MOTORCYCLIST Glen Schwartz died instantly after colliding into the trailer of a tractor which was obscured from his view during rush hour on the A4, an inquest has heard.

Mr Schwartz, from Coalpit Heath, was driving his black 1,000cc Yamaha close to the Hicks Gate roundabout with the A4174 Avon Ring Road when the accident happened just after 9am on Thursday, April 30.

The forklift truck driver, who lived with his wife Kay at their home in St Anne’s Drive, manoeuvred into the nearside lane of the dual carriageway to undertake a skip lorry just before the roundabout, the hearing at Flax Bourton Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday, before colliding with the trailer of the slow-moving tractor.

Another motorcyclist, Samuel Parker, was riding home to Keynsham after finishing a shift at Sainsbury’s.

“I moved into lane 2 and heard another motorbike coming,” he said in a written statement. “It went shooting past me in lane 1 and then I saw it move back into lane 2.

“I was doing 70mph so that motorbike was moving a lot quicker, I would estimate at 80, 90 or even 100mph.”

Mr Parker said ahead he could see the roundabout ahead and saw the skip lorry driver pulling into lane 2.

“I could see the tractor and trailer and the motorcyclist must have seen this and braked very hard. The bike went out of control and I saw him sliding on his bike.”

Accident investigator PC Richard Nuttall told the court, based on witness evidence and findings taken from the scene, he believed Mr Schwartz thought the skip lorry was turning right at the roundabout when in fact it was moving into lane 2 to overtake the hidden tractor, which was mechanically limited to 25mph.

He added: “The manner of driving of the lorry driver and the tractor driver was not unsafe or a factor in this collision.

“In my opinion Mr Schwartz’s manner of riding was inappropriate in terms of speed and standard. He did not give himself enough time or distance for a safe outcome.”

In a report, pathologist Dr Karen Denton said Mr Schwartz died instantaneously of multiple injuries including two fractures to the skull.

Assistant coroner Terence Moore said: “Despite taking evasive action by braking harshly he has lost control and a collision has taken place with the rear of the tractor trailer.”

Mr Moore said he would record simply that there was a road traffic collision.