75mph driver involved in fatal collision with 15-year-old cyclist was never prosecuted

The driver involved in a fatal collision with 15-year-old cyclist Kadell Bartlett near Selby in 2018 was never prosecuted, an inquest has heard. Bartlett’s friend, who had been riding with him at the time of the incident, said Matthew Clark passed “like a lightning bolt" without giving the two boys any room.

Hull Live reports that Bartlett died two days after he was hit on the A19 near to Eggborough Power Station at around 9.10pm on July 16, 2018.

Bartlett’s friend said he had been riding on the left-hand side of the carriageway, ahead of Bartlett, when he heard the vehicle approaching.

He said he turned to warn Bartlett of the vehicle’s approach by shouting "car," but didn't think he was heard.

He said the driver, "didn't give us any room," and that he felt, "a big gust of wind," as the vehicle passed.

He said he heard Clark accelerating before the collision but didn’t see it happen as he was facing forwards.

For his part, Clark said he was driving home from his job at Arnold Clark and had put the car in cruise control at 60mph when he went onto the A19.

He said he saw the two boys as he passed the junction with Selby Road and approached them at, “about 50 or 60mph”.

He said Bartlett was riding his bike close to the centre of his lane. He said he touched his brakes and entered the right-hand carriageway to try and overtake.

He said the cyclist then made an "immediate turn to the right" and that the collision resulted in the boy going over the roof of his car.

There are no right-turn options at that point in the road.

Clark said that it, "all happened in a split second".

"It was an unfortunate event,” he said. “It was two people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"It was an accident. There's no other way for me to summarise. If I was five minutes down the road it would not have happened. It's an 'if, what and but.'"

After analysing CCTV evidence pointing down Tranmore Lane – shortly before Eggborough Power Station – police estimated that Clark was travelling at "around 75mph" when he was 38 metres from the point of impact.

The footage was said not to have met the evidential threshold for a speeding charge because the vehicle needs to be measured over a minimum distance of a quarter of a mile.

Forensic collision inspector, Steve Kirkwright, predicted that Clark would have been doing around 60mph at the moment of collision.

After assessing the damage to the car, Kirkwright concluded that Bartlett would have been turning to the right at the time of the impact, but said it was possible Clark had also been turning.

He backed up Clark’s claim that the collision occurred while his car was entirely in the right-hand lane, contradicting witnesses in the car behind who said they saw the driver swerve to the left before hitting Bartlett, then swerve the right of the carriageway before stopping.

Their evidence was questioned by Clark's representative, Kevin Langton, who pointed out the two had made no mention of this in their police statements at the time.

The other boy said Bartlett may have 'smoked a bit of a spliff' earlier in the day and that he may have been wearing one or both earphones.

The coroner recorded a verdict of death due to road traffic collision.