An inquest into the death of 22-year-old Corey Searle has been unable to determine how he lost control of his moped on a bend on the A3059 St Columb Major to Newquay road nearly a year ago.
Corey, known for his humour, love of cooking, fishing and bikes, died in a crash while returning home from work delivering pizzas. The collision happened near the junction with Priory Road, just past the Newquay Holiday Park, at 12.20am on August 24 last year.
He had been returning from his shift as a pizza delivery driver for Domino's when his moped wobbled on a bend, causing him to veer into the opposite lane and collide with a single-decker off-duty bus travelling in the other direction.
The hearing, held in Truro on Tuesday, August 11, heard that neither Corey nor the bus driver were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Their vehicles had no major defects, and the road, which has a national speed limit of 60mph, was in good condition with no major defect.
However, Corey's moped's rear tyre was slightly underinflated, which MPC Matt Seaton told the inquest may have made the moped more "sluggish". While a small pothole was found at the scene, crash investigators could not say whether Corey hit it or if it had any bearing on the collision.
Adrian Rogers from Cormac told the hearing that the road has several bends, but all are correctly highlighted to drivers with slow down signs, markings and chevrons. He said the stretch of the A3059 where the crash happened had five minor collisions in the last five years but is not considered a particularly dangerous crash hotspot.
The inquest heard from Corey's mother, Sue, how Corey, one of four siblings, had always been close to his family. She said the 22-year-old was funny and enthusiastic and would make impressions of anyone he got to know.
In her statement read out at the inquest, she said: "Corey was kind and caring and would help anyone. He always gave people a chance. He always put others before himself."
Sue said the family moved to Cornwall when Corey was 16, and his passions were cooking and fishing. He would always bring plenty of mackerel for her to cook or freeze. She told the inquest how Corey had worked his way up to sous-chef at a local fish restaurant and had completed an apprenticeship through Truro College.
"Corey spent his last afternoon making brownies telling us not to eat them until he returned from work," she added. "But he never came home. We never ate the brownies."
The inquest heard how Corey had always been into motorbikes, but while he had passed his provisional driving licence, he had not yet taken his Compulsory Basic Training course, making him an inexperienced rider. CBT is a mandatory one-day training session required before you can ride a moped or motorcycle on public UK roads.
Sue added: "Life is lot quieter without Corey. He loved all kinds of music and he had been due to attend music festivals. At 22 he was just starting out in life. He still had so much to do. So many future milestones that will never happen. Corey was the best brother, son and friend that you could hope for."
A postmortem examination revealed no significant toxicology. Corey died from multiple injuries consistent with a road traffic collision. Despite efforts by a passing police officer, the bus driver, and later paramedics to revive him, he was declared deceased at the scene.
Nicholas Bennett, the Go Cornwall bus driver who was finishing his shift that morning and taking his bus back to the depot, told the inquest how he braked into the sweeping bend and saw a light coming towards him. He said the moped driven by Corey went across the central white line and moved into his lane. He had less than three seconds to brake, and despite his efforts to take evasive action, he could not avoid Corey's bike as it veered into his lane for almost three metres before impact.
"There was nothing I could have done to avoid the collision," he told the hearing.
Domino’s delivery rider, 22, died after moped veered into path of bus