Martyn Uzzell, 51, was riding along the A65 Settle Bypass at Giggleswick with two friends as part of a fundraising cycle ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Mr Uzzell was travelling on the road when he hit a pothole and was thrown into the path of an on-coming car. He died instantly.
His heartbroken wife Kate Uzzell, 47, condemned North Yorkshire County Council for allowing the road to fall into disrepair – claiming it cost her husband his life.
At the end of an Inquest into Mr Uzzell’s death at Skipton Magistrates’ Court, which ended yesterday, North Yorkshire coroner Rob Turnbull said there was “no doubt whatsoever that the condition of the road on that occasion was the cause of the accident”.
He said “It is my opinion based on the balance of probability that this defect had existed for some time prior to the accident. It is not my opinion that it was a defect that had occurred very recently and it must have been some days since the defect was apparent.”
Slater & Gordon Personal Injury Lawyer Richard Geraghty, who is representing Mrs Uzzell, was interviewed in Mail Online, Yorkshire Post and Somerset Guardian warning of the dangers potholes can cause to road users.
He said “This is a tragic incident which could have been avoided had the local authority made the necessary repairs to the road.”