A MUM died after she became distracted by her phone and drove into the path of an HGV, an inquest heard.
Chloe Lightfoot was killed instantly when her Citroen Berlingo campervan collided with a lorry on the A66 near Barnard Castle in County Durham.
The 33-year-old, who was mum to a little boy, was driving home to Spennymoor the morning after a late shift at Britain’s highest pub the Tan Hill Inn, where she slept after clocking off.
An inquest at Crook Coroners’ Court heard the sales administrator and barmaid was over the drink-drive limit with traces of cocaine in her system when she pulled out at the junction with Rutherford Lane just after 8am.
Phone records showed she had unlocked her device at the exact time of the crash, with investigators concluding this likely caused her to not spot the oncoming truck.
Speaking after the inquest Chloe’s mum, Karen Hodgson, said: “If one person might read this and think twice before using their phone or driving after doing drink or drugs the night before then I think that is an important message.”
The inquest heard the lorry struck Chloe’s van – shunting it into the road and then onto a grass verge.
Tragically, Chloe suffered fatal head and chest injuries in the August 26 horror.
HGV driver Jonathan Robinson said in a statement: “I sat in shock in my vehicle, I took out my phone to call emergency services, once connected I realised I had not been to check on the occupant of the van, so I hung up got out of my vehicle and made my way across.
“As I got to the vehicle, I could see the driver was a female, she was sitting in the driver’s seat. I screamed, there were members of the public running up to come and help and I kept saying ‘I think she’s dead’.”
He told the court the time between spotting the vehicle to the crash “seemed to be an instant.”
Assistant Coroner Leslie Hamilton concluded Chloe’s death was caused by a road traffic collision, contributed to by cocaine, alcohol, and phone use.
He added: “She pulled onto the A66, realised as she entered that an HGV was coming, braked but was too late and the car had gone into the path of the HGV, due to her being impaired by the presence of cocaine, alcohol and her phone use.”
Her mum Karen paid tribute to her daughter and thanked the community for raising £26,000 on a GoFundMe to support her young son in her memory.
She said: “Chloe loved life, she loved going to the Lake District.
“She was spontaneous, she was always on the go.
“She loved spending time with Jax, whether that was going to the Lakes. She had converted her van into a camper van, and they used to go to the Lakes nearly every weekend in the summer she could with him.
“She would get up really early in the morning to take Jax to see the sunrise, to the beach.
“She was a devoted mam but obviously struggled with finances and had to do two jobs, but she would do anything for her family.
“The money that was donated for Jax is now all safe and in a savings account for him. We just really want to thank anyone who had donated, and the Tan Hill Inn who doubled the earnings which made it reach over £26,000.”
