A man has died in a tragic accident after his wife mistakenly ran him over in a car park as he got out to clear the height barrier, an inquest has found.
David Charles Seymour Chivers, 72, and his wife Elaine Valentine had travelled to Priorswell Road car park in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on September 12, 2024.
The couple were preparing for an event they were hosting the next week at Bracebridge Recreation Ground, next to the car park.
But when David left the car to try to remove a height barrier at the back of the car park, the fatal collision occurred.
An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court heard the couple were initially standing next to each other by the barrier before Elaine got behind the wheel.
David continued to try to reach a padlock on the barrier as Elaine began to drive.
Coroner Sarah Wood said the high of the padlock complicated matters.
David was standing beside to the driver's side of the car with the door open, the inquest heard.
As he attempted to reach the padlock the automatic Vauxhall Insignia reversed, slamming David to the ground before he was "suddenly run over".
He died from a head injury after sustaining severe trauma to the brain that was "incompatible with life", a post-mortem revealed.
Coroner Wood said: "Mr Chivers died of a head injury he sustained when the vehicle reversed, causing him to fall to the ground and suddenly ran over him.
"He placed himself in a vulnerable position and when Ms Valentine pressed the accelerator, the vehicle reacted abruptly and caused a sudden increase in speed.
"This left him with little time to react and knocked him to the ground."What happened next was a tragic event and I find it is more likely than not that Ms Valentine panicked in an attempt to move the car away from Mr Chivers.
"Due to the vehicle being in reverse, this led to the vehicle moving towards him and suddenly running over him, causing the head injury, which was his cause of death.
"This was a tragic accident which I’m sure Ms Valentine is very unlikely to recover from."
