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Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)Accidental death verdict in case of cyclist who turned into path of vehicle overtaking him
A coroner has returned a verdict of accidental death in the case of a cyclist who apparently rode without warning into the path of a car that was overtaking him as he attempted to perform a right turn on a road in Lincolnshire. A police officer told the inquest it was "likely" the victim was wearing earphones.
Andrew Watson, aged 41, died in Scunthorpe General Hospital hours after the collision, which took place near Wroot at 7.30pm on the evening of 10 September last year, reports the Scunthorpe Telegraph.
Adam Coggon, the driver of the Range Rover involved in the incident, told coroner Andrew Pascoe at Scunthorpe’s Civic Centre: "The cyclist was still on the left-hand side of the road as I went to overtake.
“As I started coming past, I could see him in the corner of my eye coming to the front of the car.
"I tried moving over to the other side of the road, but I could not go any further."
Police Constable Ian Clark said it was "likely" the cyclist had been wearing earphones at the time of the collision - the implication being he may not have heard the vehicle behind him - adding: "I think a significant majority of motorists would have done as Mr Coggon did," he said.
The victim’s mother, Ida Coggan, said: "Andrew was a beautiful son who thought the world of his family. He is very much loved and missed every minute of the day and will never be forgotten."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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37 comments
I agree too. Terrible thing to happen, but the number of times fellow cyclists pull out on me without looking (when I'm overtaking them on a bike) always amazes me.
Driver's story seems questionable, but there isn't enough info to go on.
There are lessons for any cyclist though. Don't cycle with headphones in, you need all your senses. And don't pull out unless it's safe to do so, either because you've looked behind and checked, indicated that you're turning, or riding defensively and positioned yourself so that it's obvious where you're going.
" As I started coming past, I could see him in the corner of my eye coming to the front of the car. I tried moving over to the other side of the road, but I could not"
Didn't try applying the brake, though, I assume?
Cyclist killed by motorist. Presumption of guilt of the cyclist. See anything wrong with this picture?
If you'd been passing in accordance with rule 163 you'd already have been on the other side of the road. And doesn't the highway code state that it's not law but failure to comply with it may result in breaking the law? Yet the Range Rover driver is blameless. This whole story really stinks.
The other line that doesnt compute is:
As always it is hard to get a sense for what actually happened from the few quotes reported. I doubt there was presumption of guilt of the cyclist, if anything I would expect there to be a presumption of guilt of the driver, but that’s why there are inquests. You have to trust that the inquest considered all the evidence and statements regarding vehicle speeds, visibility, road type and conditions etc. and came to reasoned conclusion (which was ‘accident’ not ‘guilt’, although clearly the suggestion is that headphones contributed to the accident by the cyclist not realizing the car was there) . I can see that a driver that has started to overtake might have no time or options to avoid a collision either by braking or moving out of the way (“could not go any further” suggests they were already on the far right side of the road, perhaps it was a narrow country lane? There are plenty I use where it is perfectly OK for a car to overtake me, but there isn’t a whole heap of extra width) I’ve experienced this myself on the M25 when a car came sideways across the road in front of me – no warning, no expectation that a vehicle might do that, and by the time I saw it, it was already across into the next lane and heading for the central reservation (I suspect it had been clipped by a HGV). I didn’t hit or get hit by that car, but that was entirely luck. Having said all that, as a driver (or cyclist) deciding to overtake you always have to ask yourself ‘what might that other road user do?’, and perhaps hold back even though you ‘could’ get past. I bet that as cyclists we give a lot more room to kids on bikes (who are very likely to do something erratic) and less to fellow cyclists who we assume will have predictable movements.
Tragic. My condolences to the family, but I can’t see that we can second guess the inquest from the information in the article.
I may be incorrect. But i think you have the name of the victims mother wrong
A terrible accident, and i wish the family much condolence. Personally i will never ride with headphones in, i feel my hearing almost as important as my sight whilst on the bike.
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