A Fife driver tried to save the cyclist whose death she allegedly caused in a head on crash, a jury heard.
A trial heard Jessica Hedley was behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Corsa that collided with David Christie on the A92 near Freuchie, Fife.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Mr Christie, 49, was cycling home from a garage in the village where he had gone to buy cigarettes around 4.30am on February 21 last year.
Hedley then attempted to overtake an articulated lorry but hit Mr Christie’s bike head on.
The court was told Mr Christie was wearing a yellow hi-viz jacket at the time of the crash and had a flashing light on the front of the bike.
A minute of agreed evidence read to the jury stated that when paramedics arrived shortly after the smash they found Hedley giving Mr Christie first aid.
He was then rushed to Victoria Infirmary in Kirkcaldy where he was found to have multiple fractures throughout his body as well as “substantial” bleeding on the brain.
Mr Christie’s condition never improved and he died five days later.
When cops arrived Hedley admitted she had been behind the wheel and said: “I was driving along and I went to overtake, I think it was a lorry.
“I pulled out and the cyclist had one of those flashing lights.
“I saw it too late and I hit him.”
Martin Green, 31, a close family friend of Mr Christie, was the last person to see him before he went out on his bike to make the two mile trip to the garage.
He described Mr Christie as a “keen cyclist” and said he regularly used the road to cycle to work.
Mr Green said: “I had been with him all day and night. We had been drinking on and off.
“He got changed and went to cycle to Freuchie to get cigarettes.
“I expected him to be back in about 40 minutes but I got concerned when he didn’t come back and phoned the police.”
Ross Donnelly, defending, asked: “Would you describe him as being drunk?”
Mr Green replied: “It is hard to say – he wasn’t falling about or anything like that.”
James Farmer, 62, who served Mr Christie at the Freuchie garage minutes before the smash, said: “He appeared to be an ordinary customer.”
Fiscal depute Susan Ruta asked: “Did you have concern about him, did he appear to be drunk to you?”
He replied: “No.”
Hedley, 25, of Craigard Road, Dundee, pleaded not guilty on indictment to a charge of causing death by careless driving.
She is said to have driven her Vauxhall Corsa without due care or attention and overtook a lorry when it was unsafe to do so.
Prosecutors say she failed to observe Mr Christie riding his bike on the opposing carriageway, causing the car and bike to collide whereby Mr Christie was so severely injured that he later died.
The trial, before sheriff Alastair Brown and a jury of nine women and six men, continues.
