Henley cyclist killed in collision as sun 'blinded' driver

Colin Atkinson, 58, was driving home to Wallingford on the A4130 between Lower Assendon and Bix when he struck businessman Dr Saliya Jayaratne, 45, on June 13.

Oxford’s Coroners Court heard today (7) that Dr Jayaratne, of Phyllis Court Drive in Henley, was pronounced dead by an air ambulance doctor at 8.44pm.

READ MORE: Cyclist died after crash with van near Henley

Coroner's Court in Oxford

A post-mortem report said he had multiple severe injuries and that death “would have been instant”.

Despite failing an impairment test on the day, criminal charges were later dropped against Mr Atkinson who told police he couldn’t see Mr Jayaratne due to the “bright, bright sunlight”.  

Police concluded that witnesses and experts had corroborated Mr Atkinson’s account that the sun was like “someone putting a flashlight in the windscreen”.

Speaking at a police interview, Mr Atkinson said when he was driving on the dual carriageway, known locally as the Fair Mile, he had a “clear run”.

“I could have gone over to [the right-hand land] but there was no traffic and no reason to move.

“The only time [the weather] affected me was when I was rising up that stretch of road. It was like a curtain had come down.

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“It was like a brightness [and] it was three to four seconds of blindness and then bang.”

Witness Stephen Ellis, who described the road as being “notorious for strong sun”, saw the collision in his rear-view mirror.

He said: “When I was about two thirds up the hill [in the right-hand lane] the sun was strong and all of sudden I noticed a cyclist - I didn’t notice him until I was almost upon him.

The dual carriageway where the collision happened

“I was almost to the top of the hill and I looked in my rear view-mirror and I saw the cyclist look like he bounced of the van and I questioned what I had just seen.

“I decided to go back and as I got closer I saw a man already doing CPR.”

Witness Heather Corrigan added: “I’ve lived in Henley for nearly 30 years and I know the road is bad for dazzling sunshine - it was like being blind.”

A friend of Dr Jayaratne, who worked at Henley Business School, said he had started cycling during the lockdowns.

She said his style of riding was “wobbly, especially going up hills” and a witness who drove past prior to the incident added that she had seen Mr Jayaratne “wobbling” into the road.

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Assistant coroner Nicholas Graham said: “The appropriate conclusion is that death occurred because of a road traffic collision.

“It was clear that the visibility was seriously infringed by the sun due to the time of day.”

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This story was written by Gee Harland, she joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

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