Motorbike death crash inquest adjourned

David Neil Bacon, aged 58, of Coronation Road, was returning home after a day at a Chesterfield bike show when tragedy struck on 16th June last year.

The married father of two was just over a mile from home when he was involved in a collision with a car on the A611 between Annesley and Hucknall.

Nottingham Coroners’ Court heard on Friday that Mr Bacon died at the scene when his 1300 cc Yamaha motorbike was in collision with a silver Kia Venga car, driven by Alan Manners of Bulwell

Assistant Coroner Maria Mulrennan heard that the cause of death was recorded as multiple injuries.

A postmortem examination had revealed that he had torn one of the main pulmonary arteries close to the heart.

The coroner heard he had no alcohol or drugs in his blood stream.

There were no direct independent witnesses to the crash which happened as Mr Manners was emerging from a difficult to see right-turn junction which led directly onto the fast lane of the dual carriageway.

Witness Peter Burnage said he had been in his car driving up the hill when a motorbike had passed him at speed accelerating through the gears. The rider had been hunched down as if to drive it fast.

Seconds later when he had gone over the brow of the hill he saw the crash scene. Mr Bacon was lying in the nearside lane , with his motorbike in the offside. The Kia was stopping at the kerbside.

Another witness, Benjamin Hastings confirmed the motorbike had passed him at about 80mph, before the crash.

Both men said it had been difficult to see the junction, because of overgrown grass and trees .

Mr Hastings said there had been an operation to clear away the vegetation just days after the crash, to improve visibility near the point of impact.

Alan Manners told the inquest he and his wife had been to an archery club in the hours leading up to the tragedy. They had been told to use the exit route which led to the junction.

He said he had already driven down the carriageway that day and was aware the exit was difficult to see. He had been warned the stretch of road could be “a bit of a race track”.

Mr Manners said he could see 100-200 yards up the road and did not see of hear anything approaching when he pulled out.

They had heard a “mighty bang” and were showered with glass. Within seconds of the impact he looked and saw the motorcycle.

His wife Cynthia had been taken to hospital following the smash.

In a statement read in court, Mr Bacon’s wife Kate said David, a self-employed coffee machine engineer, had owned motorbikes from the age of 16 and had owned high powered bikes for many years. He had once been injured in a similar crash where an elderly driver had pulled out in front of him.

She said she had never seen him take a risk and she and their son who both rode bikes, were continually being given lectures from him about “idiots in cars”.

She said they had both driven along the stretch of road many times and were well aware of the exit from the archery club.

She added: “It was always safety first where Dave was concerned.”

Accident investigator PC Stuart Bird said on the day of the accident, grass verges at the point of the exit were 1.5m high and obstructed vision for both vehicles. Analysing crush damage he estimated the speed of the motorbike to have been 87mph, with an accuracy of plus or minus 20 per cent.

The inquest was adjourned until next Friday.

The conclusion of the inquest will be posted on our website www.hucknalldispatch.co.uk as soon as it becomes available.