Driver fought to save live of cyclist after A19 collision, inquest hears

An inquest into the death of Paul James Avon Oxberry was opened earlier this year and adjourned.

The resumed hearing at Sunderland Coroner’s Court heard the motorist used CPR in an effort to save the 26-year-old after the accident on Hylton Bridge in the early hours of May 13, but unemployed Mr Oxberry, of Gleneagles Road, Grindon, died from multiple severe injuries.

The hearing was told a police investigation into the incident had cleared the driver of any blame. Mr Oxberry had been riding along an unlit section of road on a bike with no lights and no illumination beyond a reflector fitted to one of the spokes and reflectors in the pedals.

The police report said the driver had joined the A19 northbound at the A690 junction and was travelling in the middle lane – lane 2 – at the time of the collision: “He indicated left to move from lane two to lane one. As he did so, he then heard a loud bang and his windscreen was smashed on the nearside.”

He pulled over and got out to find Mr Oxberry slumped near the nearside crash barrier.

The accident report said using the bike without lights would have posed ‘a significant danger’ to the rider: “The driver of the vehicle involved would have been unable to see the pedal cycle and would have been unable to take avoiding action, given the lack of illumination.”

It concluded it was likely ‘the collision has been caused by the fact Mr Oxberry has ridden a pedal cycle during the hours of darkness, without lights and along an unlit dual carriageway’.

Toxicology reports found he had a blood alcohol level of 166 milligrams per 100 millilitres and a post-mortem report said such a level would have been sufficient to cause effects including reduced reactions, confusion and lack of co-ordination and concluded: “It is likely these effects would have increased the effect of a traffic collision and were, therefore, likely to have contributed to the cause of death."

Coroner Derek Winter recorded a conclusion that Mr Oxberry had died in a road traffic collision.

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