Biker died instantly after head-on crash
A MOTORCYCLIST died instantly after he rode through a red light and crashed head-on into another vehicle, an inquest heard.
Neil David Cottrell, of Maes Gwydir, Trefor, near Caernarfon, may not have seen the temporary traffic lights at Llanaelhaearn near Pwllheli because the sun was low in the sky and sunshine may have reflected off the damp road surface, the hearing at Caernarfon was told.
The 50-year-old carer was riding the Honda motorbike southbound along the A499 on December 1 last year when it collided with the Toyota 4x4.
The inquest was told the sun, the damp road and the possibility Mr Cottrell was not expecting the roadworks may have been contributory factors to the accident.
North Wales senior coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said: “Mr Cottrell was driving from Trefor in the direction of Pwllheli and in my view was travelling at a fast speed towards roadworks he may not have been expecting.
“It is difficult to say if the sun was in his eyes but the road was wet and could have been reflecting off the surface.
“The driver of the Toyota 4x4 was confined by the roadworks and could do nothing to avoid the collision. The motor bike disintegrated and he suffered multiple injuries.”
The temporary traffic lights had been set up to control work being carried out by BT to lay fibre optic cables.
Forensic collision investigator PC David Abernethy-Clark said the traffic lights had been set up by a traffic management company with various signs laid out 400 yards prior to the crash scene.
Tests, he added, showed the traffic lights themselves were functioning properly.
He told the coroner the speed of the bike could not be determined but agreed with the coroner it would have been high because of the damage caused in the accident.
The 4x4 vehicle driver, Hywel Rowlands, said he saw the lights ahead of him as he drove northbound and they were on green.
He said he had nearly reached the other traffic lights when the motorbike appeared from over the brow of a hill.
“I didn’t see it until the last moment. There was nowhere to manoeuvre,” he said. “I think he tried to swerve into the coned-off area but he hit the front of my vehicle.”
Nathan Amoah, who was working for BT, said he heard the loud sound of a motorbike and then a loud bang. He looked up and saw the rider flying through the air.
The coroner concluded Mr Eaton died as the result of an accident.