Son recalls tragic bike accident that killed father

A teenager who survived a motorcycle crash which killed his father has spoken of the moment he tried to save him.

John Constable died in December last year at a road bend at Ford Road in Arundel but his son Adam, who was thrown from the bike as it plummeted into a grass verge, survived.

He admits his father had not properly negotiated the bend on the road which was by the junction of Priory Lane. His father was taken to St Richard's Hospital but he died from severe head injuries.

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Mr Constable, of Ancton Close, Middleton-on-Sea had bought a Suzuki motorcycle last October and passed his test the following month.

His wife Andrea told an inquest at Arundel Town Hall yesterday that bike-riding was a new passion of his, and he and their son Adam went out riding together regularly.

On the day of his death, December 22 last year, both Mr Constable and Adam went out to meet some friends, who also had motorbikes.

'In my opinion my dad wasn't going very fast,' he told the inquest.

'The weather conditions on the road were good.

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'We went from Middleton and went through the usual route straight through Ford.

'We were held up at the train station. He didn't take the corner at all.

'I was leaning forward so it didn't take much for me to be ejected from the bike. The next thing I was laying on my back face up on the road. The motorcycle was in the hedge. I tried to help.'

Adam bravely got assistance from a driver passing by and they contacted the emergency services.

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Forensic collision investigator at Sussex Police, PC Simon Lane was called to the scene of the crash at 5pm the same day.

At the inquest he concluded Mr Constable, 43, had lost control of his bike at a bend turning right, drove straight into the road verge, into a hedge and some fencing. A post mortem carried out on Mr Constable found he died from severe head injuries.

Assistant deputy coroner for West Sussex Mike Kendall concluded the death was a tragic accident.

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