A British man who died in a road traffic collision in Bermuda was riding a rental bike with a faulty brake, an inquest has heard. Matthew Cooper, 58, died in hospital in the north Atlantic territory on October 29, 2021, after colliding with a car and sustaining traumatic brain injuries 12 days earlier.
At an inquest into his death at East London Coroner’s Court on Tuesday, police statements from Bermuda said the condition of the bike’s front brake “would have reduced the breaking efficiency by about 90%”. Graeme Irvine, senior coroner for east London, said it was “disappointing” and “an omission” that Bermudan police had not investigated rental company Oleander Cycles further.
More evidence given by witnesses said Mr Cooper had turned to look for a hat which had flown off his head immediately before the collision. But Mr Irvine concluded the cause of death was the result of a road traffic collision and not the fault of either Oleander Cycles or Mr Cooper’s own actions, “given the absence of evidence”.
Three members of Mr Cooper’s family, including his two children, joined the inquest via video link. The inquest heard that Mr Cooper, an unmarried wine buyer from Bow, east London, had arrived in Bermuda as a visitor on October 12 2021 and rented a black mountain bike from Oleander Cycles two days later.
On October 17, he was cycling in an easterly direction in Smith’s Parish before he reached a bend on a hilly road. A statement given to Bermudan police by Gayle Ventures, who had been driving the blue Suzuki car involved in the collision, read out at the inquest said she thought Mr Cooper “was riding very quickly, at least 25 miles per hour” prior to the incident.
She said she recalled “seeing the bike wobble as he turned to look for his hat” before Mr Cooper “flew into the front of my car…. and landed on his back”. There were no independent witnesses to the collision.
In another statement from Bermudan police officer Stephen Paynter, the inquest heard the weather had been fine and clear the day of the collision and that a black baseball cap was found near the scene of the collision. The car, which sustained “significant frontal damage” from the collision, did not appear to have any serious defects.
However, the front V brake appeared to be “faulty” on Mr Cooper’s mountain bike, the statement said. Whether Mr Cooper had been aware of the braking issue and decided to continue using the bike regardless and whether the hat had caused a distraction were both “indeterminate”, the inquest heard.
The speed and the characteristics of the road were the main contributing factors to the collision, a statement from Bermudan coroner’s officer Lyndon Raynor said. Mr Cooper was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs but may have been travelling too fast, while the driver of the Suzuki car was not a contributing factor, the statement said.
He was pronounced dead at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on October 29, with the cause of death given as traumatic brain injury following a road traffic accident. A post-mortem examination found Mr Cooper had suffered numerous haemorrhages in the brain, including a subdural haemorrhage on the left-hand side, as well as broken ribs on both sides of his chest and bleeding in his liver and right kidney.
Mr Irvine said numerous attempts had been made by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to find out more about the circumstances surrounding the death. Giving his concluding remarks, Mr Irvine said he would have acquired evidence and statements from Oleander Cycles had the collision occurred in the UK, as issues with the mountain bike’s front brake were “impeding the braking power of the bicycle”.
He said it was “a lapse on the part of the Bermuda police” that no follow-up investigations into the rental company or bike itself were made. Mr Irvine added: “The authorities in Bermuda did not seek information or evidence from Oleander Cycles. I see this as an omission.”
Oleander Cycles has been contacted for comment.
