A coroner has urged a council to lower the speed limit of a residential road in Newcastle, deeming the current 40mph limit as “unsafe” and as having the potential to cause further fatalities, following an inquest into a cyclist’s death after he was hit by an overtaking minibus driver.

John Liddle, 44, was riding southwards on the A694 Lockhaugh Road in Rowlands Gill, wearing a yellow hi-vis jacket and with lights at about 11:40pm on 3rd May 2023 when the driver of a Mercedes minibus hit him.

As he moved into the centre of the road to turn onto Sherburn Park Drive, the driver hit him and he suffered life-threatening head injuries. He was then taken to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, where he died 18 days later. Following the collision, the driver remained at the scene to assist officers with their enquiries.

Now, an inquest into Liddle’s death held at Newcastle Coroners’ Court last week heard that he died of a blunt head injury.

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Lockhaugh Road is a residential road in Rowlands Gill, a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead of Tyne and Wear, and Senior Coroner Georgina Nolan has slammed the 40mph speed limit in place at the location as “unsafe”.

She added that she believed “there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken”, and relayed her concerns to Gateshead Council in the Prevention of Future Deaths report, a document issued when a coroner believes action should be taken to avoid future fatalities.

She wrote: “At the time of the collision the area of the A694 upon which Mr Liddle was cycling was subject to a 40 miles per hour speed limit. The speed limit on this area of road has now (temporarily) been reduced to 30 miles per hour.

“The road is within a residential area, the road encompasses bends and junctions, and there have been a number of other collisions along the stretch of road involving pedal cycles, pedestrians and motor vehicles.

“A 40 miles per hour speed limit is unsafe for this stretch of road. In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you and/or your organisation have the power to take such action.”

The Northern Echo reports that Gateshead Council will now have 56 days to respond to the Coroner explaining what action it will take.

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In 2023, Wales became the first country in the UK to reduce the speed limit from 30mph to a national default of 20mph on residential streets and in built-up areas, in a move that was widely criticised but was based on research that showed a 10mph reduction in speed could dramatically reduce injury and fatality rates amongst cyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users in collision with motor traffic.

Last August, figures published on the Welsh government website showed that the number of police-recorded road collisions on 20 or 30mph roads in the first quarter of 2024 was the lowest quarterly figure ever recorded in Wales outside of the Covid period, with a Senedd spokesperson calling the initial collision statistics “encouraging” and saying that they suggest things “are moving in the right direction”.