Father-of-three died after being knocked off motorbike on 'dangerous' Merthyr Tydfil junction

A motorcyclist died after being knocked off his motorbike by a car at a "dangerous" junction, an inquest has heard.

Aaron Edwards, 42, was driving his red Kawasaki motorbike along the Gurnos Ring Road in Merthyr Tydfil, when he collided with a black Ford Fiesta at around 6pm on August 30, 2020.

An inquest held at Pontypridd Coroner's Court on Tuesday, September 28, heard Mr Edwards, from the Gurnos, had lost his job and his mental health suffered, as a result. But he decided to join a biker's club, and attended a couple of times a week.

His long-term partner Joanne Callahan, who was pregnant with their first child together at the time of Mr Edwards' death, said the couple had been happy in their relationship.

She added her partner, who also has a son and daughter, was looking forward to welcoming his third child in March 2021.

The inquest heard Mr Edwards had been riding his bike with friends towards the Black Mountains on August 30, 2020. A statement from Paul Davies said he had seemed "in good spirits" and that the group stopped at the Owl's Nest in Llandovery for a coffee before he left the group at Abergavenny to pick up his partner.

Paul said a few hours after getting home, he had a call from Mr Edwards' father to say he had been in an accident. Later, Mr Edwards' father called again "absolutely distraught" to say his son had passed away. Paul added he "struggled to come to terms" with Mr Edwards' death, calling him a "good friend" and he "can't believe he has gone."

A witness statement from Stephen Beynon, who attended the aftermath of the accident, said Mr Edwards' motorbike was "in a number of pieces" and Mr Edwards on the ground bleeding heavily.

Several friends and paramedics performed CPR but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ashley Rees, who was driving the black Ford Fiesta involved in the crash, told the inquest he had been driving to his nan's house with his young daughter in the front seat when he collided with Mr Edwards' motorbike as he was turning right at the junction from Goitre Lane onto Gurnos Ring Road.

Mr Rees said he knew the junction well and described it as "horrible." He added he "cautiously" checked left and right, despite drivers' view being "really restricted when turning right."

Mr Rees was asked if there was any prospect of him having seen Mr Edwards before the crash. He replied: "I didn't see him at all."

Mr Edwards' partner Joanne asked whether Mr Rees had heard the sound of Mr Edwards' exhaust, which she said was quite loud. Mr Rees said he was playing "loud music" in his car on the day.

The inquest also heard from PC Chris Westren of South Wales Police. He said investigations confirmed that Mr Edwards had been travelling at around 70mph in the immediate lead-up to the crash, more than double the speed limit on the Gurnos Ring Road, which was 30mph. He added that Mr Edwards had been wearing his helmet at the time but that it appeared to have been unfastened at the time the accident occurred.

PC Westren said reconstructions of the incident indicated that Mr Rees' car position further back from the line on the junction, poor visibility and Mr Edwards' speed meant Mr Rees would not have seen the motorcyclist before the incident happened.

He said there could be improvements made to safety at the junction: "You could potentially have traffic calming measures to slow traffic or extreme measures would be a traffic light controlled junction."

DI Alan Efstathiou from South Wales Police said Mr Rees had been interviewed by police in relation to the incident but that the CPS had decided against bringing a charge against him.

Both drug and alcohol tests conducted on Mr Rees after the event were also clear. A report by consultant pathologist Dr Richard Jones said Mr Edwards had died from blunt injuries to the face, neck and trunk.

A small amount of codeine and paracetamol were found in his system but they were ruled not to have played any part in his death.

"Catastrophic injuries"

Coroner Rachel Knight accepted the pathology report and recorded a medical cause of death of blunt injuries to the face, neck and trunk.

She said Mr Edwards was an "experienced" motorcyclist and had been driving at "excessive speed" at the time of the incident.

Ms Knight added Mr Rees had taken "sufficient care" before moving off from the junction, saying that Mr Edwards' speed meant "there was no possibility of Mr Rees seeing him before the collision occurred."

On the issue of safety at the junction, Ms Knight called it "dangerous" and issued a prevention of future death order for increased safety measures on the road such as traffic lights, speed bumps and addressing parking at nearby schools.

She said Mr Edwards had suffered "catastrophic injuries" in the incident and returned a conclusion of death by road traffic collision.