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| Submit Comments | Comments (144) | « Previous Story | Next Story »

Scene of the accident where Chris Mason died. View gallery (total of 2 images)

Tributes to teen killed in three on a bike crash

By Deborah Linton

February 02, 2010

A teenager has died after an off-road bike with three people aboard crashed into a car.

Chris Mason, 18, was killed and his two friends seriously injured in the crash in Denton on Monday.

Police say it is unclear which of the three was driving when the collision took place just before 11.30am on busy Manchester Road.

Witnesses described how Chris, who lived on nearby Tame Street, was thrown over the handlebars and under a bus when the bike hit a Ford Focus which is understood to have come out of a side road.

His two friends, Lewis Addison and Scott Wilson, also understood to be in their late teens, were taken to hospital although their conditions were not thought to be life-threatening.

Traffic police closed Manchester Road at its junction with Stockport Road for four hours while an investigation began into the tragedy. No-one in the Ford Focus involved was hurt.

Chris's mum, Kerrie, paid tribute to him. She said: “He was a likeable, popular lad. He was good to me and to all his family. He was very sociable and one of the boys.

Heart of gold

“He enjoyed going out with his mates. He was a caring lad and had a heart of gold.”

The former Egerton Park pupil played for his local amateur football team, Audenshaw Gunners, and was a Manchester United fan. He was training to be a scaffolder and had two younger sisters.

A facebook group - R.I.P. Chris Mason – which was set up by friends of the teenager yesterday afternoon already had more than 1,000 members by 9pm.

Witnesses described how the teenager had tried to call for help after being thrown from the bike outside the NatWest bank.

One, a cafe worker, said: “I heard a loud crash and went running out. I saw one of the men crying and shouting. His head was bleeding and he was saying he had pain in his leg. Then I saw the other one under the bus trying to call for help. It was very upsetting.”

Anthony Watson, who works in Soul Food takeaway on Manchester Road, added: “We heard a loud motorbike and there were three lads on it. The front of the car was badly damaged. A lot of people gathered round and next thing the ambulances were there and one of the guys was taken away on a stretcher.”

A close friend, Lauren Andrew, paid tribute to Chris. She said: “He was really funny, he’d make everybody laugh and was always the centre of attention. Everyone is going to miss him round here. He was a lad’s lad. He liked going to parties and was the life and soul. I never saw him sad.”

| Submit Comments | Comments (144) | « Previous Story | Next Story »

Most recent user comments 25 of 144

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Why do people feel the need to have to blame someone, at the end of the day chris is dead, and lewis and scott have to wake up everyday to that fact, So there doesn't need to be a person blamed for this because it was a horrible accident. Young and naive maybe, but no one deserves to die, i dont know how people who didnt know him can sit and slate him, them 3 lads where in the wrong yes, but this was an un fair and extremely unlucky accident. Chris has left behind amazing family and friends that will always love him and think about him everyday until the day we meet at the gates. No matter what people write and how much they bad mouth chris, it will never change the way his family and friends feel about him. For those who think he is an idiot, well yes you may be right, but please think about his family and friends and what there going through right now before you write things that can really hurt people, everyone one is entitled to an opinion and so this is mine. Now you take it easy up the mason, and keep smiling kid. Natahan made a nice speech for you, and you will be missed so much, if we could exchange places kid i would. x

K.G x, Manchester
14/03/2010 at 22:16

We can dispute the highway code all day long, but at the end of the day we just need to be grateful that no-one innocent died in this. No pedestrians were hurt and the focus driver is OK (although probably distressed by what happened). The lad who died was an accident waiting to happen - thank god it was only him he took out. And hopefully his two mates will think twice about doing it again.

204098, Manchester
17/02/2010 at 09:56

There used to be a campaign on T.V. a few years ago that said think once, think twice ,think bike. Although not aimed at responsibe bikers, this should now read, think once, think twice, think pillock.

