A LORRY driver involved in a fatal head-on crash has spoken of the chilling moment when he saw the look of terror in the other driver's eyes.

Katrina Barnard, 40, died instantly when her Vauxhall Nova collided with the lorry on the A63 between Osgodby and Cliffe, near Selby.

HGV driver George Oldroyd, of Acaster Malbis, York, told a Selby inquest: "From that day to this I have never forgotten the moment when I first saw that lady's face and looked into her eyes.

"In that last 20 to 30 feet, terror struck. It struck me, so it must have struck her."

Accident investigator PC Mick Natt said tyre and scrape marks on the road showed both vehicles had crossed the central line.

He said the angle and position of the Nova suggested a loss of control by the driver.

The lorry was said to be straddling the centre of the road to leave space for a moped it was preparing to overtake on April 6 last year.

PC Natt said the Nova had drifted towards the centre of the road as it left a long bend.

Moped rider Pamela Cox told the inquest she shouted a warning to mother-of-two Mrs Barnard, who appeared to be reaching down for something in the car.

She said: "I could only see the top of a head over the steering wheel."

Another motorist, Christopher Keogh, who was following the HGV, said the lorry was halfway across the road into the offside lane as it started to overtake.

Melvin Sharpe, who was also behind the lorry, said he did not think the HGV driver was "that far" over the central line.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, North Yorkshire deputy coroner Geoffrey Fell said the two vehicles should have been in each other's view for at least 150 metres.

He said: "The evidence suggests Mrs Barnard was distracted by something in the vehicle.

"Even though the lorry driver had crossed the central line, there was sufficient room for Mrs Barnard to pass."

Mrs Barnard, of Windmill Gardens, Selby, left a husband, Steve, 40, a daughter, Charlotte, nine, and a son. Aaron, 11.

Updated: 15:29 Thursday, January 17, 2002