Cyclist killed, biker injured in Burwell, Cambs (26/1/11)

An elderly cyclist has been killed in a crash with a motorcycle in Cambridgeshire which left the biker critically injured.

The collision happened on Wednesday afternoon in Burwell on the B1102 near the junction with the Devils Dyke nature reserve car park.

A Suzuki SV650 being driven by a 41-year-old man collided with a man aged 74 who was riding a bicycle.

Cambridgeshire road policing officers are appealing for witnesses.

The motorcyclist was taken to Papworth Hospital where he is in a critical condition.

• UPDATE (14/6/11)

A cyclist who died in a road accident near Burwell had no lights on and was wearing no reflective clothing, an inquest heard.

Colin Crabtree, 74, of The Paddocks, Burwell, died after being hit by a motorcyclist while cycling along the B1102 from Swaffham Prior at 4.40pm on January 26.

The rider of the Suzuki 650, 41-year-old Paul German, suffered serious injuries.

At an inquest into his death in March on Friday William Morris, coroner for north and east Cambridgeshire, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Ann Kelly, a witness and friend of Mr Crabtree, said in a statement that he had no lights on or high visibility clothing and appeared to be struggling on his bike when she overtook him in her car moments before the accident, near the Devil’s Dyke car park.

Another witness, Lesley Pulvertaft from Lode, who was travelling from Burwell to Swaffham Prior at the time, told the inquest that Mr Crabtree appeared to look vulnerable on his bike as he drifted towards the middle of the road.

“He gave no hand signals that he was going to cross the road. He was hesitant and unsteady,” said Mrs Pulvertaft.

“I saw the motorcyclist go by and when I looked in the mirror I saw the impact. There was no way that they could have avoided each other.”

In a statement read out by Mr Morris, another witness, Peter Taylor, said that at first it appeared the motorcyclist had lost control and hit the verge after seeing a large cloud of debris appear.

A post mortem examination carried out by Dr Victoria Phillips found Mr Crabtree died from multiple injuries with the main cause a laceration to his heart. Toxicology tests showed he had no alcohol in his system.

After the incident the remains of both Mr Crabtree’s Revolution bicycle and Mr German’s Suzuki motorbike were found to have no defects by Pc Francis Crawford, collisions investigation officer for Cambridgeshire Police.

Pc Crawford said: ”There is nothing other than to say that the motorbike was being driven in the correct manner. This incident was the result of the cyclist moving into the motorbike.”