Danielle Alisha Clayton was 'impaired' by drugs while speeding on Midland Highway

Danielle Alisha Clayton died on July 27, 2022 from multiple blunt trauma injuries after crashing her father's Holden Commodore on the Midland Highway according to coroner Olivia McTaggart.

Ms McTaggart found the Hadspen woman was driving the V8-powered sedan at 174kmh in the right-hand lane when she lost control of the vehicle and crossed into the left-hand lane.

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Ms Clayton "narrowly missed" another vehicle travelling at 90kmh - the signposted speed limit - in that lane, before the car left the roadway and crashed into the rock face next to the highway.

Ms McTaggart said Ms Clayton was not wearing her seatbelt at the time of the crash, and sustained fatal injuries after being thrown inside the vehicle.

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Just four months prior, Ms Clayton had been involved in a head-on collision, and Ms McTaggart said she was due to be charged with traffic and minor drug offences due to the crash - the latter relating to cannabis.

Ms Clayton had also undergone spinal surgery two months before her death and had been prescribed painkillers.

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Ms McTaggart found Ms Clayton had taken prescription drugs and "numerous" illicit ones, including cannabis and methamphetamine, the night she died, which impaired her driving ability.

The coroner said there was also a possibility Ms Clayton was distracted by using her phone to stream music while driving, however she not say definitively if that was the case.

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Ms McTaggart said the crash was not intentional, and resulted in a "needless" death.

"The only cause of Ms Clayton's death was her own reckless driving at almost twice the speed limit for the road, impaired by her ingestion of drugs," she said.

"Despite prominent public campaigns aimed at preventing crashes due to speeding and drugs, such needless deaths continue to occur.

"The death of Ms Clayton represents the loss of life of a talented young woman and highlights the lasting impact on her family, loved ones and community."

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