Tiny Electric Car Disintegrates

A leading scientist killed when her tiny electric car "disintegrated" in a collision was on the phone to her husband when she crashed, an inquest heard today.

Judit Nadal, 47, an Imperial College academic, was killed instantly when her blue GWiz collided with a Skoda Octavia near Brent Cross last year.

Today, her husband Dr Miguel Nadal, 62, revealed his wife shouted "I think I have made a mistake" before she was hit by Romanian Marcel Jorja's car at the junction of The Vale and Hendon Way in Cricklewood last October.

He told North London coroners' court: "I think she was entering the junction or approaching it. She then answered my phone call. I suspect she was not using a seatbelt - she quite often didn't - because she was quite a vain woman. She did not want to crumple her coat and found it quite uncomfortable.

"She said 'I think I made a mistake' with real panic in her voice. I think she had moved out at that stage and seen that vehicle bearing down on her. I said 'then get off the phone and concentrate' and then I heard the click."
Dr Nadal was only 100 yards away at the time of the collision and heard the impact of the crash reverberate off buildings around him.

A short time later, he tried to call his wife again but could not get through. He spoke to a police officer before being told of his wife's accident.

The inquest heard that the structure of the G-Wiz car did not give the driver any protection, but coroner Andrew Walker stopped short of recommending any further action. Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Walker said neither driver was to blame, and said he would be writing to Transport for London about making improvements to the safety of the junction.

Mr Jorja, who spoke through a Romanian translator, sobbed as he recalled the crash.

He said: "I was driving straight on and I could see a car was ready to turn right. I thought she would stop but she didn't. I tried to avoid the collision, I tried as much as I could to turn left but I did not because I was so close."

Speaking after the verdict, Dr Nadal said he was satisfied. The experience had been "utterly horrific" and he was devastated about losing his "perfect wife".

"The G-Wiz is clearly a vehicle designed to be driven safely. It does not take much to cause it to disintegrate," he said.

He felt no animosity towards Mr Jorja and said that despite regularly nagging his wife to wear a seatbelt, he did not think it would have made any difference in this case.

He added: "My marriage and my wife were perfect. She was an incredibly wonderful, beautiful woman and always did something special for us every day. It is horrific."

GoinGreen, the UK importer of the car, claimed the case is the first serious accident involving a G-Wiz. "It has an exemplary safety record," a spokeswoman said.

Dr Nadal, a mother of four, was known as Dr Nady in her work as the director of the Proteomics Facility at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London.