Call for action on ‘unfit’ road after death

A junction on the A16 at Crowland has been labelled as “not fit and proper” by a coroner following the death of a biker - the fourth fatality in nine years.

Matthew Bilby (48) was killed when he rode into the path of a lorry on September 6 last year at the ‘island’ junction - where Hulls Drove and James Road meet the trunk road.

Senior coroner for Lincolnshire, Tim Brennand, said: “I ask myself rhetorically: ‘How many more deaths will take place at this location before something is done?’”

Using his coronial duties and powers, he will write to Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling and the county council urging them to install a roundabout.

The inquest heard Mr Bilby, of Jubilee Way, Crowland, was driving to work when the crash happened just before 8am.

Witnesses said Mr Bilby rode up the nearside of queuing vehicles in Hulls Drove which were waiting to turn right. At the front of the queue was a Vauxhall Vivaro van. In a written statement, driver Nathan Howell said the motorcyclist didn’t stop and give way, and the ensuing collision with a DAF tipper truck on the A16 heading towards Peterborough happened right in front of him.

The experienced lorry driver, Andrew Emery, was distraught as he recalled the moment Mr Bilby pulled out in front of him from the blind side of the van.

“As soon as I saw the front wheel, I hit the brakes,” he said, adding that “time stood still” for a moment.

Mr Bilby was thrown from his bike and was attended to by two passers-by - who happened to be nurses.

He became unresponsive and went into cardiac arrest. The two nurses gave CPR but he later died at the scene.

Mr Brennand urged drivers to apply guidance in the Highway Code, particularly to not join a main road before there’s a gap large enough to do so safely. Giving a verdict of road traffic accident, Mr Brennand commended the efforts of the passers-by who stopped to assist and gave his sympathy to Mr Emery.

The view from Hulls Drove