Teenager's death was an accident

9:13pm Friday 4th July 2008

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A ROSS-ON-WYE teenager who died after his moped was in collision with a car in the outside lane of a dual carriageway may have been trying to turn off the road.

Investigator PC Alan Paton told a Hereford inquest into the death of Dean Andrew Fulford there were several gaps in roadside barriers before the busy A40 Wilton Roundabout and he could have been planning a short cut to avoid it.

He said the 16-year-old pulled out "way too early", 500 metres before, and an alternative route was a "more likely" possibility.

The youngster was riding home from girlfriend Rebecca Howson's when his Keen Bad Boy CX was in collision with a Mitsubishi Colt driven by Phillip Evans at around 9.45pm in August last year.

He was then hit by a second car, a Citroen Saxo driven by Adrian Wells, as he lay in the road.

The inquest was told that Mr Evans had been charged with careless driving following the accident.

Pathologist Helen Whitwell said the teenager died at the scene from multiple injuries and there was no suggestion he would have survived if he not been run over by another vehicle.

Driver Thomas Bratton, who passed the moped shortly before the crash with two passengers, said he would not have seen the moped, because its back light was very dim, had his lights not been fully on.

But Mr Fulford's father Andrew said he replaced the bulb two weeks earlier and the rider's clothing bore reflective strips between six and 12 inches long.

PC Paton said the wattage was correct and the bike was operating properly.

His colleague Michael Saunders said its indicators had been removed, possibly by a previous owner, but that was not illegal.

Herefordshire Coroner David Halpern recorded a verdict of accidental death.