THE mother of a girl seriously injured by a driver almost twice the drink-drive limit says she was lucky to survive.
Matthew Parkinson, 37, of Melbourne Avenue, Chelmsford, died when he lost control of his Citroen Picasso and strayed into the opposite lane crashing head-on with Megan Gooch's Volkswagen Caddy on the A414 Ongar Road near Writtle.
At an inquest into his death at New Bridge House in Chelmsford on Thursday, it emerged Mr Parkinson was twice the legal drink-drive limit, was not wearing a seatbelt and had been seen by a witness overtaking a number of vehicles dangerously.
Miss Gooch's mother Brenda, who attended the inquest, said: "It was a silly thing to do – he could have killed her really.
"I offer my condolences to his family and his partner – it's a real shame for them."
Megan suffered a broken fibula, tibia and a crushed ankle in the collision as she was returning from Hobbycraft and a florists preparing for her wedding, which she attended in June still wearing a protective boot.
"She has started to walk again with her boot on – so she is doing a lot better than she was," said Ms Gooch, who attended with Megan's father Graham.
Mr Parkinson was flung through his front windscreen in the crash on Friday, February 1, at 6.45pm, when he lost control while trying to negotiate a right hand turn on the road. He died of multiple injuries.
PC Stephen Perrett told the inquest that Mr Parkinson's car was travelling within the speed limit at 48mph, but added: "In my opinion, Mr Parkinson could have survived the crash if he had been wearing his seatbelt.
"Although this is very hard to say, in my experience he could of survived this crash."
Coroner Caroline Beasley Murray recorded a verdict of death by "road traffic collision".
