Ricky Craig HUDSON · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On 20/08/2015 I 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

Mr Hudson was an experienced driver and motorcycle rider. He had been driving quad bikes for a 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 11th August 2015. There was evidence that if the lad 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.

(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.