A COLLISION which killed a Weymouth teen was a sad accident, a coroner has ruled.

The inquest in to the death of 19-year-old Lewis Monks, who died in a collision with a bus on Friday June 8 last year, found there was nothing the bus driver could have done to prevent it.

Witness statements and a 54-page police report said Lewis, who was on his BMX bike, fell off the edge of the pavement along Newstead Road near Asda and into the path of the bus. The 19-year-old sustained serious head injuries and his death was almost instantaneous, the inquest at County Hall, Dorchester was told. The court heard evidence from Lewis’s best friends Alan Holmes and Carl Travess who had been with him at the time of the accident.

They said that Lewis had been drinking and had fallen from his bicycle and cut his face prior to the fatal incident.

Alan and Carl, who were both due to work that afternoon and were concerned for Lewis’s safety, were attempting to take him to his father’s house.

A post mortem examination carried out by pathologist doctor Mark Deverell revealed Lewis had been two and a half times over the drink-drive limit and had traces of cannabis in his system, although it could not be determined when the drug was consumed.

A statement read out from the driver of the First single-decker bus said the accident had ruined his life but that he did not believe he could have done anything to stop it.

Muriel Walton, a passenger, said: “The driver was driving normally and did not do anything he shouldn’t have. It wasn’t his fault and I don’t attach any blame to him whatsoever.”

Tests on tyre marks left on the road showed the bus had been travelling between 19 and 22mph on the 30mph stretch.

Forensic collision investigator PC Clifton Beard said the driver could not have stopped the accident.

He added: “In this particular situation it’s happened so rapidly that really there’s nothing that the driver could have done.”

The inquest heard that passers-by had attempted in vain to resuscitate Lewis before an ambulance arrived.

Coroner for Dorset Sheriff Payne said: “The verdict is that Lewis died as the result of an accident.

“A very sad accident, and sadly an accident brought about by his own actions.

“Can I extend my sympathy and condolences to all who knew him.

“It is a very sad end to a young man.”