A coroner in Hampshire, England, has called for a review of equipment used by recovery truck drivers, following an inquest into the death of Terry Booth in June 2008.

Mr Booth, 58, from Dorset in England, died when he was hit by a car on the A31. At an inquest into Mr Booth's death, coroner Keith Wiseman said Mr Booth was not able to park his truck in a safe position while using jump leads. The driver of the car that hit him was jailed for two years in 2009.

The inquest heard the broken down car was on a grass verge next to the road and Mr Booth had parked his Boarhunt recovery truck partly on the verge and partly on the road. The central issue examined by the hearing was whether Mr Booth's decision to park alongside the broken down car - rather than behind it in the so-called "fend position" - was influenced by the fact he did not have a portable jump start pack and would have had to use jump leads attached to his truck.

The accident was caused when a Chrysler ploughed into the broken-down Peugeot pushing it forward and into the ditch. Another Boarhunt employee, Del Morton, told the inquest he would have parked in the same position as Mr Booth, given that the Peugeot was on the verge. Coroner Mr Wiseman said that on the balance of probability the risk to Mr Booth was enhanced by the fact he was not parked behind the Peugeot.

He pointed out that the RAC and the AA already use long jump leads so their vehicles could park in the safest position. He said: "It is not entirely clear to me why this is not the standard way of dealing with roadside breakdowns."

Robin Doney, managing director and chairman of Boarhunt Group Ltd, said: "Every single job is different and you can't always use long leads, you can't always use jump packs, it depends entirely on the circumstances. "The drivers are trained that when they arrive at the scene, they do a risk assessment and they act in the safest way possible for the customer and themselves."