TEENAGE motorist Kate Sheppard died when her car struck a drainage gully installed to keep standing water off a road, an inquest was told yesterday.

Miss Sheppard, 19, a marketing assistant, had been on her way home to Skelton-on-Ure, near Ripon, travelling on the Knaresborough-Boroughbridge road at Ferrensby when she lost control of her Rover on a greasy road surface.

Coroner Geoff Fell recorded an accidental death verdict after being told by police accident investigator PC Michael Natt that the car had mounted the nearside kerb and run along the top of it for a distance. Then the rear nearside tyre had been deflated by the car's impact with the sharp edge of the gully. Once the wheel rim struck the road the car slewed in a big arc across to the offside and was hit on its nearside by a Volvo estate.

PC Natt said he estimated the Rover had been doing 52 mph at impact and the Volvo 38 mph. Its driver had no chance of avoiding a collision, the Harrogate inquest heard.

Mr Fell said the accident had not been caused by any bad driving.

Miss Sheppard had misjudged the greasy road conditions and lost control.

"Once that happened, there was no way of avoiding the collision which followed.''