Pair died after bikes exploded in collision (From The Argus)

Pair died after bikes exploded in collision

8:43pm Tuesday 23rd January 2007 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

Two men were killed when their motorbikes "exploded" in a head-on collision.

Paul Painter, 54, of Guillards Oak, Midhurst, died of multiple injuries while he was on his way to catch a ferry for a holiday with his wife in Austria, an inquest heard.

His wife, Wendy, a waitress and who was riding pillion on the Honda Gold Wing motorbike, cannot remember anything of the crash which killed her husband on June 18 last year.

They were travelling with a trailer eastbound through a windy section of the A272 towards Petworth, when they were in a collision with Glen Paines, 45, of Glynde Crescent in Felpham, who was travelling in the wrong lane towards them on his Kawasaki.

The impact of the crash caused both bikes to "explode", the inquest at Chichester heard.

Mr Paines, travelling solo, died from multiple injuries.

A third bike, a Ducati, driven by Graham Chapman, was involved in a secondary collision with the debris from the crash.

Mr Chapman almost died and was left with a ripped diaphragm, broken ribs and several other broken bones.

Coroner Roger Stone told the inquest he was unable to conclude beyond doubt that Mr Paines had been trying to overtake another bike when he crossed double white lines to enter the eastbound carriageway.

Mr Stone, said: "The incident should never have happened. There was no reason whatsoever for these two people to die.

"A road user has put himself in a position where other road users say he should not have been. The road user going in the easterly direction has been faced, as the police officer said, "in the blink of an eye" with no opportunity to do anything.

"The road marks are there to protect life, not for some small reason. If they had been followed, two people would have been alive today."

The inquest heard there was not enough evidence to conclude the deaths were a result of unlawful killing.

Mr Stone recorded a verdict of accidental death in the case of both men's deaths.

The crash took place in a "blind dip" near Cowdray Park in Midhurst at 6.30am.

The section of road makes it impossible to see a vehicle in the dip when travelling before the brow of the preceding hill, which is why there are double-white-lines to prevent any overtaking.

Mr Paines had been part of a group of about 15 bikers who had been enjoying a regular ride along a familiar route.

The weather was said to have been dry and sunny and Mr Paines had been near the front of the pack, while his wife, Carol Anne Paines, was riding near the back.

A friend of Mr Paines, Lawrence Claire, said: "I have ridden with Glen on many occasions and I have never seen him take a risk. That was a particularly unsafe place to be in the wrong lane."

PC Colin O'Neill said there was not enough left of the two motorbikes to conclude what speed they were travelling at, though he said the distance Mr Paines' bike travelled after the collision indicated it was going very fast.

He said it was the worst devastation he had come across in 16 years.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Chapman said he could not remember anything of the accident, which left him with more than a dozen broken bones.

He said: "I'll never get on a motorbike again. I don't understand why he was in that lane."

The family of Mr Painter are considering legal action.