Coroner asks whether speed limits should apply to cyclists after pedestrian stepped into road in front of Derbyshire rider

A coroner will file a report asking whether speed limits should include pedal cyclists after a pedestrian died as a result of a collision in Derbyshire. A forensic collision investigator said that Craig Bond had been riding at 38mph in a 30mph zone before he hit 79-year-old John Beach when the latter stepped into the road to cross.

Bond and his friend James Holmes were cycling on Nottingham Road in Ripley at around 5pm on April 16 when the collision took place.

Bond said that Beach stepped out in front of him and that he couldn’t have done anything to prevent the collision.

A witness who had been in a parked car said that Beach, “had his head down and at no point did I see him look.”

PC Lee Simpson, a forensic collision investigator with Derbyshire Constabulary, analysed CCTV footage and calculated that Bond had been travelling at an average speed of 38mph on the 30mph road.

At an earlier hearing, Bond disputed this. "I can't believe that – it's got to be incorrect,” he said. "I can't imagine doing 38mph on my push bike."

Bond's wife said Strava indicated his speed 'at the point of impact was 18mph'.

Coroner Sarah Huntbach adjourned the inquest to allow police to carry out further investigations.

The Derbyshire Times reports that data from Bond’s Garmin bike computer confirmed he was travelling at an average speed of about 38mph prior to the collision but slowed to 29mph before the impact.

Huntbach said Beach’s death was due to ‘a tragic combination of factors’.

“Mr Beach did not see the cyclists and they did not see him until it was too late,” she said.

Speed limits on roads only refer to motor vehicles and Huntbach said she would be filing a report asking whether they should cover cyclists as well.