'Fit and active' 92-year-old was killed when he stepped out in front of motorbike, inquest hears

Coulson White died on Sunday, June 16, after being struck on Whitburn Bents Road, close to his home in Wellands Lane, Whitburn.

An inquest into his death held at Sunderland Coroner's Court yesterday heard how Coulson had been on his daily walk when he stepped out in front of the motorbike.

Assistant Coroner Karin Welsh said that Coulson had been waiting on the pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road where he waited for the first motorbike to go past, but failed to see the second motorbike and walked into the road.

Emergency services were called to the scene at about 7.20pm and Coulson was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital where he sadly died that same day on June 16.

Evidence given by Northumbria Police Investigating Officer Pc Sid Muckhtar said that their investigations showed how the rider of the motorbike didn’t have enough time to avoid the collision.

Ms Welsh told the hearing that despite his age, Mr White had been “fit, active and independent” – although his family said that Coulson did have problems with his eyesight and hearing.

A post-mortem examination carried out by Dr Bolton found that Coulson’s death was caused by chest injuries.

Ms Welsh ruled the cause of death as accidental.

She said: “It seems to me that this was something that happened that was nobody else’s fault.

“There was no chance for anybody to take any avoiding action and that sadly Coulson died as a result of the collision.

“He was 92 and I hope that he had a good life, although it is not the ending anyone would want it to be.

“There is no criticism of the rider’s actions or the manner in which he was driving.

"He couldn’t take any action to avoid the incident.”

His family paid tribute to him in a statement which said: “He was a lovely, quiet man.

“He was remarkable for his age – he could be seen out nearly every day walking along the seafront at Seaburn.

“He will be sadly missed.”