Mum Samantha Medlow died when she stumbled in front of a taxi in Cambridgeshire, an inquest heardA mother who was killed when she stumbled in front of a taxi while drunk was trying to tackle her drinking.
Samantha Medlow, 46, was hit by a Renualt minibus just after 10pm on November 23 last year.
She was standing in the middle of Mill Road, Buckden, and stepped in front of a taxi, an inquest heard on Thurday.
Police found there was nothing the driver, Tiago Soares, could do.
Mr Soares was on his way home after dropping off his last fare of the evening when the accident happened.
He said: “Suddenly this figure just appeared in front of me with her arms stretched out, took one step towards me, and I just hit her.
“I didn’t have time to stop or swerve or anything.”
PC Peter Kirkby, a collision investigator, told the inquest Mrs Medlow was wearing dark clothes, and with the headlights from oncoming traffic and the added distraction of a “large number” of reflective road signs it would have been “very difficult” to see her.
She had been drinking heavily on the night of the accident with enough alcohol in her system to cause “stupor, vomiting and possible coma,” PC Kirby said.
Danielle Colquitt, duty manager at One Stop on Buckden High Street said Mrs Medlow appeared drunk when she came into the shop just after 7 on the night she died.
Ms Colquitt said: “It was quite clear she was under the influence of alcohol. She was slurring her words also you could smell the alcohol and she was swaying.”
Mrs Medlow was asked to leave after an argument with another customer.
She left the Sports and Social Club in Buckden a few hours later with two bottles of wine in a bag and the accident happened shortly afterwards.
Mrs Medlow had told her GP she thought she drank too much and referred herself to addiction charity Addaction 11 days before she died.
Assistant Coroner Sam Bass said: “It seems Mr Soares was driving in a perfectly reasonable way. I have heard it would have been difficult for him to see Samantha. She would have been almost invisible.”
He recorded a verdict of accidental death.
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