was employed by her stepfather Charles Lockett, proprietor of the Craigrossie Sand and Gravel Quarry, near Auchterarder.
On the day she died, his stepdaughter was going to Madderty to see if building work there presented any business opportunities for the quarry.
Mr Lockett (57) said his stepdaughter was effectively his personal secretary.
Although she had experienced insecurity and had self-confidence issues, he said at the time that she had made great progress in this respect.
The witness described her as “an extremely able girl” and said someone else connected with the business had suggested she should try for university due to her “thirst for knowledge.”
The driver of the other vehicle, Carol Rowe (44), from Crieff, said the car came “out of the blue” at the junction and there was nothing she could do to avoid a collision.
Alan Frost (58), from Crieff, said he and his family were first on the scene and he discovered the driver, who had been flung some distance from her vehicle.
He said, “She was badly injured. I tried to tend to her as best I could with limited medical knowledge.”
Paramedics told the inquiry that Miss Anderson had a weak pulse and efforts were made to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
PC Aileen Walker, who carried out the crash investigation, said there were no defects found in either vehicle which may have had a bearing on the accident and there was no evidence of excessive speed by either driver.
It appeared the Peugeot may have been in second gear at the time of the accident.
“In my opinion the Peugeot for an unknown reason failed to give way and drove into the path of the minibus,” PC Walker said.
Sheriff Michael Fletcher said at the conclusion of the evidence on Wednesday that it appeared that the victim not wearing a seatbelt contributed to her death, and he hoped the public would take note of the danger of not wearing one.
He will issue his written findings on the accident later.