A MOTHER from Hampshire was killed after she was struck by a lorry during a motorcycle holiday in Austria, an inquest has heard.

Christine Gaiger, 51, was riding pillion on her husband’s motorbike while on holiday in Arnoldstein.

A car in front of them braked suddenly and Steve Gaiger, 55, was forced to swerve.

As he did so, his wife was struck by an oncoming timber truck.

At the hearing in Winchester on Wednesday, Mr Gaiger, from Romsey, who escaped injury, said: “On reflection we would have been better off hitting the car.

“I remember thinking ‘God, we’re going to hit the car.’ “It just happened so quickly.

“All I remember is these wheels flying towards us and it was just horrendous.”

The driver of the truck, Herbert Arnold, told Austrian police at the time: “I had no chance of avoiding the accident.

“It was clear to me that I had driven over something.”

Deputy Coroner for Central Hampshire, Simon Burge, stressed that there was nothing in any of the witness accounts to suggest that Mr Gaiger was driving erratically.

He said that following the collision on August 22, Mrs Gaiger died immediately and would have felt no pain.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Burge said: “What happened could have happened to anyone of us who ride motorcycles.”

Mrs Gaiger, who worked as an administrator at Braishfield Primary School, leaves behind three children and her husband.