Cyclists and bikers alike continually weave in and out of traffic. Perhaps we should all have a look at a 2010 version of the highway code and brush up on our road skills.

herbert, droylsden
16/02/2010 at 10:27

I don't think they do think they will live forever. But if they die they will end up in the newspapers and on facebook with everyone saying what a wonderful person they were. Fame is everything and doing something stupid is the fastest way to get famous.

local_lass, Burnage
16/02/2010 at 08:52

Jade,

As a collision investigator working in a road safety industry, I am tired to the very end of my soul trying to make kids/young adults take responsibility for their actions.

I live and breathe road safety and i am fed up with people not taking these issues seriously. We know that 17-25 year old males are most at risk on the roads but why do they not listen to us?

Why do people your age take such risks? This will continue to happen until your age group sits up and takes notice. Thinks like this do not always happen to someone else. You are not immortal.

As you are young, please tell me the best way to get through to kids your age who think they will live forever.

Higgs Boson, Greater Manchester
15/02/2010 at 21:28

Jade Smith

You better check the facts,I for one didnt say he deserved to die, far from it, infact i (on my first post with a different name) sent my condolences to his family in a message. This discussion board has been until now, had ADULT opinions, just because you dont agree, dont go telling us to grow up. I assume as you are a freind of Chris Mason, you are of similar age? Im afraid it is you that needs to grow up, stick to slagging off the morons on the facebook page that was created in his memory

tidnab, Manchester
12/02/2010 at 12:04

Jade Smith,

Last time I checked, 18yrs of age made you old enough to vote, to be married without parental consent,have a mortgage, ie a grown up...a man..not a boy...therefore able to take your place in society as a responsible ADULT... you say Mason was a 'jack the lad' how much of a 'jack the lad' would he have been if it had been the driver of the car who died..?? or an innocent pedestrian...??

pigee,
12/02/2010 at 09:28

you all need to grow up mason was my friend and he did not deserve to die fair enuf there were 3 of them on the bike when non of the sould have been on the bike no1 is disputing the fact that they were doing wrong but NOBODY deserves to go like that least not an 18 year old boy you lot need 2 take five mins and have some concideration for what his family and friends are going throught!!! mason was a nice lad at heart he may have been a jack the lad but if you needed him he was there he had a personality to light a whole room and heart of gold mason we love and miss you lad GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTON ....

jade smith
12/02/2010 at 01:40

“Fault and blame has nothing to with whether the act was deliberate or not”

Of course it does, if the driver in the car deliberately pulled out in front of them to cause the accident then the driver is to blame. But we have to put things into perspective here.

If, for example i was riding my motorbike with due care and attention, which I do, and a car pulls out and I hit the car, then the blame lies with the driver, But if im riding carelessly and over the limit then some of the blame can be shifted to me. But these lads were so much in the wrong its untrue….no protective clothing (perhaps if he had a helmet on he would be eating soup in hospital rather than lying in a morturary) They were in experienced, they were underage, they were riding very recklessly. And there was 3 on a bike. Ok maybe we can say the car driver should have looked more, but not to blame for the lads death, That has to lie with the rider and them lads and them lads alone. The car driver made one mistake and that wasn’t too look again, but they are surely not to blame for the death.

I take back my initial statement about ‘we are not taught to look out for morons’

Your right, we are meant to look out for any incident of any kind.

Most car drivers are not taught to ‘think bike’ as a biker, car driver and cyclist, im well aware of how invisible 2 wheels are and the excuses car drivers have is ‘sorry mate I didn’t see you’ or ‘he came out of nowhere’……I always have lights on and wear proper protective clothing….but car drivers are looking for car drivers, its not a fault its just natural instinct as they are the majority of road users and anything smaller has to ‘watch them not watching you’ and be on your guard.

tidnab, Manchester
11/02/2010 at 15:22

"the blame has to lie between him and his mates, not the focus driver UNLESS they purposely pulled out, which they didnt."

