An elderly dad died after he stepped into the path of a car after spotting his daughter at a bus stop, an inquest heard.
Gerald Smith, 80, was wearing his slippers when he saw his daughter waiting at a bus stop across the road. Mr Smith shouted over to offer daughter Susan Smith, 56, some money for a taxi before stepping off the kerb.
The hearing was told Mr Smith, who was deaf, walked into the path of a blue Renault Clio and hit the windscreen. As he lay on the floor he told a paramedic: “I’m sorry to bother you. It’s my fault. I stepped out in the road. I’m deaf. I saw my daughter and I stepped out into the road.”
The inquest heard Mr Smith was preparing to spend the day gardening and lived just a few doors away from his daughter in Bridgend .
Daughter Ms Smith said: “I could see my dad walking to my house. He was probably coming to check to see if I was all right because that was what my dad was like.
“He saw me straight away. He kept coming and he was just on the grass verge. He was trying to call me across to give me money or a lift.”
Ms Smith said she checked to see whether the bus was coming when she heard a thud and saw her dad being hit. She said: “I was just about to step and cross the road and in a split second I heard the noise and then I could see my dad being hit by the car.”
Driver Ian Daniels, 50, was driving no more than 30mph when he saw Mr Smith walking on the pavement. He said: “I was expecting him to stop on the grass verge and wait for me to pass him. I could see he was not looking in my direction. It was as if he was looking directly across the road.”
The inquest in Pontypridd on Thursday heard Mr Daniels would not have had enough time to react and stop the collision in April 2017.
Mr Smith was taken to hospital with a fractured vertebrae, pelvis, and skull. He also suffered a small bleed on the brain.
He spent a month in Morriston Hospital before his condition rapidly deteriorated and he died on May 25, 2017. The inquest heard he suffered a perforated ulcer and pneumoperitoneum before his death.
Acting senior coroner Graeme Hughes recorded a narrative conclusion. He said: “The deceased died from complications arising out of injuries sustained out of a road traffic collision.”
