Cyclist doesn’t hold a grudge
It will be months before Dave Young is able to walk properly again but the victim of a hit-andrun at a “notorious” intersection says it could have been worse.
Young, 46, was cycling to an exercise class at 7.15am last Friday when a car hit him at the junction of Chaytor St, Curtis St and Raroa Cres in Northland.
“The car clipped the left side of the front tyre,” Young said.
“I fell sideways and then l was on the bonnet and then I bounced on the road and then landed in the middle of the road.
“I just don’t understand why they didn’t wait. It just seems to be impatience.”
Young spent three days in Wellington Regional Hospital but isn’t holding a grudge against the driver who left him lying on the road with a fracture in his pelvis.
He was in such extreme pain he couldn’t move his legs to get on to the stretcher.
“At the time, I was obviously quite angry. A lot of it is just impatience and not leaving any margin for error,” he said.
“I just want them to know what happened and understand the consequences. In three to four months, it will be OK but it could have been so much worse. It is a poor intersection but people need to drive to the conditions.”
Wellington City Council has looked into improving the area. A report from 2015 found there were eight injury crashes at the intersection from 2005 to 2014 – three of which were serious.
Felix Marwick was knocked off his bike on the same intersection in December 2012.
‘‘I came off, got a concussion, and completely demolished my right wrist,’’ Marwick said. ‘‘I have been nagging the council ever since.
‘‘People don’t look for people coming out of the bus lane if they are coming down the hill and the traffic is queued up. I didn’t want anyone to be hit in the same way I was.’’
The council’s team leader for transport safety education, Anna Blomquist, said bike safety was taken very seriously.
The council funded and supported programmes like Bikes In Schools to ensure young people were confident and competent riders.
‘‘We’re also investing in our transport network, improving key cycling routes around the city and supporting a range of initiatives that make biking safer.’’
Police want to speak to anyone who saw the crash between a rider and a yellow car at about 7.15am on Chaytor St, on December 4.