Marilyn Storey, holding the laptop that apparently killed her daughter, warns others to avoid similar preventable events. (Meera Bains/CBC)

Police in Surrey, B.C., are warning people to secure their belongings while driving after a young woman was apparently killed by her laptop last month.

Heather Storey, 25, of Delta died after the small car she was driving was hit by a tow truck turning left.

When investigators looked into the incident, however, they concluded she would have survived if not for her laptop computer.

Storey was on her way out of town for work at the time of the accident and usually kept her laptop in a backpack in the backseat, according to her brother Michael Pratt.

"What we believe happened [was] that she was struck in the back of her head and neck with this laptop computer," RCMP Sgt. Roger Morrow said Wednesday morning at the Surrey detachment, east of Vancouver

"She simply didn't have it secured within the confines of her car, and ultimately it has been the instrument of her death," he said

Her brother and mother also spoke at the detachment, warning others to take precautions to avoid similar preventable accidents.

"We miss Heather a lot. There is a whole lot to talk about, but I think mainly we're just trying to address the issue of, maybe, try not to keep stuff that can get airborne or hit you, just because your family, and people that care about you, really will miss you when you're gone," said Pratt.