Wind may have caused A19 crash which killed teenage motorbike rider, inquest hears

Thomas Ferguson was pronounced dead at the scene after he was thrown from his KTM motorcycle on the A19 near Great Thirkleby, on September 27 last year.

An inquest heard the chef from Selby was driving behind a vehicle but then veered into the right-hand lane of the unlit rural road and collided head on with a grey Seat Terraco, at around 6.15am.

A post-mortem examination found he had suffered a number of injuries that were severe enough to cause death and there was alcohol in his system, but he was within the legal drink drive limit.

Collision investigator Nigel Varney told the inquest that Mr Ferguson may have been blown into the right-hand lane by a strong gust of wind or he attempted “a poorly judged overtake”.

Mr Varney said the wind was “quite strong” and gusts of up to 19mph were recorded at the scene of the collision that morning.

He said Jessica Kirk, who was driving the Seat Terraco, had “no time to react to avoid a collision” and the motorcycle “suddenly appeared” in front of her.

The collision investigator also said the teenager’s tinted visor, that was not designed to be worn in the dark, and the alcohol in his system “would have affected his forward view and judgement”.

But he agreed that no witnesses had raised concerns about Mr Ferguson’s driving prior to the collision and he was wearing the correct protective gear.

Ms Kirk, who was driving with her four-month-old daughter, said the motorcycle pulled out in front of her and she had “no time to react”.

“I can't remember if I braked or not. I can't remember how I reacted. It happened so fast,” she said.

“It was within a second that it happened. There was no time to react. There was no time. I didn't see him beforehand."

The car veered off the road, went through a bush and flipped onto its side before coming to a stop in a field. Ms Kirk and her daughter were helped by an off-duty police officer before being treated at the scene by paramedics.

Stacy Lees told the inquest her son, who worked as a chef at Loftsome Bridge Hotel, spent "every penny of his hard earned wages” on his motorcycles and he loved riding them.

She added: “Someone so truly wonderful as him and so very dearly loved will never be gone, Tom will be with us every single day. He is missed beyond belief.

“There will never be a goodbye, as the pain is too great.”

After hearing the evidence, Assistant Coroner Jonathan Leach recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision.

The coroner said it is unclear whether Mr Ferguson was blown into the right-hand lane of the carriageway before the fatal collision or he was attempting to overtake the vehicle in front.