THE WIDOWER of a woman killed in a tragic accident says her death would have been prevented if safety barriers were installed.

David Wilson’s wife Rita died after being knocked down by her own car in Commercial Road, Weymouth in July.

Mr Wilson said the incident had changed his life completely ‘in the blink of an eye’ and told the Echo how losing his wife of 47 years came as such a shock.

As reported, Mrs Wilson, 67, had arranged to meet a friend in the Harbourside car park but when she got out of her car to greet her friend, she left the automatic vehicle in reverse.

In a bid to put on the brake, Mrs Wilson accidentally pressed the accelerator, causing the car to speed backwards.

She was dragged along and her leg became trapped between the vehicle and a wooden post. She was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital where doctors amputated her leg, but sadly she died of brain injuries 11 days later.

Mr Wilson paid tribute to his ‘incredibly kind, loving and very caring’ wife.

Following a coroner’s ruling that she died as the result of an accident, Mr Wilson hopes sufficient barriers will be installed between the car park and the road to prevent similar tragedies.

Mr Wilson said he ‘can’t bear’ the thought of anyone else having to go through what he has faced.

“I would hate anyone to go through what I have gone through, just purely because there’s no safety barrier there.

“I want them [the council] to do it now, rather than wait for somebody else to get hurt.

“My main bone of contention is that there is no adequate safety barrier between the car and the road.

“She died as a result of what happened, but if there was a barrier, the car would have stopped on it and she wouldn’t have had to try and get back in and stop it.

“It was a simple lack of concentration on her part, which we all have, but the result could have been quite different.”

He added: “It was avoidable, totally avoidable, if only there had been a safety barrier.

“It’s fairly open and there’s also a drop between the car park and the road.

“It’s just fortuitous no one was walking along the pavement at the time. I hate to think what could have happened – it could have been absolutely horrific.

“I accept the cause of the accident; it was a lack of concentration. But Rita paid the ultimate price for that.”

Mrs Wilson had been a social worker and later worked for Macmillan, helping to set up a centre for cancer patients.

“Rita was heavily involved in the planning and building of the centre and what it should contain,” said Mr Wilson.

“She was a very caring person, a very honest person. And very professional in her work.”

The couple moved to Sutton Poyntz in February; it had always been Mrs Wilson’s dream to retire to a quiet village. They hoped to do volunteering work and she had made lots of new friends already, many of whom packed in to her funeral, Mr Wilson said.

“Not only was Rita’s life taken, but the possibility of what she always wanted to do has been taken away and it’s left me in a real state,” he said.

“It’s incredible how fragile life is, you can’t tell one day from the next. It’s been very hard. In one moment, life has just changed completely. The hopes and dreams have all washed away.

“The fragility of life is unbelievable. You have to live one day at a time because you never know what’s going to happen.”

Mr Wilson thanked the emergency services who helped on the day of the accident, staff at Southampton hospital and the police, particularly his family liaison officer.

COUNCIL TAKE NOTE OF INQUEST

Chairman of the borough council’s management committee Mike Byatt said: “I would like to pass on my sincere condolences to the family and friends of the lady who died in this tragic accident.

“The council will of course look at any recommendations which the coroner makes as part of the inquest.”