Over the last fortnight I have recorded media reports of seven road accidents involving cyclists. There were five injuries to cyclists (three of whom were minors) and one cyclist death. The final accident involved a collision between a pedestrian and a cyclist in which the pedestrian died.
Sympathy and best wishes go to the victims and their families and friends.
Late June (Warrnambool)
The exact date of this incident was not reported by the Warrnambool Standard but it is presumed to have occurred in the last week of June.
Geelong Grammar teenager Tristan Alexander felt like a living, breathing piece of tenderised meat after catapulting up the bonnet and into the windscreen of the car he failed to see.
The 17-year-old rode his bike into the path of a Holden Commodore on the Princes Hwy, 2km east of Camperdown, a fortnight ago and has no idea how he survived.
His left femur, the main bone in his thigh, was shattered in the accident. It now has a steel rod and screws holding it together.
Tristan also suffered serious abrasions to his arms and back and a deep laceration to his left thigh which required 15 stitches.
He had cycled down the Princes Hwy hill out of Camperdown towards Colac and was attempting to turn right into Black Rock Rd, the corner where he lives, when the accident occurred.
“I went down the hill and a car that passed me blocked my view so I didn’t see the other one coming,” he said.
“I’d completely turned … it hit my leg and I remember hitting the windshield, flying a few metres forward, bouncing on the road and sliding onto the grass.”
Police have praised the driver of the Holden Commodore, a Beeac woman, for anticipating the accident and slowing from 100km/h to 50km/h before the impact…
Tristan’s dad Chris Alexander said his son was a walking advertisement for bike helmets.
“The helmet was pretty much new and took some punishment, .it was all broken,” Mr Alexander said yesterday.
5 July (Sydney)
A truly horrific story from the Mosman Daily
A cyclist who was knocked from his bike while riding to work and suffered a fractured pelvis is angry the driver did not stop.
While the offending driver sped off, Raymond Gregory lay on busy Military Rd at Cremorne hoping he wouldn’t be run over by morning traffic.
Just pause to consider that for a few seconds. I don’t know what it does for you but it sends cold chills down my spine.
“I’m an 88kg man and the driver would definitely have known they had hit me,” Mr Gregory said.
Indeed, it seems highly unlikely that a driver could fail to notice such a collision and if they did then I question their suitability to drive.
“I was in the inside lane so the driver either came from behind or was changing lanes from the middle lane when he clipped me,” he said.
“I felt a knock and heard a dull crashing sound. I don’t know if that was the sound of the car hitting me or the sound of me hitting the ground.”
He was treated in Manly Hospital for a few nights and is now getting around on crutches with a fractured pelvis.
“I commute to the city most days by bike and I commuted by bike to work for five years in London but this is the first time this has happened.
“I try to lead a healthy lifestyle but this has put a big stop to that.”
Let’s hope he makes a full recovery and that it’s only a temporary halt to his commuting.
10 July (Brisbane)
There was a bizarre and tragic outcome to a pedestrian-cyclist collision is Brisbane:
A pedestrian struck by a bicycle in Brisbane’s CBD has died from head injuries in hospital. The 37-year-old man from Jindalee in Brisbane’s west was struck trying to cross George Street at about 3pm (AEST) on Monday.
He died at the Royal Brisbane Hospital last night.
Police are investigating.
12 July (Melbourne)
News.com.au reported that a cyclist was struck and killed in Essendon:
A cyclist has died after being struck by a car in Melbourne’s north-west today. The accident occurred in Pascoe Vale Road, Essendon, outside the Strathmore railway station, about 6.30am (AEST).
A Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokesman said paramedics were unable to save the victim.
“The man, aged 30, was in full cardiac arrest when they came across the incident,” he said.
“Sadly, they were unable to save him.”
The victim was later identified as an off-duty detective
Acting Sergeant Graham Elliot, 39, from Fawkner police, was riding along Pascoe Vale Road when he was struck near Woodland Street, outside the Strathmore railway station, just before 6.30am.
The following day, colleagues paid tribute:
“He was a great bloke. Top of the range. He was very well liked,” one of his fellow officers said.
And on Monday 17 July, he was profiled in the Bendigo Advertiser:
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Ken Lay told the devoted father of two’s family that even hardened detectives had tears in their eyes after hearing of the accident.
His father Bob said Graham left Bendigo 20 years ago to join the police, but he still had friends from his school days at Golden Square High School and Bendigo Senior High. “He was kind, considerate, compassionate,” he said.
The Herald Sun reported on the funeral:
A tireless policeman, a loyal friend, a devoted husband and “the best dad you could ever have”.
That is the way family, friends and colleagues remembered Acting Sgt Graham Elliott at his funeral yesterday…
Mourners wept when [Sgt Elliot’s 10 year old daughter] Jessica addressed the congregation.
“My dad was the best dad you could ever have,” she said.
“We loved all the wonderful things we did together.”
15 July (Casino)
This is a nasty little story.
Police are still not sure exactly what happened to a cyclist who was knocked from his bike while riding at Greenridge, about 10 kilometres south of Casino yesterday.
The 39-year-old man told police he was riding along the Coraki to Casino Road just before noon AEST when he was hit in the lower back by an unknown object.
The man smashed his bike helmet and suffered cuts and bruising when he hit the roadway, but was able to ride a further 10 kilometres to the Casino police station.
He told officers there he saw a small red or maroon-coloured sedan drive away immediately after he was knocked from his bike.
No doubt some “wit” thought it was be a hilarious idea to chuck something from a moving car at a cyclist. Talk about brainless.
19 July (Perth)
There was a moment of real terror for a Perth teenager – and a lesson for everyone to give trucks a wide, wide berth:
A 16-year-old boy narrowly escaped being crushed to death by a 12-tonne rubbish truck near the Mosman Park shops in Wellington Street on Wednesday afternoon.
The boy was riding home from work experience when he collided with the side of the turning truck and became wedged underneath with his bicycle, which was pressing down on him.
He was taken to Fremantle hospital for treatment for a broken wrist and to check for internal damage.
Fortunately for the boy, a doctor was in a car behind the truck and saw the accident happen, police said.
The doctor hit his horn and yelled out to the truck driver to stop and that someone was trapped underneath.
Police said the truck had been emptying steel bins and was reversing in the laneway off Wellington Street.
It had stopped at a driveway, which accessed the rear carpark at the shops, to look up the alleyway.
The cyclist had seen the truck stop and tried to go round it on a footpath on the left side as the truck turned.
He crashed into the fuel tank and became tangled under the truck.
23 July (Townsville)
In Townsville, a parent’s nightmare:
An afternoon family bike ride turned to disaster when a nine-year-old girl was struck by a car on Saturday afternoon.
She was riding her bike with her brother and father along River Park Drive, Annandale, about 4pm when it appeared she swerved into the path of an oncoming car and was struck.
Luckily the girl’s helmet bore most of the brunt of the impact, splitting it in two.
She was taken to Townsville Hospital with serious head injuries and remained in intensive care in a critical but stable condition last night.
The girl’s father watched on in horror as she turned from Glendale Drive, on to River Park Drive, colliding with a utility head on.
Update: 2 July (Gold Coast)
More news on the hit-and-run death of Kenneth Gibbons:
Police have seized a car suspected of being involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident on the Gold Coast early this month.
Kenneth Gibbons, 41, died after being struck by a vehicle while riding his bike on Tallebudgera Bridge about 9.30pm on July 1.
Acting on a tip from a member of the public, police seized a white utility in the basement of a Surfers Paradise highrise on Friday.
A police spokeswoman yesterday said tests were being conducted on the car.
No further news since then.