Manx coroner's mandatory quad bike helmets call after fatal crash

Mandatory helmet wearing by quad bike riders on the Isle of Man should be considered in the wake of a fatal crash, a coroner has said.

Jayne Hughes made the recommendation after the death of a Glen Maye man who was not wearing a helmet.

Patrick Lewis, 58, suffered severe head injuries after being thrown from his machine in Foxdale on 24 March.

Mrs Hughes ruled his death was an accident but said a helmet could potentially have saved him.

An inquest heard Mr Lewis had left his recycling business on Stoney Mountain Road to buy sausage and egg baps for lunch for himself and his daughter.

As the weather was nice, he had decided to use the orange and black quad bike he had bought in July the previous year to make the journey, the hearing at Douglas Courthouse was told.

The crash happened at about 12:40 GMT on the A24 Foxdale to Douglas Road near to the Archallagan junction.

Police collision investigators told the court the quad bike had travelled onto the grass verge at the side of the road before careering into a hedgerow.

Mr Lewis was thrown from the vehicle when he steered heavily to return it to the road.

The court heard the weather and road conditions were good, there were no defects with the vehicle, and although the road had no speed limit he had not been travelling excessively fast.

Mrs Hughes said it was possible Mr Lewis had suffered a momentary loss of concentration or had swerved to avoid an unidentified object in the road.

The coroner said she would write to the infrastructure minister to recommend he consider aligning the island's laws on the wearing of helmets on quad bikes with Northern Ireland, where it is mandatory.

Currently, it is not a legal requirement.

Passing her condolences on to Mr Lewis' family, she described his death as a "truly tragic accident".

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