A TEACHER was crushed to death on the way to the dentist after she swerved into the path of an oncoming lorry causing an 'explosion', a coroner has heard.

Mother-of-twins Kerry Knight, from Chinnor, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease almost 10 years ago and had dedicated her life to raising funds to find a cure - even taking part in a gruelling five day cycle ride across India.

The 51-year-old was instantly killed when her Toyota car veered into the path of oncoming traffic and collided head-on with a lorry.

Detectives investigating the death found the teacher’s fingers entwined in a pink phone charging cable that had not yet been connected to the car, with her phone tucked underneath her, a coroner heard.

On August 20 last year, Mrs Knight was en-route to the dentist’s and negotiated a sweeping right hand bend on the A418 Oxford Road, in Oxford. However she veered straight across the white line into the path of the oncoming lorry, the Oxfordshire coroner was told.

Lorry driver Bradley Jarrett explained that the accident happened 'very quickly' and he saw the car crossing over as he hurtled towards it. Despite attempting to swerve to miss the silver coloured Toyota, the vehicles collided almost head-on at around 50mph.

Tree surgeon Nigel Carpenter, who witnessed the collision, told the inquest in Oxford: “The silver car veered suddenly and there was an explosion in front of me as the car collided. There seemed to be no reason why the car veered.”

The inquest heard that Mrs Knight did not apply the brake or attempt to steer away from the oncoming lorry in the four seconds before the fatal crash.

Coroner Darren Salter said: “What seems to be most likely was a medical episode of some description. I cannot rule out that Kerry was distracted, her telephone was beneath her and her hand was intertwined in the cable, but there is no evidence that she was using the phone.

“It appears likely that a medical episode relating to Parkinson’s has caused her to cross into the wrong side of the road. A tragic incident occurred, likely related to her Parkinson’s disease albeit she was clear to drive.”

Mr Salter concluded that Kerry died from as a result of a road traffic collision.