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."
Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.