Motorcyclists died on brow of hill as one crossed line to overtake

TWO MOTORCYCLISTS died after they collided in the Yorkshire Dales when one overtook a car on a blind summit during a Sunday ride, an inquest heard.

Martin Ragg, 59, was travelling south on the A6108 near Masham with a group of friends when he crossed a solid white line into the path of Michael ‘Mick’ Lynas, 57, who was riding in the opposite direction with his 21-year-old daughter in convoy on April 25 last year.

A rare joint inquest held yesterday at County Hall in Northallerton found neither of the men or their companions had been riding in a manner that caused concern until the fatal manoeuvre.

The dip on the stretch between East Witton and Leyburn had visibility so poor that an oncoming vehicle would be obscured, the hearing heard.

Both the Lynas and Ragg families have raised a total of more than £16,000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance from fundraising appeals since the accident.

North Yorkshire’s Assistant Coroner, Oliver Longstaff, said it is likely Mr Ragg and My Lynas would have “got on quite well”.

Mr Lynas’s widow, Tina, who is the mother of his two daughters, said his death had left a “huge gaping hole”. They had lived in South Kilvington, near Thirsk.

Jane Ragg, of Skelton-on-Ure, near Ripon, and the mother of Mr Ragg’s three children, said he was “a devoted soulmate and dad. Our lives have been shattered forever”.

Recording a conclusion of deaths in a road traffic accident, Mr Longstaff said: “There is nothing to suggest that either of them was anything other than responsible and competent. Both loved their hobby. Had they met, there is every chance they would have got on quite well.”