A motorcyclist died after suffering massive internal injuries when he lost control of his high-powered machine and crashed into an oncoming car on a notorious bend outside Bridgnorth, an inquest heard.
Neal Joshi, 41, was killed when he came off his 750cc Suzuki on a stretch of the A458 outside Bridgnorth which had been the scene of 12 serious collisions in the past four years. Seven of these, including three fatalities, had involved motorcyclists, an inquest in Bridgnorth heard last Thursday.
Mr Joshi collided with a Mitsubishi car containing a family of six travelling to Dudmaston Hall for a day out on September 20 last year. South Shropshire coroner Mr Anthony Sibcy recorded a verdict of accidental death.
He said: “I will report matters relating from this sad death to the appropriate authorities to take action to prevent a recurrence. It’s a mercy that this inquest is not dealing with more than one death because of the amount of people travelling in the Mitsubishi car,” he added.
The inquest was told that Mr Joshi, of Tamworth, was riding out of Bridgnorth towards Stourbridge and had just taken a sharp left hand bend at Gateacre Hill when he was thrown from his bike into the path of the car being driven by Mr Brian Smith, of Streetly, near Walsall.
Following the impact, Mr Joshi ended up wedged underneath the car. An off-duty nurse and a first responder attempted to administer first aid at the scene before the emergency services arrived. However, Mr Joshi was pronounced dead as he was transported by air ambulance to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.
Pathologist Dr Nicholas Green said the biker suffered severe internal injuries to his chest and abdomen and various fractures. Despite the efforts of the medics at the scene he suffered a cardiac arrest in the air ambulance helicopter caused by his injuries.
Mr Smith, who was taking five members of his family to nearby Dudmaston Hall in his Mitsubishi Space Wagon, said; “I was travelling towards Bridgnorth when I saw a motorcycle pass on the other side of the road. A few seconds later another biker came around the bend. he appeared to be wobbling and his back wheel slipped away. I hit the brakes hard to try to slow down before the impact, but I couldn’t do anything,” he told the inquest.
Constable Lois Ellis, an accident investigation specialist of West Mercia Police, said Mr Joshi was travelling at a minimum 46mph – within the speed limit for the stretch of road. She added that the Mitsubishi was travelling at no more than 29mph. “It appears that the brakes locked as Mr Joshi was taking emergency braking action as he came round the bend,” said the officer.
She said the bike’s tyres were under-inflated but it was impossible to determine if this had contributed to the collision. “It’s likely that the motorcyclist lost control,” said the constable.
