A YORK cyclist died after failing to see a parked car until the last moment and then crashing into the back of the vehicle, an inquest heard.

A peaked baseball cap worn by Colin Marron may have obscured his view of the stationary BMW as he was cycling along Holgate Road, said North Yorkshire Police collision investigator, PC Paddy Green.

He said an examination had shown there were no defects in the bike’s steering or brakes, or in the road, which could have contributed to the accident, which happened near the junction with Wilton Rise on the evening of Sunday, April 7.

Coroner Richard Watson, concluding that Mr Marron’s death was accidental, said it had been a "tragic and very unusual" incident, which came after he had been cycling "perfectly normally".

He said he had been riding a bike with drop handlebars which tended to encourage riders to look down rather than up.

He said CCTV had shown that Mr Marron had spotted the parked BMW when just a metre away from it and then swerved, but he was unable to avoid the collision, in which he hit the back windscreen, shattering the glass.

“He failed to observe the parked vehicle until it was too close to avoid a collision,” he said.

He said that prior to the accident, Mr Marron’s GP had referred him to a neurologist for an examination over concerns that he might have suffered seizures previously.

However, the fact that he had tried to swerve just before the collision meant it was highly unlikely he had suffered a seizure while cycling along.

The coroner said highways officials had investigated whether the proximity of a cycle lane to a residents’ parking bay where the BMW was parked had been a factor in the accident.

He said there was a 12.5 metre gap between the end of the cycle lane and the start of the parking bay and he had concluded that this had not posed an additional risk.

The inquest heard that Mr Marron had been cycling along without a cycle helmet, on a bike borrowed from a friend, travelling neither quickly nor slowly, before the accident happened.

Witnesses said he ended up lying on the ground, surrounded by broken glass from the window.

The cyclist was dazed but initially able to speak a little, but his condition then deteriorated and he became unresponsive.

He was treated by paramedics and then taken to Leeds General Infirmary, where tests confirmed he had suffered a severe head injury and specialists concluded he could not be saved, and he died the following day.

The inquest heard that toxicology tests had produced no evidence of use of illicit drugs.

The hearing was also told that Mr Marron, 51, of Nunnery Lane, who was a "family-oriented" man who had faced some challenges in his life, had worked as a joiner and in demolition, but he had been unable to work after being injured in a 16ft fall from a balcony in 2018.