Peter Norton

On 30"h September | commenced an investigation into the death of 79 year old Peter Norton. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 9th March 2017. The conclusion of the inquest was that Mr Norton had suffered an accidental death from a fatal head injury sustained after falling off his bicycle whilst test riding it inside Halfords store in St Austell.

Mr Norton attended Halfords St Austell on September 2016 and asked the store assistant to check the gears on a recently purchased bicycle. The store assistant made the appropriate checks on the gears and then invited Mr Norton to out the bicycle in-store: Mr Norton then rode the bicycle down the aisle from the rear of the store towards the checkout: He travelled some 40 before turning around an aisle. At this point Mr Norton fell off his bicycle and suffered the fatal head injury_ Mr Norton was not wearing a helmet and there was no discussion about whether or not he should wear a helmet when cycling in-store. The inquest heard as follows That it was common practice for customers to ride bicycles in-store That there was no policy regulating the riding of bicycles in-store. That there was no policy requiring helmets to be worn when riding a 21st try yards bicycle in-store. That there was no risk assessment concerning the of bicycles in-store. The accident report was completed approximately a week after he incident following the visit of Health and Safety inspectors. The laiter gave evidence that best practice required the recording Of all accidents, including near misses. Mr Norton lost consciousness late on the 215 September and was conveyed by ambulance to Royal Cornwall Hospital. He never regained consciousness and died on the 24"h September 2016. A post mortem identified the cause of death as a traumatic brain injury:

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and believe you and Halfords Group plc have the power to take such action. recommend Halfords takes the following action; Conducts a review of company policy and guidance concerning the riding of bicycles in-store
2. Considers whether there should be a designated safe area for cycling in-store: 3_ Considers whether the use of helmets should be mandatory when cycling in-store: Conducts a review of the appropriateness of risk assessments in relation to riding bicycles in-store
5. Conducts a review of staff training on risk assessment and accident reporting riding duty