Mum died after coming off motorbike on A52

A Grantham man has described to an inquest the moment he found his wife lying in a ditch with serious injuries after her motorbike left the road for an unknown reason.

Mum-of-two Claire Williams, 35, died in hospital within a short time, the hearing in Lincoln on Wednesday was told.

Nigel Chapman reported for The Lincolnite at the inquest hearing on Wednesday, March 17.

Mrs Williams is thought to have been face down in the dry ditch for up to an hour before worried husband Ian finally managed to find her. She told him: “I just came off it.”

A collision investigator could find no obvious reason why Mrs Williams had left the A52 at Barrowby on July 15, 2020.

The most likely occurrence was target fixation – a phenomenon whereby a rider or driver becomes focused on a hazard and inadvertently ends up heading towards it and increasing the likelihood of colliding with it.

The hearing was told that, in this case, it could have been the chevron signs and verge on the series of three bends.

Mrs Williams left the road on the middle, right-hand bend before coming off the bike about 30 metres on.

Mr Williams had been riding ahead of his wife as they took a summer’s evening ride towards The Engine Yard at Belvoir Castle.

In his written evidence, he said two or three times on the A52 he’d seen that Claire was still behind him on her KTM Duke 125. He’d bought it for her brand new in late 2019 when she passed her motorcycle compulsory basic training.

Mr Williams pulled into a layby near Sedgebrook when he lost sight of his wife. He soon turned back to look for her and went up and down the stretch of road four times.

After returning home to see if she was there, he then took his car along the route and found her after first spotting the bike’s registration plate behind shrubs.

“I asked her what happened and she replied ‘I just came off it’. She didn’t say anyone else or any animal had caused her to come off it,” Mr Williams said.

“She asked me to turn her on her back but I said no due to possible back injuries.”

Shortly after arriving at hospital, Mr Williams was told the devastating news that his wife had passed away from her extensive injuries.

“I couldn’t believe it. I’d been talking to her for a few minutes from finding her to the paramedics arriving,” he said.

Lincolnshire assistant coroner Marianne Johnson concluded that Mrs Williams died as the result of a road traffic collision.