Eastbourne motorcyclist died in collision with car on A259

A motorcyclist from Eastbourne was killed when he was involved in a collision with a car which was turning onto the A259 at Hooe, an inquest has heard.
Picture: Dan JessupPicture: Dan Jessup
Picture: Dan Jessup

Simon Bever, 55, of Milnthorpe Road, Eastbourne, sustained critical injuries following the collision with a silver Volkswagen Polo at the junction of the A259 and Green Lane at 8.20am on Thursday, June 7, 2018.

An inquest into his death, held in Hastings on Tuesday (October 8), heard Mr Bever had been travelling eastbound behind a Ford Transit flatbed tipper lorry moments before the collision.

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The driver of the lorry had indicated to turn left into Green Lane and, while negotiating the turn, Lee Brazil, the driver of the Volkswagen Polo – who was stationary at the junction of the A259 having travelled down Green Lane – began to drive across the eastbound carriageway to turn right onto the A259, with the intention of travelling west.

At this time, Mr Bever began overtaking the lorry and collided with the Polo’s nearside rear tyre, wedging the two vehicles together and throwing Mr Bever over the handle bars and onto the road.

He was flown to King’s College Hospital where he later died.

At his inquest, the court heard Mr Bever had overtaken a number of vehicles before travelling behind a lorry driven by Marcus Davies.

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In his statement read to the court, Mr Davies said he noticed the motorcyclist in his rear view and said he was about ‘one tyre-width’ away.

Mr Davies said he was intending to turn left into Green Lane but, due to the close proximity of Mr Bever’s motorcycle, he decided to activate his indicators earlier than usual, ‘brushed’ the brake and estimated he was travelling at a speed between 12mph and 15mph when he began negotiating the turn.

As he was turning into the lane, he said he noticed the Polo, which had been stationary at the entrance to Green Lane, start to accelerate across the road to turn right.

At the same time, he said the motorcyclist started to accelerate past his lorry and the two vehicles collided.

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In a statement read to the court, Mr Brazil said he had not seen Mr Bever’s motorcycle when he pulled out to start his right hand turn.

He added: “I do not feel I was responsible for the collision. I believe anyone would have pulled out when I did. I could not see the motorcyclist.

“I feel extremely sorry for the family. If I could change things, I would.”

Detective Constable Simon Rideout, a forensic collision investigator with Sussex Police, concluded in his report that the actions of Mr Bever meant it would have been ‘difficult’ for Mr Brazil to have seen the motorcyclist before the collision.

East Sussex senior coroner Alan Craze returned a conclusion of death from a road traffic collision.