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A Blues legend of Devon, also passionate about cycling, tragically died after his motorcycle collided with a bollard that has since been removed after a protection assessment.
Julian Piper, 72, was driving alone on the popular Exe Estuary Trail near Powderham Church when he suffered fatal injuries after the steep slope of a railway bridge and the road of impediment descended on September 13, 2019.
An investigation into exeter County City Council revealed that some other cyclists also reported being injured through the bollard that had been installed there after an elderly couple had mistakenly crossed the bridge that was not designed for vehicles.
Piper, a Topsham-born musician who lives in Clyst St George, in good physical shape before his death. He helped through a passerby who heard him fall off his bike.
The cyclist said at one point that he had stopped to appreciate the view of the estuary and was therefore on his back to the bridge when he heard a “shock noise” around 5:30 p.m.
He said, “I didn’t hear screams or screams,” adding, “I had a head wound and didn’t move or talk.”
CPR was given by other passersby and Mr Piper was airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital where he died the following day after being diagnosed with an unsurvivable brain and spinal injury.
The cause of death of the father of three was shown to be a spinal cord injury caused by a fractured cervical spine.
His wife Catherine said that the day before the accident, the guitarist had played at a concert in Brixham and was in good shape.
On the day of his fatal motorcycle trip, he recalled that it had been a “beautiful hot and sunny afternoon,” so Mr. Piper put his motorcycle in the back of his van and parked at Powderham Church to reach Turf Locks, an address he took. used regularly.
She said: “He’s been through a cycle and I’ve known him for 36 years, I’ve never noticed him falling off his bike.”
His daughter Lucy told in a statement how when she visited the scene of the accident some time after her father’s death and she noticed two bollards at the bridge had been removed, including the one he had collided with.
She said, ”I saw the visibility of the bollard it hit, and not without visual delay due to the angle and curvature of the road and a short distance from where it is visual ”.
Following a request from the coroner to learn more about the terminal, Devon County Council showed that the Shared Road Bridge for Cyclists and Walkers opened in November 2014 as a component of an extension of the Exe Estuary Trail.
The following month, an elderly couple reported after they were able to access the trail and cross the bridge, prompting the council to erect a bollard on each technical ramp. A security audit was also performed.
The report stated: “The bridge is not designed to bring cars and the challenge that it can collapse on the runway and the incident can be repeated with much more serious consequences.”
In September 2015, an elderly cyclist hit the terminal that Mr Piper later struck. He stated that the shadows on the bridge obscured the boundary and efforts were made to make it appear more visual and reflective.
The DCC report concluded that it was not to be removed due to the threat of a vehicle passing over the bridge.
After Mr. Piper’s death, the site revisited through road protection auditors on 17 September and it was reported that any of the terminals had had evidence of a collision, but nothing had been reported to the council since the incident last in 2015.
With regard to the milestone struck by Mr Piper, the report says: “The front visibility is good, but the shadows of the bridge make it difficult to see.”
It was added that some reflectivity was missing and that cars now had to access the bridge due to chicane doors in the area, so the resolution was taken to remove the bollards.
Recording an accidental death finding, Coroner Philip Spinney said: “Mr. Piper fell off his bike. It is transparent if you have glued the steel railings or bollard, or both.
He concluded: “Julian suffered insurmountable after falling off a bicycle on a railway bridge.”
After his death, many tributes were paid to the musician born to play, write and publicize music.
He has shared scenes with legendary blues artists such as Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Lowell Fulson, met heroes like BB King and has never been forgotten through those whose lives he touched.
Piper had a giant unwavering audience in Devon and beyond with his band Junkyard Angels, and sought to perform again at the Teignmouth Jazz and Blues Festival in October 2019.
Tribute concerts and radio broadcasts were organized in Devon in his memory.