Cyclist calls for more attention after accident

Monday 05 June 2017

A 25-year-old man is urging fellow cyclists to slow down on the Waterfront following a collision with another cyclist that left him with several stitches in his leg, leading him to be off work for over a week.

Jordan Ryan Le Brun was cycling to work from First Tower when another cyclist zoomed past him and hit his handlebar, causing him to fall from his bike.

He told Express: "I was just by the entrance of Les Jardins de la Mer and I was trying to avoid two gentlemen that were coming up the ramp. As I was doing so, a cyclist managed to fit in the gap between me and the rail and he hit my handlebar which sent me flying over the edge. It happened so fast I don't think he even realised what had happened."

After recovering from his fall, the young man continued his way to work but soon realised that he was bleeding extensively from his leg. He says: "I had cuts on my hands but I thought I was fine, but as I was carrying on I realised my trousers were getting wet. Something has stabbed the inside of my leg and there was blood everywhere. My manager told me to go the A&E and I spent a couple of hours there, they stitched me up and I haven't been back to work since."

Although it his the first time the cyclist has been involved in such an incident, he says he sees people cycling too fast in the area on a daily basis. He explained: "It is stressful to see. There is a group of people who definitely treats the cycle track as a race track. Not everybody speeds down and thankfully accidents don't happen too often, but there is definitely some cyclists who put themselves in situations where they can get themselves in accident and potentially hurt people."

Mr Le Brun posted about the incident on a bicycle forum page which prompted a lot of comments from fellow cyclists, with a lot saying that people do not pay attention to each other. The cyclist is hoping that his post will help people open their eyes and urge them to be more careful. He explains: "I'm don't want anything from the man that made me fall, i don't need any compensation. If he does step up, an apology would be enough. The best outcome out of this would be to spread awareness and for people to be more careful and pay more attention."

Having been cycling to work for a while, Mr Le Brun has seen a lot of potential near-misses and is hoping that something will be done to make the area of the incident safer. He says: "They should change the layout. You have a pedestrian exit that leads straight on the cycle track and there is a blindspot. Pedestrians don't see you coming and 10m/h is enough to miss something. I wish they would redesign it but I guess if people used their common sense that would help too."

The Police frequently receives complaints about the cycling track ranging from cyclists going too fast or not looking where they are going. A shared space campaign was recently launched to highlight those issues and the necessity of safe cycling and sharing the roads and cycle paths