![The start of the path between Federal Street and Brooklyn Street in Burnie. Picture: Google The start of the path between Federal Street and Brooklyn Street in Burnie. Picture: Google](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/177158793/2b5ae000-65d1-4da8-a668-86c8ec588348.png/r0_0_1198_729_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
An experienced bicycle rider died last year after a cheap rubber handle bar grip slid off while the bike was careening down a slope at as much as 50 kmh, a coroner's investigation has found.
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Sixty-year-old Roy William Rogers sustained serious injuries and died at the scene on February 11, 2022 after attempting to ride down the pathway from Federal Street to Brooklyn Road in South Burnie.
He was found lying face-down just off the path around 5pm, and experts later determined that he had died at the scene from a cervical spine fracture.
He had just visited his sister-in-law, who lived 350 metres from the start of the path down the hill, and had intended to meet with friends later that evening.
Mr Rogers was an experienced rider, and his Giant-brand mountain bike was his main form of transport.
In an investigation report released on Friday, Coroner Robert Webster accepted evidence of police investigators that the loose handle bar grip might have contributed to the tragedy.
A police expert examined the mountain bike and found that it was mechanically sound, but that the handle bar grip would become easily detached due to a loose retaining clamp.
"He suggests this could have caused or contributed to the crash. I accept his opinion," Mr Webster wrote in the report.
Mr Webster noted that, when Tasmania Police Senior Constable Sven Mason pushed the mountain bike down the ramp into Burnie Police Station's testing area, the handle grip slid off more than once.
"Initially Senior Constable Mason was going to ride the bicycle however with the handgrip coming off too easily it became too dangerous to attempt to ride it.
![A coroner has concluded that a loose handle bar grip on a Giant mountain bike may have contributed the tragic death of Burnie man Roy Rogers. File picture A coroner has concluded that a loose handle bar grip on a Giant mountain bike may have contributed the tragic death of Burnie man Roy Rogers. File picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/177158793/b9812753-7db6-4dfa-8760-f2d619c891d9.png/r0_0_956_631_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"He pushed the bicycle down the ramp twice easily sliding the handgrip off and putting it back on a number of times."
According to Senior Constable Mason, Mr Rogers may have lent the bicycle too far to the right, bringing the end clamp on the handlebar into contact with the railing, causing the clamp to come off the handle bar.
"The rubber handgrip on the right hand side handlebar slid off and this might have been enough to cause Mr Rogers to fall forward or at least become unsteady on his bicycle, resulting in him crashing and fracturing his cervical spine."
There was no concrete evidence of the speed at which Mr Rogers was riding.
But another police officer, Constable Robert Oberrauter, is an experienced road and mountain bike rider who had regularly cycled that path and uploaded his trip information into a GPS tracking application.
Based on the logs of Constable Oberrauter's prior trips down the path, Senior Constable Mason estimated that Mr Rogers may have been travelling between 25 km per hour and 50 km per hour at various points on the path.
Mr Webster wrote that Senior Constable Mason's hypothesis was "reasonable", but there is not sufficient evidence to find that the crash occurred in those circumstances.
"I am however satisfied that as Mr Rogers attempted to ride down the path he has lost control of his bicycle and crashed which has resulted in him sustaining the fatal injuries."