Video captures cyclist’s peril – More close shaves in Hamilton than London

Victoria Wiltshire begins her morning cycle to work mentally prepared to be hit by a car.

On Friday morning that happened. In a bizarre crash, captured on video, a motorist knocks her over then narrowly misses reversing into two more cyclists.

Now, the cyclist who reckons riding in central London is safer than Hamilton wants to see drivers face learn about road safety rather than just paying a fine.

Wiltshire, 37, was riding along Hamilton’s Heaphy Tce when she was knocked off her bike by a driver who didn’t give way at an intersection.

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“I came down on my ankle and my knee, and then I thought I was going to be sucked underneath the car.”

Wiltshire was able to prevent that and walk away with some scrapes and bruising.

CCTV footage from a garage near where the incident happened shows the driver head out of a side road onto Heaphy Tce without stopping. Once Wiltshire is hit, the apparently startled driver reverses away – directly into a further two cyclists coming along the road.

Wiltshire said it was “careless and dangerous” driving.

“I had right-of-way. I looked into the woman’s windscreen and saw her. It must have been her partner and a child in a booster seat in the back.

“And if I can take in all that looking in the direction of the sun, and she can’t even see me, there’s something not right.”

Victoria Wiltshire was knocked off her bike on Heaphy Tce on Friday, and it was captured on CCTV from a nearby garage.

Supplied

Victoria Wiltshire was knocked off her bike on Heaphy Tce on Friday, and it was captured on CCTV from a nearby garage.

Wiltshire said she wasn’t wearing high-vis because it was a bright, clear morning but she does wear high-vis and a light when riding home in the evening.

A police officer dealing with the matter told her it was probably best to fine the driver $150 and issue 20 demerit points.

“As it’s the driver’s first offence, and I was not classed as injured enough.”

He told Wiltshire that if she took it to court “nothing is really going to happen”.

Wiltshire wants drivers involved in such incidents required to take further safety training at their expense and have their licence suspended if they don’t. A court process, even if unsuccessful, would make the driver think about the consequences of inattention on the road.

Victoria Wiltshire was hit off her bike on Hamilton's Heaphy Tce on Friday.

MARK TAYLOR/Stuff

Victoria Wiltshire was hit off her bike on Hamilton’s Heaphy Tce on Friday.

Wiltshire said the driver in her case has apologised, and offered to fix her bike.

Originally from the UK, Wiltshire is an experienced cyclist.

“I used to ride for years on a bike in central London and I think I’ve had more near misses in Hamilton than central London.”

Share the Street Kirikiriroa spokesperson Melissa Smith said in Wiltshire’s case it appeared the driver wasn’t looking out for cyclists.

“We hear it a lot, ‘the cyclist came out of nowhere’, but it’s pretty clear from the footage the cyclist wasn’t hidden.”

Victoria Wiltshire wants drivers to be better educated on sharing the road with cyclists.

MARK TAYLOR/Stuff

Victoria Wiltshire wants drivers to be better educated on sharing the road with cyclists.

Smith believes an educational approach would be good.

“The thing that worries me is that driver would need to hit four more cyclists before their licence is temporarily removed. Based on the amount of demerit points they got they could potentially go off and do it again.”

A police spokesperson said while police consider input from the parties involved, it is ultimately the police’s decision whether to charge an offender.

They said Wiltshire’s case remains under investigation and no final outcome has been determined at this stage.



https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/128670858/video-captures-cyclists-peril–more-close-shaves-in-hamilton-than-london

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