Drivers report sudden loss of power after inquest into woman's death A Volkswagen driver who lost acceleration in her vehicle approaching the Sydney Harbour Bridge said the result could have been catastrophic. Di Webster is one of more than 50 drivers who have contacted Fairfax Media to report the same terrifying loss of power that appears to have led to the death of a 32-year-old woman on a Victorian highway in 2011. I was really lucky I was where I was. If I had a truck bearing down behind me, God knows what would have happened," Ms Webster said. It could have been catastrophic. A coroner this week investigated the death of Melissa Ryan, who was killed when a prime mover with two trailers hit her VW Golf from behind on the Monash Freeway in Melbourne. Fairfax Media is not suggesting Ms Ryan's death is linked to a fault in her car. Fairfax has confirmed the federal Department of Infrastructure and Transport is investigating Ms Ryan's death. Following reports about the coronial inquest, more owners of Volkswagens have spoken of frightening experiences when their cars, including Golf, Passat, Polo and Eos models, suddenly lost power on highways and, in one case, a train line. Ms Webster said as she approached the the Sydney Harbour Bridge in her automatic 2006-07 VW Golf, a yellow light appeared on her dashboard and "the car died." It was quite bizarre. It was moving, I just couldn't accelerate," Webster said. Fortunately, she was able to pull over safely. Volkswagen's expert witness Warren Chilvers told the inquiry the vehicle showed no evidence to suggest the car was at fault. The truck driver, Ivan Mumford, insisted he never saw Ms Ryan's brake lights come on before the crash but had seen them working earlier. Volkswagen has this year issued recalls for almost 400,000 cars in China and 91,000 in Japan for problems with the automatic direct shift gearbox, which have been connected to sudden power loss. It has resisted calls - mostly made online - for a recall in Australia. with Melissa Fyfe, Adam Cooper and David McCowen