Nurse rushed to save cyclist after fatal collision

Beds Police worker Mark Stagg, 47, was cycling on the A6 near Barton-le-Clay when he was fatally struck on the morning of December 16 2014.

Motorist Kim Theobald failed to spot Mr Stagg – who was not wearing a helmet or hi vis jacket – and collided with him while driving at 65mph.

An eyewitness said Mr Stagg was thrown high into the air from the carriageway.

Keech Hospice nurse Mrs Theobald later injured herself trying to perform CPR on him.

Mrs Theobald said: “I was checking my mirrors coming across that part of the A6... there was a car overtaking me.

“I heard it first. It was like a scraping, crunching sound along my car. I slowed down and stopped – I had no idea what happened.

“Looking at my passenger side I saw shattered glass and I couldn’t understand how it got there.”

Mrs Theobald then saw her front windscreen was shattered. After phoning an ambulance, she reached Mr Stagg and tried to resuscitate him.

Two other drivers told the inquest they had near-misses with Mr Stagg that morning.

One man said he was “almost angry” after having to perform an emergency stop and a woman said she was was “a bit shaken” after swerving to avoid hitting Mr Stagg.

Both drivers described him as dressed in dark clothing and being difficult to spot.

Senior coroner Tom Osborne said: “Early in the morning conditions were very dark but probably standard for that time of year.

“My conclusion is that Mark died in a road traffic collision. The circumstances are lessons to everyone. At 65mph you are travelling at 95ft per second.

“One second of not paying attention, being distracted looking at your wing mirror, and you’ve travelled 95ft.

“All of us should be aware of cyclists in the morning and cyclists .... you should be flashing like a bee, whether it’s through clothing or lights.”