A SENIOR coroner has urged friends of a man who tragically died while riding his quad-bike with no helmet to stay safe on the road in his memory.
Kieran Albert, known to friends as Kiki or Keeks, suffered fatal injuries after he was flung from his Yamaha Raptor quad-bike on Great Horton Road, near the University of Bradford on April 19 last year.
An inquest into the 31-year-old’s death opened on May 4, 2021 at HM Coroner’s Court, Bradford, but was adjourned to allow the police investigation to be completed.
The hearing reopened on Tuesday in the same building and Senior Coroner Martin Fleming concluded that Mr Albert had died as a result of a road traffic collision.
Forensic Collision Investigator Andrew Oversby told the court Mr Albert was following closely behind a red-and-white buggy, in a convoy of eight to nine similar vehicles, heading into the city centre at 5.41pm when he believes he tried to correct his position and oversteered or overreacted.
This led to him losing control and the quad-bike raised up around three feet onto its offside wheels.
Mr Oversby said: “We have Kieran’s quad-bike emerging from the red-and-white buggy, at which time he’s quite obviously wrestling with control.”
Mr Fleming said: “It was in quite a precarious position and it would not matter how experienced you were, you wouldn’t stay on a quad-bike.”
He added: “And that left him in a position he couldn’t correct and that’s the tragedy.”
The quad-bike then veered onto the other side of the road and hit the left-side headlight of a Volkswagen Caddy van, which was queueing in rush-hour traffic.
The driver of the van, who was delivering ice-cream to businesses, said: “All of a sudden, something crossed in front of me, I saw dust come up.”
Mr Albert then left his quad-bike and is thought to have hit a wall before coming to rest on the footpath.
The 31-year-old was pronounced dead almost immediately at the scene, despite the efforts of a police officer and friends from the convoy.
Mr Albert was not wearing a helmet on the quad-bike and a friend in court suggested he would never wear one because of his hair.
Mr Fleming said: “He wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time, there isn’t any law that should say so, but he might have done so.”
Both Detective Sergeant Paul Lightowler, of the Major Collision Enquiry Team, and Mr Oversby said footage looks to show Mr Albert trying to do a wheelie momentarily when he drove past a Premier shop.
CCTV footage also showed Mr Albert standing on the pegs of the quad-bike before sitting back down, just before the crash.
The court heard riders would often do this to see where others were and Mr Fleming deemed this to have had no impact on Mr Albert losing control, likening it to a horse rider standing up in the stirrups.
DS Lightowler said the convoy met up at a Shell garage and it looked to be a random get-together of friends.
They headed up Leeds Road to Pudsey but for some reason did a u-turn and came back towards Bradford.
DS Lightowler said the group, and Mr Albert, were driving carelessly and inconsiderately but not recklessly.
Mr Fleming said: “They were going through red lights, overtaking other road users, going on the wrong side of the road.
“They were making something of a splash on the road.
“Other than that, there were no real difficulties with it.”
He added: “Indications that he wasn’t driving recklessly.
“It seems to me he’s been enjoying the moment and has been taken by events later down the line.”
The senior coroner had some poignant messages for Mr Albert’s friends in court and the public.
He said: “I can see with my own eyes he was a much-loved son with many friends and his mother was the focus of his life and I heard how they were very close to each other and now that this sudden unexpected death, as that is essentially what it was, has devastated you all.”
On riding quad-bikes and not using a helmet, he said: “In his memory, you wear one and nevermind any hair do, that’s how you stay safe.”
He added: “I just hope when you’re out there you think about your mate.
“Look at what devastation it has caused.”
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