A YOUNG woman died when she drove her car into the motorway crash barrier after momentarily losing control of the steering, an inquest heard.

Kirstie Booker, 26, of Carnation Road, Strood, died in hospital from head injuries on December 10 last year, five days after the accident on the M20 at Lenham.

The inquest into her death at Maidstone’s County Hall on Friday heard that Miss Booker had been driving to work in Ashford with her boyfriend Michael Brown when the accident happened at just after 9am.

Mr Brown said she had been driving along the M20 as normal when there suddenly seemed to be no steering in the car.

When she tried to turn the wheel to the left, the car did not respond and continued driving forward. It then returned, with the car veering off so sharply to the left, it cut across all three lanes and ploughed into the barrier.

Miss Booker had been keeping to the speed limit. The road had been wet and they were travelling in the fast lane to avoid the spray from a lorry.

Members of Miss Booker’s family confirmed she had been a careful driver, and said they had nicknamed her “Driving Miss Daisy”.

In a statement, lorry driver Mark Taylor, who was in the slow lane when the accident happened, said he had seen the green Ka driving in the outside lane, 10 to 15 metres ahead of him.

He said: “Then suddenly the car veered to its left – shot across all three lanes, heading for the hard shoulder.

“I didn’t see any obstacle in the lane to lose control and collide with the crash barrier.

“I really don’t know what caused the accident – it was really bizarre.”

PC Damian Mutch , forensic collision investigator, said no defects were found on the car.

He said that it was possible the wet surface of the road and standing water could have given Miss Booker the feeling that the steering was not working.

The coroner Roger Sykes said: “I see no other explanation for the loss of control other than her reaction to the handling of the car on a wet road surface.

“She was a careful driver; the car was in good working order. What happened was the result of her actions as the driver to a set of circumstances that she clearly felt required the steering which she applied.”

He recorded a verdict of accidental death.