Crash victim blames cycleway
Pedestrian Linda Gibson faces months of recuperation and surgery after suffering facial injuries in a collision with a cyclist on Island Bay’s controversial cycleway.
But the 57-year-old nurse does not blame the cyclist; she blames the lane’s ‘‘dangerous’’ design.
Gibson, who admits she was at fault in the accident, had reconstructive surgery for injuries to her eye-socket, cheek, jaw and nose, after she stepped into the segregated cycle lane and was knocked unconscious earlier this month. She also had four teeth ripped out and a chunk taken out of her top lip.
‘‘They picked my teeth up off the road. Thank God, it was me . . . I suspect a child or an elderly person could have died,’’ she said.
Headaches, blurred vision and dizziness mean she cannot return to work until she has passed a concussion test, and she has been told the necessary surgery and treatments on her mouth could take six months.
The cyclist, Justin Lane, who suffered a broken shoulder and hip injury, later expressed his concern for Gibson on Facebook. ‘‘Maybe the lesson is for all us to be that bit more alert as we walk, ride, run, drive about the lovely suburb of Island Bay.’’
Gibson, a cyclist who opposed the suburb’s rebooted cycleway design, wanted it returned to its on-road layout, with a buffer zone between the lane and parked cars.
The Parade resident Roberta Bosman, who lives near the crash scene, said Gibson had been doing a good deed by dropping medical admission forms to her partner, who needed urgent surgery, when the accident happened.
She found Gibson lying face down and bloodied on the cycleway, while Lane appeared to have flipped over her and was lying by a lamp-post.
Bosman, who gave them both blankets, was physically sickened by the accident. ‘‘I was driving afterwards and had to stop and throw up.’’
A large four-wheel-drive parked behind Gibson’s car would have obstructed the views of Gibson and the cyclist, she said.
Both she and Gibson would like a speed limit for the cycleway.
Gibson’s husband, Poko Daniels, felt such an accident was bound to happen again, and he was worried a child could be killed.
Daniels voted against the current cycleway design, and said the Wellington City Council had introduced a fix to a problem that didn’t exist.
A council spokesman said: ‘‘We were all terribly upset when we heard of the accident, especially when we learnt of Linda’s and Justin’s injuries.
‘‘It is well known that extensive work has been done over the past few months in terms of options for a reconfigured cycleway, and it must be stressed that the improved safety of all road users – pedestrians, cyclists and motorists – is at the centre of discussions.
‘‘The submission findings will be available at the end of this week, and the proposals will be considered by councillors on September 27.’’
The collision on The Parade happened just before 5pm on September 8 between Tamar and Avon streets. Police made inquiries at the scene but no charges were laid.
"They picked my teeth up off the road. Thank God, it was me ... I suspect a child or an elderly person could have died." Linda Gibson