AN elderly motorcyclist died after glare from the sun caused him to crash his bike at Earlsheaton.
An inquest in Huddersfield yesterday recorded a verdict of accidental death after hearing 81- year-old Dennis Hannon crashed into the back of a Citroen Xsara Picasso people carrier at Wakefield Road on August 25 last year.
Mr Hannon, of Maybury Avenue, Durkar, near Wakefield, was riding his Suzuki motorbike on his way to a meeting of the International Motorcycle Club (IMC) in Norristhorpe.
Mr Hannon, a motorcyclist since the age of 17, had been a northern representative for the IMC for 29 years.
His son Paul is chairman of the IMC.
Two eye-witnesses told how the low sun had impaired their vision before the crash at 7.15pm.
They both watched as Mr Hannon was dazzled by the sunlight, then suddenly saw the people carrier in front of him.
He tried to swerve around it but clipped the back end of the vehicle. He fell off the motorbike and slid into the path of a black Ford Focus car.
Paramedics took him to Dewsbury District Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A post-mortem showed he died of a haemorrhage after rupturing a major blood vessel.