"if a driver deliberately takes no care and attention and/or pulls out purposely then and only then can the blame be either put on or equally be put on them" Tidnab

Fault and blame has nothing to with whether the act was deliberate or not. If I pulled out of a junction without seeing a vehicle approaching from my right, I will be at fault for not looking properly. Nothing to with if I intended to cause a collision.

Surely you must realise this? If not you must be a scary driver.

Higgs Boson, Greater Manchester
11/02/2010 at 10:41

Tidnab,

I wasn't neccesarily blaming the driver in this case, we do not know enough about the collison. However, I was challenging your statement that 'we shouldn't be looking out for morons riding illegally'

Of course we should. Like I said before, it's only insurance companies and the media who are looking for one single person to blame. In most real collisions involving more than one vehicle, there are many factors which could have contributed to the collison (lets stop calling them accidents-as this indicates an act of God, something unavoidable) and a single blame is not always accurate.

Ask the question, regardless of how fast they were going if the rider of the motorbike had been legal, would the outcome have been different?

Higgs Boson, Greater Manchester
11/02/2010 at 09:57

"Children run out between parked cars, pedestrians do not always use the pelican, cyclists no not always use lights, teenagers with dark clothes on at night on their BMX's, drunken pedestrians stumbling out of a pub. Do we ignore them and plough into them simply"

Thankyou for strengthening my opinion about NOT blaming the driver of the ford focus..They didnt "simply plough into the bike".......if a driver deliberately takes no care and attention and/or pulls out purposely then and only then can the blame be either put on or equally be put on them. A child running into the road is the parents fault or childs fault (circumstances prevailing) No lights on a bike at night, the cyclists fault........ALL if the driver didnt deliberately hit them.

A tragic accident happened near me not too long ago, where a lady was walking home with her 2 children, one in a pushchair, the other walking, holding on to his mums hand, the walking child broke free (why im not sure) as the mother tried to restrain the child she let go of the pushchair, the pushchair rolled into the road of an oncoming lorry, the pushchair was run over with the child in it, and the child died instantly.After an enquiry, the Driver was not too blame.....still doesnt make him feel better though i bet and no doubt he still has nightmares.

So Although Chris Mason wasnt the rider, the blame has to lie between him and his mates, not the focus driver UNLESS they purposely pulled out, which they didnt.

Lets see what the Police report comes up with

tidnab, Manchester
11/02/2010 at 09:09

"No it doesn't. But we should be looking out for anyone doing anything we don't expect. Should we not be looking out for everyone behaving recklessly or not? Children run out between parked cars, pedestrians do not always use the pelican, cyclists no not always use lights, teenagers with dark clothes on at night on their BMX's, drunken pedestrians stumbling out of a pub. Do we ignore them and plough into them simply because they were not following the rules of the road? No, we tut and we curse when we see them but we also take avoiding action."

Even with these careless actions, the driver is not too blame, a child tragically got crushed while still in a pushchair by a lorry near me not long ago, the mother let go of it to stop her walking child from runing into the middle of the road,this caused the pushchair to roll into the oncoming lorry..........The Driver was never blamed and rightly so as he was driving carefully.....a tragic accident thats all and no blame......However the blame here lies with the careless lads on the bike, doing wrong

tidnab, Manchester
10/02/2010 at 19:13

"im sorry but it doesnt state in the highway code we should be looking out for morons riding illegally" Tidnab

No it doesn't. But we should be looking out for anyone doing anything we don't expect. Should we not be looking out for everyone behaving recklessly or not? Children run out between parked cars, pedestrians do not always use the pelican, cyclists no not always use lights, teenagers with dark clothes on at night on their BMX's, drunken pedestrians stumbling out of a pub. Do we ignore them and plough into them simply because they were not following the rules of the road? No, we tut and we curse when we see them but we also take avoiding action.

Just because someone was doing something that they shouldn't does not mean we don't have to look out for them. If the driver failed to see them in daylight, regardless of their legality, surely the driver is also at fault.

When the police fill in their STATS 19 report they are able to attribute up to 5 or 6 contributory factors which (in their opinion) contributed to the collision.

