An elderly husband and wife both died after linking arms and walking into the road in front of a car, an inquest has heard. John Mann, 91, known by family as 'Jackie,' and his wife Joan, 89, had been on their way to church. An inquest heard Mr Mann was hit by a black BMW 1 series which caused him to involuntarily hit his wife. Both were admitted to hospital with catastrophic injuries.
Mr Mann died three days after the crash on October 21. Mrs Mann died on November 1. Driver of the BMW Susan Yates said: "I was driving at the speed limit and I noticed the couple walking out between two parked cars., reports the MEN.
"I realised they hadn't looked. As I stopped my car the man hit his head on the windscreen and they collapsed. I jumped out of my car and screamed and told my cousin to ring an ambulance straight away.
"It happened in seconds. It all happened so quickly. Because it was dark I only saw them when they were pretty close so I decided to stop rather than swerve."
PC Paul Terry told the court the road conditions had been "satisfactory" that night and that his investigations suggested that Ms Yates was driving within the 20mph speed limit.
"The fact that they (Mr and Mrs Mann) fell to the floor within a short distance suggests to me that the car was not travelling at a high speed, but it's impossible to say how long she would have had a view before they collided," PC Terry said.
The officer told the hearing that due to the fact that Mr and Mrs Mann emerged into the road between two parked cars, Ms Yates' view of them would likely have been obscured.
He added: "Her view of them would have been extremely limited if a view was at all possible. At the point Mr and Mrs Mann emerged from the parked cars there was insufficient time or distance for any driver in these circumstances to avoid the collision."
The couple's nephew, David Latham, paid tribute to his auntie and uncle. He said: "They lived a happy life together. They refused to modernise and didn't have gas central heating. They were very humble people who didn't want change and were happy with the lives they had."
