News & Mail  Wednesday, August 31, 2016

4 NEWS

Man killed on M3 was cycling at

night with no lights, court hears
Verdict of accidental death is recorded after collision with car causes victim fatal multiple injuries
by Mark Edwards
mark.edwards@trinitymirror.com
A CYCLIST from Ash Vale
was killed while riding in the
dark in the middle of the M3,
an inquest heard.
Simon Wagner, 52, died af-
ter being hit by an Audi A4
travelling at 70mph on the
southbound carriageway
near Fleet services on May 5,
Basingstoke Coroner’s Court
heard on Wednesday of last
week.
David Earl, the driver of
the Audi, told the court he
was travelling home from a
Royal Geographical Society
debate in London when he
suddenly saw a push bicycle
in the middle of lane two.
He said he first saw the cy-
clist when his dipped lights
revealed the bottom half of
the bike about 50 feet before
colliding with him.
He said: “I did not have
time to brake. It happened in
no more than a second.”
He added he did not have
time to perform an emergen-
cy stop or swerve to avoid Mr
Wagner, who he said ap-
peared to be cycling across
his lane from left to right.
Mr Earl then pulled in to
the hard shoulder and called
the emergency services.
Paul Hind, a driver who
was behind Mr Earl’s car
when the accident hap-
pened, pulled over and took
Mr Earl into his car.
He told the court he saw
the silver spokes of a bicycle
before thousands of bits of
powdered glass [caused by
the impact] showered his car.
Coroner Andrew Bradley
said Mr Wagner died imme-
diately at the scene from
multiple injuries, including a
fractured skull, a fractured
spine and fractures to both
knees, arms and ribs.
Blood samples taken from
Mr Wagner revealed he was
2.6 times the drink drive limit
at the moment of his death.
PC Jamie Foster, who was
on duty the night of the
The M3 southbound near where the accident happened
crash, told the court he re-
ceived reports at 10.29pm of
a cyclist on the M3 near junc-
tion 4a. Shortly after he re-
ceived reports of a collision
between a car and a cyclist.
He said that upon arrival
at about 11pm he saw a body
lying in the road in the mid-
dle of lane three. “It was clear
this was a fatal collision,” he
said. Paramedics confirmed
Mr Wagner was dead at
11.10pm.
PC Foster said a number of
Mr Wagner’s personal items
Google Street View
were found on the road, in-
cluding his driving licence,
passport and wallet.
PC Andy McDonald, a col-
lision investigator with
Hampshire Police, arrived at
the scene at 11.02pm.
He told the court Mr
Wagner’s body was found in
the middle of lane three with
his bike around five metres
behind him in the road.
PC McDonald said it was
an ‘unavoidable collision’,
adding: “It would have been
very difficult to identify him
[Mr Wagner] until late on.”
He said Mr Wagner had
cycled a considerable dis-
tance on the M3, mostly on
the hard shoulder, some in
lane one and some in lane
two.
He told the court he could
not explain why Mr Wagner
was cycling on the M3 and
the route he was taking
would not have been a direct
route to his home.
The court heard from Mr
Wagner’s family members
that he was an experienced
and responsible cyclist and
that they too had no idea why
he was cycling in the middle
of a motorway at night.
The family made it clear
they held no ill will towards
Mr Earl for the incident.
Recording a verdict of ac-
cidental death, coroner Mr
Bradley said: “It was quite
clear on May 5 for whatever
reason, there is no explana-
tion, he is riding along the
M3 motorway in the hours of
darkness. He has consumed
alcohol, that may have im-
paired his judgement. It may
have made him feel he was
invincible.
“This is a very strange situ-
ation, not one for which I
have any explanation at all.
For that I am sorry.”
Mr Wagner, a chartered
accountant, was married and
had three children.
A statement released by
his family in May said:
“Simon had a warm and gen-
erous heart, loved life and
made friends wherever he
went.
“Simon touched so many
lives and the news of his sud-
den and tragic death is a ter-
rible shock for everyone who
was lucky enough to have
known him.”

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