A WITNESS "winced and braced" himself as he watched a motorcyclist pull a "stupid and dangerous" wheelie at nearly twice the speed limit before he crashed and died, an inquest has heard.
Car dealer Antony Underwood died of multiple head, chest and back injuries at the scene after his bike collided with a car driven by Andzeilika Dapkevicine on February 16 last year a Truro inquest was told today.
The 40 year-old from Portreath was said to be doing at least 54mph in a 30mph zone seconds after he pulled away from traffic lights on Chyandour Cliff Road, Penzance, while Ms Dapkevicine was turning on to Lannoweth Road in her blue-green Audi A6.
Andrew Biggs, a walker who witnessed the collision, said: "I heard a roar to my right side and a motorcycle flew past me so quickly I could not see the colour of the bike. I was amazed to see the motorcyclist was pulling a wheelie with the front wheel off the ground.
"There was a car that has just started to turn right. As soon as I saw that I realised that it was inevitable that the motorbike was going to hit the vehicle – I actually winced and braced myself for the impact.
"There was a bang as the bike struck the car. It wasn't as loud as I expected, I also can't remember hearing any noises such as skidding or breaking.
"The manner of his riding was stupid and dangerous due to his excessive speed and pulling a wheelie."
The court also heard evidence Marius Simankis, who was travelling with his partner, Agne Plikaityte, and Ms Dapkevicine daughter, Karolina, in the Audi car at the time of the crash.
He said: "We were going home in the car from Hayle. "When Andzeilika started turning in to the side road I automatically turned my head and looked towards the road, I saw a motorcycle very far away.
"I had no thoughts or doubts that the motorcycle would approach so quickly, it was very far away from us.
"Everything happened in seconds, I heard the scream of Agne and I banged my head on the window and the car seat. Everything happened very rapidly.
"When I got out of the car I saw a smashed motorcycle, but first of all I took the girls further from the accident so they couldn't see that the motorcyclist was lying on his back and his eyes were open.
"It seemed to me that he was not breathing already and blood was coming out of his ears."
Marcus Rowe, a collision investigator, told the court that it took Mr Underwood seven seconds to travel the 170 metres from where he was stationary at the traffic lights to where the collision took place.
Mr Rowe was unable to give the exact speed Mr Underwood was travelling at the time of the collision but he was "confident" that it exceeded 54 mph.
He added that he would have expected Ms Dapkevicine to have seen the motorcyclist while making her turning manoeuvre.
Mr Underwood, who was originally from Romford, Essex, was known to be a heavy drinker, but toxicology reports and a forensic post-mortem found no evidence of drink or drugs in his system after the crash.
Two mobile phones and £4,000 in cash were found in the 40 year-old's rucksack at the scene.
Assistant Cornwall Coroner Andrew Cox said: "This collision, like so many others, is multifactorial.
"The conclusion I return is that I find that Antony Underwood has died as a result of a road traffic collision."
