An 84-year-old woman was fatally injured outside her Tasmanian home when her car reversed unexpectedly, throwing her from the driver's seat.
A coroner was unable to determine why the accident in the northwest town of Ulverstone on September 23 occurred but ruled it was because of driver error.
The woman, who lived independently and got her licence in 1968, stopped at the top of her driveway presumably to check her mail following an afternoon trip to the shops.
She walked around the rear of the car and returned to the driver's seat.
"Whilst the driver's door was still open, the car reversed unexpectedly in a clockwise semi-circle rotation out onto the street and then back over the curb on the same side," coroner Olivia McTaggart wrote in findings published this week.
The woman was thrown from the car and her head struck the concrete edge of the kerb.
She was taken unconscious to the North West Regional Hospital and died that evening.
"The car was found in reverse gear with the handbrake activated," Ms McTaggart wrote.
"(She) may have well have placed the gear unintentionally in reverse as she re-entered her car, whereupon it moved away unexpectedly in a semi-circle due to the left steering lock from her previous turn into the driveway.
"She may have activated the handbrake in an attempt to stop the car."
Ms McTaggart passed on her condolences to the woman's family and loved ones.
The road and weather conditions were good at the time and the car was mechanically sound.
