Cyclist's death warning (From Herald Series)

Cyclist's death warning

3:00pm Wednesday 23rd July 2008

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CYCLISTS were warned not to use MP3 players after the death of an Oxfordshire teenager.

Abigail Haythorne, a former Icknield Community College pupil, was killed when she rode her red-and-silver mountain bike in front of a silver Vauxhall Cavalier on the A4074, near RAF Benson.

The 17-year-old had an MP3 player - a portable digital music player - in her pocket and the earphones in her scarf, leading Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner to issue a warning about using them.

Christopher Mills, of Church View, Berinsfield, told the court he had been driving to work at Huntercombe Young Offenders' Institution at about 7.10am on October 28, 2007, when Miss Haythorne had pulled out from the cycle lane alongside the road into the main carriageway.

He said: "I had not expected her to come straight out.

"I hit the brakes as hard as I could."

PC Gavin Newman, the investigating officer, said he had found an MP3 player in the pocket of Miss Haythorne's jeans, but could not be sure whether she had been using it at the time of the accident. He said: "Later on, we found that the display light was illuminated, but I could not tell if it was on. I could not work out if it had been playing at the time.

"Her earphones were found tucked inside her neck scarf."

PC Mark Howard, a collision investigator, said the accident had happened at a pedestrian crossing close to the Preston Crowmarsh turn, and estimated Mr Mills's car had been travelling at no more than 45mph.

He said: "I can't be 100 per cent certain of the angle of the bike to the car. It certainly was not struck from behind."

He added a person of normal hearing would have had no trouble hearing a car at that speed.

In written evidence to the court, Miss Haythorne's mother, Ginam said her daughter had been on her way to work at Downlands Kennels, in Cholsey.

Mrs Haythorne added: "She was very keen on music, and was almost always wearing an iPod or MP3 player with headphones."

The 37-year-old added although she had never seen her daughter cycle wearing headphones, it would not surprise her if she did.

Dr Elizabeth Soilleux, a consultant pathologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, said Miss Haythorne had died from severe head injuries.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Oxfordshire coroner, Nicholas Gardiner, said: "I don't think Mr Mills would have had any chance to avoid that collision.

"Why she did not see the car, I do not know.

"There was a possibility she was wearing headphones at the time, and I would stress that it is actually quite dangerous for motorcyclists and cyclists in that it blocks out a whole series of sounds about what is happening around you."

Speaking after the case, Mrs Haythorne paid tribute to her daughter, known as Abi, who lived with her family - including father, Derek, 40, and brothers, George, 15, and Will, 14 - at their home in Passey Crescent, Benson.

She said: "She was very outgoing, and had lots of friends. She was very full of life.

"She had a love for animals."

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