Soon-to-be dad died when motorbike hit lorry on 'very slippery' road after 'concerning' road surface works

Paul Ransom, 25, died at the scene when he came off his blue Suzuki motorbike on the A272 just before Langrish, near Petersfield, around 7.15am on Wednesday May 24, 2023.

The recently married husband, who had only just found out his wife Sophie was expecting a baby girl, lost control on a downhill bend of the road that was “like riding on marbles”. It was estimated he had been travelling just over the 40mph speed limit on a road he “knew well” and regularly travelled on.

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Winchester Coroner’s Court heard how Paul died of multiple injuries having slid onto the opposite carriageway before he was struck by the front of the heavy goods vehicle travelling at 31mph.

Amid “concerns” over the road surface, police immediately closed down the road between Langrish and Bordean Lane before it was deemed safe to reopen three days later.

The inquest heard overnight works for asphalt resurfacing had taken place on the road but despite being “touch dry” around midnight, was found to be “very slippery” following the accident around seven hours later.

The tragic incident sparked questions over the Hampshire County Council instructed works, which were subcontracted out, and whether warning signs should have been put up for drivers approaching the A272 section.

Kevin Campbell, the lorry driver, described how he was going uphill westbound on a bend of the single A272 carriageway. After spotting Paul on his motorbike, he said initially “all was normal” with him having “no concerns”.

But then he noticed the motorbike “slide out from the rider” before the bike and Paul careered down the road and collided with the front of his lorry. “I tried to stop,” he said in a statement read out.

The driver described the state of the road as “appalling” and said he was left with an “oily texture on the sole of my feet”. He said: “I’ve never seen anything like it before.” He added: “It was only when I got out the vehicle (I realised) the road surface was slippery. I nearly fell over.”

Driver Karen Gilchrist, who stopped her car to help, said: “I noticed Paul laying on the road surface and noticed there was no movement.” She described the road surface as “greasy” and said she was told the works had only finished a few hours earlier.

Meanwhile Havant-based Sgt Stephen Philips, of Hampshire’s road policing unit, was alerted to the crash and made his way on his motorbike to the scene. When close to the accident, he said he noticed a “loss of traction” from the surface which “gave the sensation of having a puncture”.

He added: “The tyres were collecting debris. It was like riding on marbles. I held the motorbike upright to avoid skidding.”

After walking on the surface Sgt Philips added: “I felt the floor slippery underfoot.”

Michael Toy, a police forensic collision investigator, said there was loose aggregate spread over the top of the road, before adding: “It was very slippery and noticeably gravely under foot.”

He described the state of the road as “concerning” and said he had never attended a road in that state before. He added: “It was immediately obvious there was a new road surface. Loose aggregate stuck to the soles of my shoes and tyres which you would not normally expect to see. You would have to be more careful (riding on the surface).”

The inquest heard how the works were “not a priority piece of work” for the council and were done to preempt the road deteriorating into a critical condition. The aim had been to seal the surface and stop water ingress.

Stuart Giddings, head of highways at Hampshire County Council, was asked by coroner Henry Charles if he thought the road was dry on the morning of the crash. The highways boss replied: “If everyone is saying it was still slippery then it was not 100 per cent dry.”

When asked if he would expect the road to be slippery, Mr Giddings replied: “It’s not something I would expect.” And when questioned what might explain the greasy condition, he said: “I have no idea…we have laid (surfaces) in many sites in Hampshire and never had any problems like this before.”

The court heard warning signs were not usually put up in such resurface situations - which is the case across the country. When asked if there should be signage, Mr Giddings said: “This was a one-off. We’ve been doing this for many many years. We’ve never had a problem before so I would say no.”

Martin Green, of Transport Research Laboratories, was employed by Hampshire police to look into the incident. He said the binding component of the asphalt surface, known as bitumen, might have been impacted by “humidity and temperature”.

Michael Wangermann, the lawyer acting on behalf of Paul’s wife Sophie, asked Mr Green: “At 12pm the night before the road was touch dry and then in the morning it was slippery. Therefore something unusual has happened?” Mr Green replied: “Yes.”

The coroner said there were “clearly lots of unanswered questions” especially relating to whether the bitumen had dried properly and was holding the grit in place.

Recording a narrative verdict, he said: “(Paul) lost control of his motorcycle while doing up to around 45mph and crossed into the opposite carriageway and collided with a lorry and sustained multiple injuries.

“Conditions were excellent, sunny and dry and surfacing works had been completed less than six hours before the collision. The surface was very slippery and this had caused or substantially contributed to the collision.”

After some consideration and a “tight decision”, the coroner issued a Prevention into Future Deaths report to relevant authorities across the country to make road users aware of works in similar situations for what he described as a “national issue”.

Paul’s wife Sophie said his death had left a void that was “immeasurable” and recalled in a statement their last words together the previous evening. “Night, night, love you,” they said to each other.

The heartbroken widow said their baby girl Poppy was born following Paul’s death, with Sophie saying: “Paul would have made the best daddy.” And she lamented how he would “never get to see (Poppy) take her first steps” or “walk her down the aisle” when getting married.

Speaking of bringing up Poppy alone, Sophie said: “Being a sole parent is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It is mentally and physically exhausting. I can never replace the loving relationship of a daughter and her father.”

She added: “I miss Paul everyday. I wish I could go back in time and make him take a different route.”