Grieving dad: ‘cycling was his life’
Riding community around country comforts grieving family
Aman struck and killed by a van while cycling in Horowhenua lived and breathed the sport, his family says. Peter Jenkins, 54, was out for a regular Sunday training ride when he was hit by a vehicle, allegedly being driven by a woman on State Highway 1 at Manakau, north of Otaki, on Sunday afternoon.
Jenkins’ father John told the Herald his son had been riding a bike for as long as he could remember and loved it with a passion.
John Jenkins, who lives with wife Val near their son’s home in the small settlement of Manakau where Peter died, said his son was a member of the Levin Cycling Club which had rallied around the family since the tragedy.
“The cycling club has been very supportive and representatives were down at our place in Manakau last night discussing what we’re going to do with the funeral.”
The club had suggested holding it at the Levin Domain, where the velodrome was based.
The family had been inundated with messages of support from the cycling community around the country.
Asked how long his son had been riding a bike, Jenkins said “since he was a schoolboy”.
“Basically his whole life. Cycling was his life.
We need all road users to make safe decisions.
Inspector Amelia Steel
“He loved it . . . You couldn’t stop him from talking about cycling.”
Peter Jenkins had travelled overseas with his bike, including to Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom, and on the day of his death had told his parents of his plan to head back to Sri Lanka at the end of next year.
Recently he had been working with young cyclists.
Knowing the death could have been prevented was a bitter pill, John Jenkins said, making it even tougher “dealing with the trauma of it all”.
His son didn’t smoke, drink or use drugs. Instead, he was a “green sort of person”, so much that he didn’t mow his lawns so birds could eat the seed.
Police said they were yet to make any arrests or lay charges in relation to the accident.
Four motorcyclists have died in the past week, along with two cyclists.
Acting national road policing manager Inspector Amelia Steel said their thoughts were with the families of loved ones who died at the weekend.
Steel said: “I urge both motorcyclists and cyclists to be cautious and protected on the road; don’t take risks and make sure you’re wearing protective gear — it could make a huge difference to your chance of survival.
“To reduce the number of these tragedies we need all road users to make safe decisions . . . This includes drivers being aware of motorbikes and cyclists around them.”
ACC injury prevention leader Dave Keilty said warmer weather brought more motorcyclists back on to the roads, resulting in a spike in accidents: “Motorists need to be extra vigilant — look twice at intersections and when changing lanes, and check blind spots. Riders should think about their on-road skills, even if they’re experienced, and check their safety gear is adequate.”
The weekend’s deaths pushed the unofficial number of motorcyclists to have died up to 47, compared with 39 at same time last year. Twelve cyclists have died, compared to five at same time last year.
Patrick Morgan of the Cycling Action Network said this week that more needed to be done to protect cyclists, especially from heavy vehicles.
“A disproportionate amount of harm is caused by heavy vehicles on our roads,” Morgan said.
However, Nick Leggett of the Road Transport Forum said that, compared with cars, the harm would be less for the kilometres heavy vehicles travelled.
Peter Jenkins is expected to be farewelled in Levin this weekend.