In cases such as this they may put down the speed of the bike, careless/reckless riding and also that the driver looked but did not see.

Higgs Boson, Greater Manchester
10/02/2010 at 15:18

Amy K

That should read " as you can see you are (or) you're a stereotype" But a great effort all thing considered Amy.

Andanotherthing, Mcr
10/02/2010 at 14:46

Amy K

you seem to be a little self obsessed here... this news item isn't about you, how you articlate, spell or your use of grammar and text speak, its about the death of this man, riding illegally, not only endagering the lives of innocents but bringing his own life to an untimely end, can I suggest we move on from how well you are doing at college and focus on the real subject here....???

pigee,
10/02/2010 at 14:26

Andanotherthing, Mcr 9/02/2010 at 12:15

Well lets shock you a bit more i have got merits all the way through my course. Just because i used a bit of 'slang' on here doesnt mean anything. As you can see your a stereotype and i know what you think is very wrong. Makes me laugh actually how you judge people.

amy K
10/02/2010 at 11:56

Simms 10000.....i have to agree with pigee on this Its one thing risking your own life and getting seriousely hurt or killed, BUT to risk innocent people is a totally different matter. I was not innocent of risky activities as a teenager but NEVER did i put others at risk. It seems by sheer luck you didnt hurt or kill anyone with your reckless driving as a youngster,but if you did, then the sympathy vote for you wouldnt have been that good neither. If Chris Mason had been pursuing a hobby with off road motorcycling then yes,there would be more sympathy, but the circumstances divide opinions. So ill stay up here on my moral high horse and look down......

tidnab, Manchester
9/02/2010 at 13:27

amy K

It is one thing to be on a good course, it is quite another to gain a good qualification at the end of it. Given that educational standards have slipped a tad over the last two decades, it frightens me to think that you will acquire a pass.

Andanotherthing, Mcr
9/02/2010 at 12:15

local_lass, Burnage 8/02/2010 at 11:44

no, i am on a good course sorry i am not snoby like you but i know i am right it doesnt matter how i put down the things i am saying it means something. to be honest to are a snob yes. One of them people that goes through life looking down on people. Well its funny because u proberly assume i am a 'bum' or whatever and your so wrong. Get a life because no one looks up to you.

amy K
9/02/2010 at 12:04

This is the problem with todays society - too many people do not consider the consequences of their actions for themselves and others.

People commenting on this board and others seem to assume "everyone" has acted this recklessly in their teenage years and that endangering yourself and others is some sort of rite of passage. Its not! I have never acted in this way either

local_lass, Burnage
9/02/2010 at 12:03

sims 100000,

"and remember a time when you did something mental as a young man or woman, or even in your more mature years."

I'd like to point out that I've never done 'something mental' at any point in my life that might endager the LIVES of others as these men did on that bike. If this incident hadn't happened then these men would be out again today doing exactly the same thing, they showed no sympathy for others in their actions.. why on earth should they be accorded any sympathy now...

pigee,
9/02/2010 at 11:07

People who have no sympathy for the lad are forgetting the obvious human tragedy here. It is so desperately sad that such a young life should end in this way. When I was a teenager I was guilty of doing reckless stupid things, driving like a maniac well into my twenties. I had a few close shaves, and undoubtedly others who were not driving recklessly escaped my stupidity too. But I am here to tell the tale, haven't wiped anyone out and I am lucky. Get off your moral high horses, and remember a time when you did something mental as a young man or woman, or even in your more mature years.

sims10000, Denton
9/02/2010 at 00:30

Text talk has a lot too answer too for youngsters dire English, its ok on a mobile phone due to the nature of the communication, but to use it on a proper qwerty keyboard is either just lazy or down to bad habits.

Anyway.....back to the discussion of the accident

tidnab, Manchester
8/02/2010 at 14:33

Oops - apologies for the typo's, very ironic.

local_lass, Burnage
8/02/2010 at 11:44

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