Endurance cyclist ‘difficult to see’ before fatal collision near Canberra, inquest hears
An inquest into the death of an accomplished ultra-endurance cyclist in a crash near Canberra last year has heard evidence his clothing and lights would have made him hard to see to passing drivers.
Mike Hall was killed in March last year while taking part in the inaugural Indian Pacific Wheel Race, where participants ride solo and unassisted from Fremantle to Sydney.
The inquest heard the race was described as the "Hunger Games on wheels", and marketed on its extraordinary difficulty.
Hall, a UK cyclist, was among the best ultra-endurance riders in the world, and was in second place at the time.
Both the 2017 and 2018 event were cancelled in light of the accident.
Hall was hit by a passing car at 6:20am on March 30, near the intersection of the Monaro Highway and Williamsdale Road.
The car hit him at close to 100 kilometres an hour, leaving Hall with massive head injuries, along with spinal and chest injuries — and his death would have been "almost instantaneous", the inquest heard.
Hall's bike, with a shattered rear tyre, was brought into the court.
The inquest heard it was dark at the time of the accident, that the stretch of road does not have street lights, and there is less than a metre of room between the edge of the left lane and barriers on the side of the road.
It also heard Hall was wearing dark clothing without reflective material, and his red rear light was at a similar height to reflectors on roadside barrier posts.
Counsel assisting the inquest Ken Archer told the court it was a matter of little debate that Hall would have been difficult to perceive.
"Mr Hall's bike was difficult to see, when being ridden on the highway that morning," he said.
Driver avoids police prosecution
Police have not prosecuted the driver, 19-year-old Shegu Bobb, a P-plate licensed driver from Cooma who was travelling to work in Canberra.
The inquest heard Mr Bobb lowered his lights from high-beam to low-beam approaching the Williamsdale Road intersection, and a car was waiting at the intersection to turn right.
He told police he "got a glance" of something, and then felt the impact of the collision — initially thinking he had hit a kangaroo.
He had been briefly distracted by a truck parked at a nearby closed service station, and re-focused onto the road before colliding with Hall shortly afterwards.
Senior Constable Adam Potts told the inquest they found Hall was not clearly visible to Mr Bobb, leaving him with insufficient time to avoid a collision.
Counsel assisting will also not be recommending to the coroner that the matter be referred to prosecutors.
Inquest to look at 'ultra-endurance' race rules
The rules to the 2017 Indian Pacific Wheels Race were tendered in court as evidence, and counsel assisting read some sections regarding rider safety aloud.
"No-one will help a rider if things go wrong in any way," he said while reading from the rule book.
He said the 2017 edition of the rules were "effectively silent" on safety issues, though they were changed ahead of the anticipated 2018 race.
Some riders complete up to 400 kilometres a day, sleeping for as little as four hours a night.
They ride without support vehicles.
The inquest heard the route chosen by the race organisers is not the most direct route from Fremantle to Sydney, instead taking participants on "smaller, challenging roads".
Senior Constable Adam Potts told the inquest the Monaro Highway was not a common route for road cyclists, given its heavy traffic and narrow path.
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