Death crash biker twice alcohol limit
A MOTORCYCLIST was twice the legal drink drive limit when he died after crashing into roundabout signs.
Lukasz Pielach, 28, of Sequoia Park, Southgate, Crawley, suffered severe chest and vertebrae injuries after losing control of his Yamaha 600.
He was travelling westbound on the A264 when he overtook a driver and collided with the signs.
Paramedics treated him at the scene but he was pronounced dead on August 25 2011.
He had drunk at least three large cans of Polish lager and had a blood alcohol level consistent with intoxication of 1.78 per cent, an inquest heard.
A driver who was approaching the Tollgate Hill roundabout at about 11pm said she saw Mr Peilach appear in a her rear view mirror.
Toni Temple said: “I though he was going quite fast so I pulled over. As he passed by he lifted his hand up and gestured to me. I remember the bike started wobbling. He put his hand back to try and get back control and then he just hit into the roundabout. It happened so quickly.”
Mr Pielach’s landlady Eloise Kimbowa said she shared a drink with her tenant on the night he died.
She told the inquest he drank several beers and at around 11pm left on his motorcycle to buy more beer.
Ms Kimbowa said: “He started putting his biker gear on and I said why don’t you just walk. I said it a couple of times but he said don’t worry I’ll be fine.”
PC Mark Hill, of the Forensic Collision Investigation and Reconstruction Unit, said there were no faults with the bike, the street lighting was adequate, the road surface was wet but not logged and Mr Peliach was most likely travelling within the speed limit.
He said: “I feel very much the alcohol in his blood is likely to have been a factor in the collision.
“The primary cause was the wobble which appears to have been from lifting up his arm. Alcohol was a secondary factor, but nonetheless a causing factor in this collision.”
Assistant deputy coroner for West Sussex Michael Kendall recorded a verdict of accidental death, at Horsham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday February 8.
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