YouTube star Emily Hartridge, 35, was UK’s first e-scooter crash death after flat tyre sent her flying in path of lorry
A YOUTUBE star killed in an e-scooter crash lost control due to a flat tyre and was thrown under a lorry, a coroner has ruled.
TV presenter Emily Hartridge, 35, was believed to have been the first person in the UK to be killed in a crash involving an e-scooter.
Emily died instantly following the collision with the lorry in Battersea, South West London, on July 12 last year.
In her last video, posted on July 8, Emily, host of Channel 4 show Oh S***, I'm 30!, told her 350,000 subscribers the scooter was a birthday present from her boyfriend Jake Hazell.
The fatal crash happened while she was on her way for a scan at a fertility clinic as the couple had recently decided they wanted to start a family.
The inquest into her death was held remotely at Westminster Coroner's Court due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In her conclusions, seen by the BBC, senior coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said: "Ms Hartridge was riding an electric scooter on Queenstown Road when she lost control after passing over an inspector hatch in the cycle lane and was thrown under the path of an HGV.
"She died instantly of injuries sustained by the HGV driving over her.
"The scooter was being unsuitably driven, too fast and with an underinflated tyre and this caused the loss of control and her death."
At the time of Ms Hartridge's accident, e-scooters were illegal to ride in the UK.
However on August 1, rental e-scooters became legal on roads, limited to a top speed of 15.5mph.
They can be ridden on the road or in bike lanes but not on the pavement. Helmets are recommended but not compulsory.
Speaking after her death, boyfriend Jake, a personal trainer, said: "I got up first to leave home at 5am. I gave her a kiss on the lips.
"She was half asleep and mumbled, 'I love you'. I'm so pleased I did that.
"She messaged me at 8.24am, joking, 'How about less of the early-morning kisses on the lips?' I had no idea that would be her last message to me."
He added: "It was a terrible accident which has left a hole in our lives. Emily was the most beautiful person I've ever met.
"We had just moved in together and were planning a family."
He said Emily loved to use the scooter and that her family had told him he was not to blame for the crash.
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The presenter, one of four sisters, was a fifth-generation member of the family that owns Hartridges soft drinks, based in Hampshire.
Sister Charlotte, 38, said: "It's one of the worst things that could have happened.
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"I don't think any of us can even put into words what a nightmare the whole thing has been.
"It's always going to be, but you just learn to live with it and you cope because you have to, and because you have each other."
