An Essex coroner has called for a review of speed limits and parking on a stretch of the B184, near Great Dunmow, after the death of an 86-year-old man earlier this year.

Roy Lynch, of Vicarage Close, Thaxted, was travelling along the road on March 10 in his Ford Fiesta when he crashed into a parked Volkswagen Golf.

Mr Lynch, who was driving at 30mph in the national speed limit zone, had negotiated a left-hand corner and was straightening up when he hit the car, near Woodside Way.

Mr Lynch was declared dead at 11.55am by paramedics, and post mortem later found he had died from a ruptured left atrium and an inferior vena carva.

Essex Coroners’ Court heard on July 4 that Mr Lynch had not been wearing a seatbelt at the time, and that there were no attempts at emergency braking.

“It’s clear that Mr Lynch was unaware of its [the car’s] presence,” PC David Howard, from the Forensic Collision Investigation Unit, said.

“But the reason for that, I don’t know.”

He added: “Had the seatbelt been worn, then the level of injuries would have been reduced.”

During the hearing questions were raised about the safety of cars parking near the bend and the speed limit on the road.

Mr Lynch’s son, David, said: “We are still working on the common sense of parking where it [the Volkswagen] was parked.

“I want to try and prevent that situation [of it happening again] because there are ample parking opportunities by the side of that road and that’s the bit that we have to try to grasp, because I don’t think we are going to get a conclusion on what exactly happened.”

Eleanor McGann, area coroner for Essex, concluded that Mr Lynch had died as the result of an accident.

In light of the inquest, however, she also said she will be writing a report to Essex Highways asking them to reconsider parking on the road and lowering the speed limit to 50mph.

“This is something I would like them to look at,” she said.

“If someone had been going at 60mph, the chances of them avoiding that car are very slim indeed.

“As a coroner I look at prevention, so hopefully no one else will die on that road in that particular place.”