Newport dad Mason Williams died in motorbike crash with car

Mason Williams, of Brynglas Road, died at the scene following a crash between a car and a motorbike on Cardiff Road on February 2.

At an inquest, senior coroner for Gwent Caroline Saunders revealed Mr Williams had been riding at “between 67 and 69 mph” from the direction of the Pont Ebbw Roundabout.

PC Gerwyn Harris said Gwent Police were called to the incident at around 9pm.

PC Harris said a Ford Focus had pulled out from Park Drive and was turning right onto Cardiff Road.

Tests were carried out on the Ford Focus and Mr Williams’ Yamaha MT-07, and it was found there were “no defects on either vehicle”.

Gwent Police forensic collision investigator Dean Burnett said Gwent Police used CCTV footage from three locations along the road, along with the markings on the road and testing similar motorbikes at different speeds to estimate the speed Mr Williams had been riding.

Investigators concluded Mr Williams would have been riding “between 66mph and 69mph”.

The driver of the Focus would have had a view of around 54 metres, investigators said – as it was a clear night and despite it being dark, the street lights were on. However, it was estimated that Mr Williams was between “96.5 to 101.6 metres” from the junction when the driver started pulling out.

Dr Stephen Leadbeatter recorded Mr Williams’ medical cause of death as resulting from multiple injuries.

A toxicology report found there was no trace of drugs or alcohol in Mr Williams’ system.

Paying tribute to him, Mr Williams’ family spoke about his passion for motorbikes.

“He bonded with friends through biking and he set up the Bikelife group. That group shared a passion for all things bike-related. He used Bikelife to raise money for families who lost a loved one.”

Mr Williams became a dad for the first time when Maxson Williams was born in June 2021, and his partner was expecting their second child, Mason-Junior, at the time of Mr Williams’ death.

“His proudest moment was finding out he was going to be a dad,” they said, in a statement read out in court.

“He loved being a dad.”

Summing up, Ms Saunders said: “Mason was 28 years of age. He was a young man who was quite clearly adored by his family.

“On Wednesday, February 2, Mason’s exuberance for biking got the better of him.

“Mason suffered catastrophic injuries in the collision and died at the scene.

“Quite simply, Mason was just riding too fast.”

Ms Saunders concluded Mr Williams had died as a result of a road traffic collision.