Cyclist rode into wagon, inquest told (From Runcorn and Widnes World)

Wagon driver would have been unable to stop, inquest told

11:10am Wednesday 6th February 2013 in News By Barbara Jordan

A CYCLIST hurtled down a grass embankment into the side of a 32-tonne tipper truck, an inquest in Warrington heard on Thursday.

Unemployed labourer Paul Dyas, aged 40, of Clapgate Crescent, Halebank, died instantly, outside The Travelodge in Fiddlers Ferry Road, Widnes, on July 4, last year.

His friend, John Leech, who was riding behind him, spotted the lorry and shouted to warn him.

In a statement, he told the inquest: “He was 10ft ahead of me. I was still at the top of the hill. I saw a large HGV and shouted to warn him.

“He tried to steer but he was going to fast to stop. I saw him ride into the trailer.

“The driver wouldn’t have been able to stop to avoid him.”

Mr Dyas had his hoodie up which may have obstructed his hearing and vision, the inquest heard.

Vehicle examiner Maurice Jones inspected the bike and the lorry and found no faults.

Collision investigator Pc Pete McDonough reconstructed the accident and concluded it would have taken Mr Dyas four seconds to ride from the top of the embankment to the point of impact.

The lorry had just turned a corner and was travelling at 18-20mph when the collision occurred.

Pc McDonough said: “It would have been an unexpected event for a pedal cyclist to ride out into the road.”

Toxicologist Mark Tyler found small traces of morphine, cannabis and alcohol in Mr Dyas’s blood and urine, but said it would not have affected his ability to cycle.

Deputy coroner of Cheshire, Alan Moore, recorded a verdict that Mr Dyas died from multiple injuries caused by an accident.

After the inquest, Mr Dyas’s sobbing mum, Lyn, aged 59, of Blackburne Avenue, hugged HGV driver Mark Boardman, saying she knew it was not his fault.

Tina Spence, aged 39, paid tribute to her fiance, Paul, saying: “He was my rock, my everything.”