Derbyshire pensioner died after 'tragic' collision with cyclist

Seventy-nine-year-old John Beach, who was also known as Trevor, passed away in hospital on April 18 - two days after he suffered serious injuries in a collision with a pedal cyclist on Nottingham Road, Ripley.

An inquest into Mr Beach’s death was resumed on Thursday, December 19 after Derbyshire assistant coroner Sarah Huntbach had asked police to carry out further investigations to determine the speed the cyclists were travelling at during an initial hearing in October.

MORE: Man died after 'tragic accident' on Derbyshire road

Chesterfield coroners' court heard friends Craig Bond and James Holmes were cycling on Nottingham Road at around 5pm on April 16 when the crash occurred.

Giving evidence at the earlier hearing, Mr Bond said: "He (Mr Beach) stepped out in front of me - he came out of nowhere.

"I couldn't have done anything to prevent it."

PC Lee Simpson, a forensic collision investigator with Derbyshire Constabulary, said tests concluded there were no defects with Mr Bond's bike.

He told the court he carried out CCTV analysis and calculated that Mr Bond was travelling at an average speed of 38mph. The speed limit on Nottingham Road is 30mph.

This speed was questioned at the earlier hearing by Mr Bond, so PC Simpson was asked to carry out further analysis of the speed using a Garmin cycle computer mounted to Mr Holmes’ bike.

Thursday’s inquest heard data from the computer confirmed Mr Bond was travelling at an average speed of about 38mph prior to the collision but slowed to 29mph before the impact.

Recording a verdict that Mr Beach died as a result of a road traffic collision, Ms Huntbach said the tragic incident was due to ‘a tragic combination of factors’.

“Mr Beach did not see the cyclists and they did not see him until it was too late,” she said.

The coroner also said speed limits on roads only referred to motor vehicles but she would be filing a report asking whether regulations should include pedal cyclists in future.

Retired engineer Mr Beach lived on Nottingham Road and was formerly secretary of Codnor Cricket Club.