Two scenarios for what happened in the moments before a Danish cyclist's death on a notorious stretch of road in Brisbane have been outlined at a coroner's inquest.

Rebekka Meyer, 22, was hit by a truck on Annerley Road in South Brisbane last September.

Senior Constable David Armitage from the Forensic Crash Unit, who inspected the site, told the inquest the point of impact was clear but the cause of the accident was not.

"There were ... two things that could have caused the accident, but I couldn't say definitively," he said.

"The initial possibility was the bike was at the stop line already and the heavy vehicle approached, but the driver didn't see her.

"The second is that Ms Meyer placed herself if front of the heavy vehicle while it was stationary."

The inquest is examining Ms Meyer's death and whether the Stanley Street and Annerley Road intersection needs upgrading to prevent similar accidents.

Just 13 months before Ms Meyer's death, Brisbane rider Leslie Karayan died on the same road - which has seen 34 crashes involving cyclists between 2007 and 2011.

Brisbane City Council is trialling a dedicated peak-hour cycling lane on a stretch of Annerley Road to improve safety.

Rebekka Meyer's stepfather, mother and sister attended the inquest into her death. ( ABC News: Stephanie Smail )

The driver of the truck, meanwhile, told the inquest he did not see or hear anything unusual before the crash.

Jody Jeffery told the inquest that as he pulled through the intersection at Annerley Road, it felt like the back left drive wheels of his truck hit a manhole cover.

When counsel assisting the coroner Anthony Marinac asked Mr Jeffery to describe what he saw after that, the driver became emotional and struggled to speak.

After prompting he told the coroner: "I [saw] something come out the back of the trailer... and I just thought, what was that?"

He said he stopped the truck and a man told him he had hit a cyclist.

Danish cyclist's family learnt of death in Brisbane 'via media'

The inquest heard emotional statements from Ms Meyer's sister Tania Lousdal Jensen and her mother Mikala Liemann who said Ms Meyer had a "bright and happy mind" and was "very much loved".

Ms Meyer had borrowed a bicycle to get around Brisbane while she was studying at the University of Queensland, where she had a scholarship, the inquest was told.

It has also been revealed that Ms Meyer's parents found out about her death via a news website that showed photos of her belongings spread across the road.

"I could recognise her things, spread all over the intersection," her mother said.

"I saw a body covered with a white blanket and rescue workers washing the street."

Ms Meyer's sister told the inquest she was an experienced and careful rider and grew up in a family where biking was a part of life.

"We learnt to move among traffic, how to signal, where to put ourselves on a busy road," Ms Jensen said.

"We experienced the sting of fear when a fast car or a big truck passed close by our side."