51-Year-Old David Worthington Died While Taking Part In The Amateur Cycling Event

The family of a keen amateur cyclist, who died during last year’s The 2017 Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Ride, have spoken of their desire to see lessons learned after an inquest into his death concluded.

David Worthington, 51 from Pontefract, was taking part in the amateur ride, which gives thousands of cyclists a chance to ride part of the Tour de Yorkshire course ahead of the professionals, on 30th April 2017.

During the ride, David collided with a coach and was badly injured. He died six days later in hospital. The coach was pulling out onto Finkley Street Lane, near Penistone, when the collision occurred around 11:05am. 

An inquest into David’s death was held at Sheffield Coroner’s Court, where senior coroner Chris Dorries recorded a narrative verdict.

Following the accident, Mr Worthington’s family instructed specialist lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to support them through the inquest.

Claire Newstead, a Partner and road accident specialist at Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office who is representing David’s family, said: 

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“David’s family have had to wait a long time for some answers regarding his death. With this inquest, they have finally got those answers.

“In recent years we have seen the importance of cycling to the region and the organisers Human Race have done a fantastic job of promoting this putting Yorkshire on the world map for cycling.

“This is what makes it all the more important now that the lessons highlighted during this inquest are learned to ensure the sport’s continued success in the region, while also ensuring cyclists are kept safe when taking part in the sport they love.” Claire Newstead - Partner

During the inquest, collision investigator Darrell McPherson described the road layout where the accident occurred as ‘a potential hazard hotspot location’ when busy.

Caren Worthington, David’s wife, said: “The family and I welcome the findings of this inquest. It will be forever a source of pain and distress knowing that, potentially, if things had been done differently, David’s death could have been prevented. He loved his cycling and was so excited about the high profile races that were being held in Yorkshire.

“My husband was one of the safest, careful and conscientious people you could ever wish to meet. I am convinced that if he had one tiny chance of stopping, or averting what happened, he would have done so. He was a fantastic husband and father, who will be missed every single day.

“I hope that lessons can be learned from this incident to prevent anyone else feeling the pain that I have felt since David’s death.”

David's daughter, Lucy Worthington, added "My Dad was a true inspiration to me in everything he did in life, and I know his concentration during the event that day would have been 100%, as that is just the kind of person he was. 

“I miss him every single day, and I hope that more consideration for amateur cyclists can be made in the future, to prevent another family suffering this kind of devastating loss."

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