A woman from the USA visiting her boyfriend in the UK died when she looked the wrong way at the side of the road and stepped into traffic, an inquest has heard. Selena Meyers, 23, from Tennessee was visiting boyfriend Stephen Buckley when the accident happened.
The court was told Selena stepped in front of a Skoda travelling at 30mph and was then knocked into the path of a Renault coming in the opposite direction.
The couple had met online, the inquest heard and Stephen had been to visit Selena in Tennessee. Selena then came to the Uk to visit Stephen and was die to return home days after the accident in Eccles, reports MEN. The inquest heard the accident happened on a misty night when visibility was poor, on a road where only one side is lit.
The driver of the Renault told the hearing that as she drove along Worsley Road she saw Selena dressed in dark clothing crossing 'at an angle' towards her. After getting to the middle of the road, she said Selena was looking to her right, instead of left, before she was hit by a Skoda car coming in the opposite direction.
"She seemed to be looking the wrong way," said the driver. "This made sense when I found out she was American. I know this because I've done it myself when I've been abroad - looking in the wrong direction for traffic."
Black box data showed the driver was travelling at 30mph when Selena was hit.
Stephen said the couple met talking in internet chatrooms in 2016 after being introduced by a friend. He said: "We used to speak on a regular basis and talked every other day. Over a period of time there was a mutual attraction, even though we hadn't met physically. This increased over time and the conversations would grow and we could talk about anything. In 2018 I asked her to be my girlfriend, and I was overjoyed when she said yes."
In July 2019, Stephen visited Selena in the USA and met her grandparents, with whom she lived, in Tennessee. "The time we spent together was magical," he said.
He returned to the UK and saved up and returned to Tennessee in February, 2020. "When I came back to the UK, we continued to speak daily," he said. Stephen hadn't been back in the UK long when Selena arranged to come to see him. She arrived in October 2020, but became stranded here during the lockdown.
Giving evidence remotely from the USA, Selena's mother Salem Meyers said her daughter was diagnosed with ADHD as a five-year-old and later with Aspergers. "She loved singing dancing and drawing," said Salem.
