Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2015

Ricky Hudson

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, written 1 Dec 2015. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report1 Dec 2015
DeceasedRicky Hudson
CoronerEmma Brown
Coroner areaBirmingham and Solihull
CategoryRoad (Highways Safety) related deaths
Sourcejudiciary.uk record · original PDF
Responses publishednone published

The report

Text recovered by OCR from a scanned PDF. OCR is imperfect: check anything you rely on against the source PDF. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.

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REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS

THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO:
(1) Department for Transport
(2) Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
(3) Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency

1 CORONER

tam Emma Brown Area Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull

}___}

2 CORONER’S LEGAL POWERS

| make this report under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and regulations
28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013.

3 INVESTIGATION and INQUEST

On 20/08/2015 | commenced an investigation into the death of Ricky Craig HUDSON. The investigation
concluded at the end of the inquest 26th November 2015. The conclusion of the inquest was that Mr. |
Hudson passed away at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham on the 13th August 2015 as a result of
injuries sustained when he fell from his quad bike on the 11th August 2015 having lost control of it. It |
was a new and powerful bike that the deceased had not ridden much and he was not wearing a crash
helmet. It is likely that the injuries sustained by the deceased would not have been fatal if he had been
wearing a crash helmet. The Coroner’s short form conclusion was road traffic collision and the medical
cause of death recorded was 1(a) TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, 2 DIABETES

4 CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH

Mr Hudson was an experienced driver and motorcycle rider. He had been driving quad bikes fora
number of years. The Yamaha quad bike he was riding at the time of his death was new and powerful
and he had not ridden it much at the time of the accident on the 11'" August 2015. There was evidence
that if the law had required him to wear a helmet Mr Hudson would have done so and that if he had
been wearing a helmet his death would have probably been prevented. Mr Hudson was not speeding or
driving the quad bike dangerously at the time of the accident and there were no hazards or third party
actions that contributed, the road conditions and weather were normal. The mechanism of injury was
that the front wheels of the quad bike rose up, possibly upon hitting a speed bump, and Mr Hudson fell
sideways onto the road.

P. C. Robbins, an experienced Road Traffic Officer and Collision Investigator, gave evidence that he has
dealt with several cases of serious or fatal injury to quad bike riders who may have avoided serious injury
if they had been wearing crash helmets.

5 CORONER’S CONCERNS

During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern. In my opinion
there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken. In the circumstances it is my statutory
duty to report to you.

The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows. —

(1) That quad bike riders are not required to wear crash helmets when driving on public roads.
(2) That there are no additional driving qualifications required to drive a quad bike.

ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and | believe you have the power to take
such action.

YOUR RESPONSE

You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report, namely by 2
February 2016, |, the coroner, may extend the period.

Your response must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken, setting out the timetable for
action. Otherwise you must explain why no action is proposed.

COPIES and PUBLICATION

| have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the following Interested Persons: Mr.
Hudson’s wife and the West Midlands Police Regional Collision Investigation Unit.

1am also under a duty to send the Chief Coroner a copy of your response.

The Chief Coroner may publish either or both in a complete or redacted or summary form. He may send a
copy of this report to any person who he believes may find it useful or of interest. You may make
representations to me, the coroner, at the time of your response, about the release or the publication of
your response by the Chief Coroner.

01/12/2015

Emma Brow#i Atea Coroner Birmingham and Solihull

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