"Substantial" alcohol ingestion deemed major factor in death of motorcyclist who crashed into A27 barrier, an inquest hears

The court heard this afternoon (October 8) how Andrew Wise was riding his Suzuki motorbike to West Bay in Dorset with friends, when he ploughed into the barrier on the westbound carriageway near the A27/M27 interchange at Cosham.

The collision, which happened at around 10.30am on the morning of August 25, 2024, resulted in a major road closure while emergency services were on the scene.

It was found that Mr Wise, from Emsworth, travelled from his home to Leigh Park with John Killner to meet another friend at Rownhams services when the collision happened.

Mr Killner told the court: “He was upbeat, he was looking forward to a ride. We hadn’t been out in a few weeks because of the weather and work.

“I can’t get my head around it, he was absolutely fine.”

Acting senior coroner, Jason Pegg, explained that a toxicology report revealed the 61-year-old was 3.3 times over the legal drinking limit at the time of his death, having had a drink the night.

He read out a statement from Mr Wise’s wife, saying: “The evening before, he had a beer by the chair and he seemed slightly drunk, he was at that funny drunk stage. It said she didn’t see any other beer bottles anywhere.

“There was no indication he was drunk.”

The court heard how the A27 was particularly busy due to traffic heading to Victorious Festival, but Mr Killner noticed his friend driving out of character.

Mr Killner said: “It happened so quick. We moved over into lane three, and by this point Andrew was a few cars ahead of us, and the only way he could have done that was on the rumble strips.

“As I’m watching him, I saw a couple of people move out of the way - I just watched him and thought ‘what are you doing’? All of his advice had always been about safety.”

Mr Wise crashed into the central barrier, causing him to come off his bike, and, as a result, he sustained multiple injuries. Despite the emergency response, he was pronounced dead at 11.22am.

Mr Killner added: “It took me a few seconds to realise the bike was there but he wasn’t on it.”

Mr Pegg concluded that the consumption of alcohol was a major factor in his death, saying: “Andrew was riding his motorcycle and rode on the central reservation before colliding with the central barrier.

“In consequence of that collision, Andrew suffered multiple injuries. He had ingested a substantial amount of alcohol that morning, and the intoxication affected his coordination, and that contributed to his death and without drinking he wouldn’t have died.”