Biker killed in crash was on wrong side of road

A teenage motorcyclist who died following a crash had drifted on to the wrong side of the road, an inquest has heard.

William Barron Hynes, 18, had been travelling to work on the A65 near Skipton when he clipped an oncoming car and crashed into another on 18 August last year.

After he was thrown from his Yamaha motorbike, another motorist performed CPR on the teenager before he was taken to Leeds General Infirmary.

Mr Hynes, of Gargrave, died of his injuries in hospital the following afternoon.

The inquest at North Yorkshire Coroner's Court heard Mr Hynes had been his "normal happy self" when he left home that morning.

Others driving on the Yorkshire Dales route said that he had not been driving erratically or speeding.

Angus Duncan had been on his way to the Lake District when he saw Mr Hynes coming around a bend towards him on the wrong side of the road.

He told the inquest: "I swerved and pulled on to the grass verge and then I heard the crash behind me."

Mr Duncan said the motorbike had clipped the wing mirror of his Kia, before going on to hit the pick-up truck behind him at about 08:10 BST.

The driver of the truck, Paul Bainbridge, told the inquest he had "slammed his brakes on" but the motorbike just drove "straight at him".

He added the airbags in his Ford Ranger had gone off, filling the car with dust.

"The impact was that severe, it moved my truck to the other side of the road," Mr Bainbridge said.

The crash site was investigated by Traffic Sergeant Ken Riley from North Yorkshire Police.

He said the conditions that morning were sunny, dry, with only a light breeze and there was nothing on the road's surface to cause a collision.

No defects were found in any of the three vehicles, according to TS Riley, and he could not say for certain why Mr Hynes had drifted on to the wrong side of the road.

The section of road where the crash happened had double solid white lines, to indicate that no overtaking should take place.

Coroner Jonathan Heath recorded a conclusion of death in a road traffic collision.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Hynes' family described him as someone who would "do anything for anyone".

He was working at The Dalesman cafe and tearooms in Skipton at the time of his death and was looking forward to starting an engineering apprenticeship.

A memorial to him has been erected in a wildflower garden in Gargrave.

The teenager was also an organ donor and his father Barrie said four people had been saved as a result of his death.

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