Call to re-air 1975 Think Bike ad

A historic advertisement warning road users to be aware of motorcyclists should be aired again, a senior coroner has said.

John Leckey said the 1975 public information film which carried the message Think Once; Think Twice; Think Bike was still relevant.

He said: "It is something I sometimes say to myself. It is a good catchphrase. It is a warning and advertisement that should be repeated because it has not aged with time."

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The remarks were made during an inquest for Neil Graham, from Blackskull Road, Dromore, Co Down, who was killed in a motorbike accident two years ago.

The 24-year-old mechanical engineer suffered fatal head injuries when he collided with a Nissan Qashqai car at Woodland Park off the Hillsborough Road in Lisburn on May 11 2012.

The hearing in Belfast's Laganside court complex was told Mr Graham, who had been wearing a crash helmet and leathers, was travelling at a speed of between 55 and 77 miles an hour when he hit the car that was turning right.

Forensic scientist Dr Emerson Calendar said he believed the motorcycle should have been visible to the motorist for at least 3.5 seconds before the impact.

But Dr Calendar also told the court it was a "fairly common" type of collision for a car driver to pull out in front of a motorcyclist.

"Car drivers tend not to see the motorcyclists," he added. "There are various theories but I am not sure any of them have been proven."

Driver Rebecca Richards, who was 17 at the time of the crash, wept uncontrollably as she gave evidence to the inquest via video-link.

A visibly distraught Miss Richards pleaded to be excused from listening to detailed forensic evidence and at times sat with her head in her hands.

She told the court she had deliberately blanked out the accident.

She said: "I have honestly blanked it out. I don't want to remember and I didn't want to listen to what was said but I had to.

"I didn't see him."

The court was told Miss Richards, who was accompanied in the car by her younger brother, had been trying to turn right and was travelling at a speed of between 13mph and 21mph.

During police interviews she claimed to have looked up the road twice but did not notice any oncoming traffic.

She added: "I don't remember anything. I just remember that I did not see him."

Barrister Neil Rafferty, acting for the Graham family, said they accepted it had been a "terrible accident".

He told the court: "The deceased's father said to me 'I wish she would just understand that this was just an accident. He was going too fast; she turned right when she shouldn't have. It was just an accident'."

Asked if she had anything else to say, Ms Richards sobbed: "I just wish it had never happened."

However, Mr Leckey replied: "That's one of the tragedies - that we cannot rewind time."

In his findings, the coroner concluded Mr Graham died as a result of head injuries sustained in the collision.

Mr Leckey said: "While he was travelling at a relatively high speed between 55 and 77 miles per hour he should have been visible to the car for a minimum of 3.5 seconds."

The coroner also expressed "deep sympathies" to the Graham family.

He added: "I hope that the fact that the inquest has now concluded will be of assistance in the grieving process. It is an event that had to happen and it has now happened. You can both try to move on."