Tragic motorcyclist Damian Crawley hit car at up to 64mph

The inquest, at Ballymena Courthouse, heard that Mr Crawley, 49, struck the car when it pulled out on to Loughareena Road near Ballycastle in 2014.

On May 31, the deceased, whose address was listed as Drumalla Park in Carnlough, had been travelling on the Loughareena Road towards Ballycastle with a friend when Mr Crawley, who was riding a Kawasaki 636, pulled away.

As he was went around a sweeping left-hand bend he passed in front of a house, where a Suzuki SX4 vehicle had pulled out of the driveway.

The inquest heard that the deceased’s motorcycle struck the rear driver’s side passenger door of the Suzuki vehicle, throwing him from the motorcycle. He came to rest on a nearby grass verge while his bike came to rest in the centre of the road.

The car was spun over 70 degrees in a clockwise direction, the inquest was told.

A forensic scientist estimated the speed of the motorcyclist in the range of 49-64mph at impact. Emergency services were contacted and an ambulance arrived on the scene but on examination by paramedics there were no signs of life and resuscitation was not attempted. He was pronounced dead at 1.01pm.

Mr Crawley had been wearing a full set of racing leathers and a motorcycle helmet.

The inquest had taken place in Ballymena on Wednesday, and the Courts Service informed the News Letter of the outcome the following day.