KEY POINTS:
A 75-year-old woman who travelled more than 400 kilometres to find she had missed her son's funeral by two hours died in a car accident while she drove home from the cemetery.
Penelope Robb, of Mangere, died from multiple injuries after rolling her car on the Southern Motorway, the Papakura Coroner's Court heard.
Coroner Sarn Henderson said fatigue might have been a contributing factor.
On March 19, the deceased and a friend, Anthony Oppatt, drove to Napier from Auckland to attend the funeral of Mrs Robb's 37-year-old son, Dean, Papakura Senior Constable Heather Ruddell, told the court.
After arriving at the cemetery at around 5pm, and finding the funeral over, the pair headed back to Rotorua, where Mrs Robb had arranged to stay overnight with her other son.
The pair found her son's house empty so continued on to Auckland, stopping briefly in Matamata, where Mrs Robb took over the driving.
A police reconstruction found the vehicle veered across the road into the right lane of the two-lane motorway about 3km north of the Mill Rd off-ramp. Mrs Robb tried to over-correct the car, causing it to flip. Mr Oppatt, who was asleep, told police that he awoke to find the car rolling over. He then crawled out of the Nissan Cefiro and went to the aid of the badly injured Mrs Robb. She was taken by ambulance to Middlemore Hospital where she was treated for brain injuries.
Her condition deteriorated rapidly and she died suddenly on March 30.
A flat tyre had been the cause of Robb's lateness to her son's funeral, eldest daughter Christine Robb said outside the court.
Mrs Robb, who could often be found helping at food banks in South Auckland, leaves her eight children, 26 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, her daughter said.
