David O’Connell was riding up the slip road to join the A40 towards Gloucester when he was struck from behind by a lorry whose driver had not seen him until shortly before impact. O’Connell “had earlier been seen to have red lights at the back of his bike and he was wearing a high visibility jacket”.
The driver said in a statement that he “was unable to take evasive action because of other vehicles in the outside lane,” while police collision investigator Sergeant David Parry said that “he would not have been expecting to see a cyclist travelling on that piece of dual carriageway.”
Coroner Katy Skerrett echoed Parry’s remarks in her summing up and recorded a verdict of death as the result of a road traffic accident.