MOTORCYCLIST Stephen Mason was speeding when he lost control of his Suzuki GSXR 600 and crashed into a hedge as he travelled home after visiting his mother.
Calculations carried out by accident investigators showed he had been doing at least 51 mph along the 40 mph High Road at Newton when the accident happened just before 6pm on Sunday, May 11.
An inquest at Wisbech on Thursday heard Mr Mason (36), o
f Walsoken, died instantly in the crash, which happened only a short distance after he left his mother’s home in High Road.
Witness David Smith, in a statement read out, described hearing a motorbike pass his house and then hearing the engine stop.
He and his wife had rushed out to help and discovered Mr Mason’s motorbike lying on the footpath and his body nearby in a hedgerow.
Police accident investigator PC Peter Bimson carried out a series of measurements at the scene and found Mr Mason had skidded over 42 metres before hitting the hedgerow and a gatepost.
Fragments of Mr Mason’s helmet had been found in the gatepost. No other vehicle had been involved in the accident.
Calculations using the skid marks had revealed Mr Mason had been travelling at least 51mph before he started to skid. PC Bimson said there were no defects in the road or with the bike that might have led to Mr Mason losing control of his machine.
A postmortem showed Mr Mason had suffered ‘catastrophic injuries’ as a result of the crash.
In recording a verdict of accidental death Coroner William Morris said: “This is a tragic case of an accident.”
The full article contains 277 words and appears in Fenland Citizen newspaper.
