Motorbike adventure ended in tragedy for Nantwich man (From Crewe Guardian)
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Motorbike adventure ended in tragedy for Nantwich man
9:48am Thursday 2nd February 2012 in News By David Morgan
A MOTORBIKE adventure ended in tragedy when a Nantwich man was killed in a dramatic road collision, an inquest has heard.
Ken Brown, of Bridle Hey, was enjoying an off-road biking holiday with six friends in Kazakhstan but disaster struck when the group was trying to overtake an articulated lorry.
The 47-year-old set off for Kazakhstan on June 16, 2011.
Mr Brown and his friends rented off-road bikes and started travelling across the country with a guide in the direction of Uzbekistan.
On June 20, the group had been on the road for four hours when they started to overtake a heavy goods vehicle one-by-one.
But when Mr Brown made his maneouvre, his bike was struck by a green Mercedes on the other side of the road in Zhaskeshu village.
The court heard that he died instantly.
Mr Brown’s friend James Edwards, a house builder from Chelford, said: “His visibility had been impaired because of the bend and that was it unfortunately.”
Andrew Wilson, a service engineer from Bolton, was another of Mr Brown’s friends on the trip.
He added: “The vehicles on the road ranged from donkey drawn carts to articulated lorries. They didn’t recognise motorcycles, especially out in the country.
“As he overtook the truck it started to round the bend and the truck’s trailer went towards the centre of the road which pushed Ken into the wrong carriageway and into the path of the Mercedes.
“Ken’s bike flew into the air and he landed about 10 metres away. There was an explosion, a big fireball.”
It was ruled out that Mr Brown’s bike, which was less than a year old, had any faults and it was estimated that he was travelling at about 35mph.
The court heard that Mr Brown’s enthusiasm for motorbiking was resparked after a 1,200-mile journey across the Gobi Desert in September 2010.
Before travelling to Kazakhstan, he practiced off-road biking three times a week on Mr Edwards’ land in Chelford.
Dr Janet Napier, deputy coroner for Cheshire, recorded a verdict of accidental death.
The cause of death was acute blood loss, trauma to the chest and fractured ribs and thoracic spine.
Dr Napier said: “It’s all horrifying and horribly cruel. It was an awful bend that couldn’t be seen.
“He was doing something he loved and doing it in the company he liked. He had his whole life ahead of him.”
