A MOTORCYCLIST told an inquest how he feared his friend had broken his leg after the bike they were on lost control and crashed.
But Will Polley, 21, of Charmandean Road, Broadwater, died when Steven Rappa's Yamaha motorbike lost control and crashed along the A272 near Midhurst on January 27.
Will was riding pillion when the bike lost control and collided with a Ford Fiesta being driven in the opposite direction.
He died at the scene.
Mr Rappa, of St Paul's Avenue, Sompting, was seriously injured.
Father's deathTragically, Will's father, Steve Polley, died 10 years earlier, in September 1997, when the motorbike he was riding hit the central barrier along the A24 near Washington.
At an inquest on Tuesday, August 26, at Worthing Town Hall, West Sussex coroner Penelope Schofield recorded a "narrative verdict".
She said Will Polley died from multiple injuries when the motorcycle crossed onto the wrong side of the road and collided with a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.
Mr Rappa told the inquest he had been riding motorbikes for about eight years and said Will regularly rode pillion on his bike.
On Sunday, January 27, Will, Mr Rappa and two other friends decided to go out for a ride.
Steven's storyWill and Mr Rappa were travelling eastward along the A272 towards Petworth when they slowed down to wait for their two friends.
Mr Rappa said: "I slowed down to look behind for the other two and cars were going around us, but we suddenly got to a hill and a bend.
"I accelerated back up as I didn't want cars coming the other way to not see us.
"The bend there is more like a kink and if anything was going to happen I wouldn't expect it to be there.
Wheel sparks"I remember coming to the bend, but the next thing I remember was seeing the Tarmac and sparks coming from the front wheel.
"I realised the front wheel had gone.
"There had been no warning.
"I was no longer in control of the bike and there was nothing I could do for me or Will."
InvestigationAccording to PC Colin O'Neill, collision investigator, Will and the bike collided with the front passenger side of an on-coming Ford Fiesta being driven by Ron Ball, of Haslemere.
Will became entangled in the wreckage of the car. Mr Rappa came to rest on a verge.
PC O'Neill told the inquest the motorbike and the car had no faults and he believed the bike was travelling at about 50mph.
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