AN inquest heard conflicting accounts of how a motorcyclist died after colliding with a car on a popular biking road.

Philip Twidale was 34 when he died while riding his Suzuki GSXR600 on the B1222 at Cawood on May 29, 2018.

An inquest held in Northallerton on Tuesday, July 9, heard that Mr Twidale, an offshore rig worker from Beal, had been riding to Sherburn-in-Elmet with his brother Matthew who was leading.

Matthew Twidale told the hearing that he was nearly hit by a Mercedes emerging from Long Lane, turning right on to Bishopdyke Road.

He said: “I came round the bend and I saw the Mercedes there and it starts to pull out.”

Matthew Twidale said the car stopped and he managed to avoid it by swerving around its front.

Tragically, his brother Philip, who arrived at the same junction about 25 seconds later, crashed into the car and was flung into a ditch.

He died instantly of multiple injuries.

The inquest heard that the car driver, Michael Fogg, and his wife Joan, who was in the passenger seat, had bought the Mercedes that morning.

They were taking it on a ‘familiarisation drive’ when the accident happened.

Both Mr and Mrs Fogg said that they did not see Matthew Twidale until he was right in front of them and they did not see Philip Twidale until he was ‘filling the windscreen’.

Mr Fogg denied that his car had stopped in the road or pulled out on either of the motorbikes.

He said that he had completed his right-hand turn and was on the correct side of the road when Philip Twidale came around the bend on the wrong side of the road.

Mr Fogg said: “The image I have in my head is seeing him straighten up and I realised he was heading for the centre of my car.

“At that point, sir, I thought my wife and I were dead.”

Forensic Collision Investigator, TC Dave Taylor, said there was a distance of 105 metres from the junction in which Mr Fogg could have seen both motorbikes.

Investigations established Philip Twidale was travelling at an of average speed of 52mph and could not have hit the car any faster than 60mph – the speed limit on that stretch.

TC Taylor said evidence suggested that ‘events occurred’ in front of Philip Twidale that forced him to take evasive action and led to him colliding with the front driver’s side of the car.

He said: “Me, as a VIP motorcyclist, I would have taken the same line, if something pulls out on me I am going to try and get round it.”

Coroner Jonathan Heath concluded that Mr Twidale died as a result of a road traffic collision.

A statement was read to the court from Mr Twidale’s wife, Lucy.

In it she said: “That day will never be far from my mind; that day changed my life forever; that day I lost my soulmate; that day my life fell apart.”