Letter - No-one stopped after I crashed
ON Saturday morning two weeks ago, I was cycling through Stanley along Aberford Road towards the M62 roundabout.
There is a slow incline that’s continuous heading towards Stanley Church and I had my head down.
I was unaware of anything in the road but I looked up and was right up upon a road sign advising of road works in 400 yards, which I had no way of avoiding.
The sign was taking up half of the lane and was heavily weighed down with sand bags and is almost at the brow of a hill.
To cut a long story short I hit the sign hard like it was a brick wall and fell into the road.
After a few seconds, I looked up and saw a car had stopped behind me.
The man looked at me and, not knowing whether I was seriously injured or not, drove an arc around me and continued his journey.
He was followed by another three or four cars.
At this point, absolutely devastated that nobody had stopped, I realised I needed to get out of the middle of the road considering the danger I might be in.
I managed to pull myself up and drag the bike onto the pavement and just cried with shock and upset that no-one had stopped at all.
I looked around at the road again and a man was getting out of his car and walking towards me.
He was genuinely concerned and really cared about what had happened and the fact that people had just driven past me.
He offered to drive me home if I needed but all I could do was thank him and tell him I would be fine, but I wasn’t really.
He felt that where the signs were placed was a great danger not only to cyclists but motorbikes and cars because you have to cross over the central line to pass the signs and they are a long way off what they are warning about.
I didn’t get his name but I hope that he sees this and understands how I felt about him stopping. I was so grateful that he stopped and just checked I was OK and didn’t need anything else.
While still on the road, nobody driving past knew whether I had been seriously hurt, they just ignored me.
This letter is really to say more than a massive thank you to the gentleman who cared and put up with my shock and tears, but also to say that please do not drive past someone who has just had an accident, even if you just call for help, it’s not worth ignoring.
The devastation of being laid hurt in the road and seeing people drive past took a lot of getting over and I still get upset talking about it to people now.
I’m still really emotional about it and very badly bruised.
Katherine Slingsby
Finkin Croft
Stanley
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wakefield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Comments
There are 19 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
katherines2008
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 10:37 PMThank you to everyone who understands the fact that I did NOT put my story in the paper so that I could have my name or picture in lights!!! I am totally embarrassed by the headline which wasn't mine either (the paper chose that) BUT, although I totally admit I had my head down momentarily and missed the sign, it was the fact that people did not know how badly I was hurt and didn't stop to check. I always watch where I'm going, it was an error is all. If it ever happens to you, even if you're drunk, whatever, I will stop and check you're ok if I'm there. Thank you 'Stanley Chick' for your comment and to your Dad. I did turn down his offer of any further help but only after he had checked that I didn't need anything. I was eternally grateful to him for being so kind and stopping, I was in shock and need someone there. Also, I drive and pay tax too but I love cycling..... People have accidents all the time, it happens. Thank you Optimus Prime too. Although it doesn't count for me on this occasion, you are totally right about health reasons often causing accidents, even to pedestrians and once again I can honestly say that if I was there I would help. Never mind, I've learnt a big lesson thanks, but I stand by my letter saying thank you to the one person who did stop and THAT was the only reason for it!
bboater
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 04:52 PMI had a bike once , it used to run into everything until I found out that it had handlebars to steer it. After that it was ok.
Jerrycat
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 02:44 PMI had my head down. Idiot, that means you were not looking. You idiots pay no tax, are not insured. Probably Guardian reading teachers or students. You don't even deserve hospital treatment.
Optimus Prime
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 01:13 PMOk lets try put this in even more simple terms. A person rides into a sign - crashes. At the time (this is key to the point here) any road users cannot make a judgment on whether ifs the fault of the cyclist or not - as I said there could have been various health issues that resulted in the cyclist riding into the sign. But even if the cyclist is at fault, they're on a road potentially injured? And the best anyone could do is drive around or have a whine on here how its the cyclists fault? And Phil - really need I explain further? It wasn't the fact that she turned down assistance, its the fact that it took a number of cars to ignore before someone had the decency to ask her if she's ok. That's the bloody point. This issue reminded me of a story in China some months back. It terms of attitude, there's no difference with this incident or that one. http:www.bbc.co.uknewsworld-asia-pacific-15398332
ManicManiac
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 12:21 PM...and just to add to my previous comment. The reason for mentioning what I did is because there is a distinction between feeling sympathy and no feeling sympathy. If something happens to someone through no fault of their own, then yes I feel sympathy towards that person. However if something happens to a person that is entirely within their control, but wouldn't have otherwise done so, then I have little or no sympathy. Someone crashing into a road sign as a result of not watching where they are going, or someone laid out on the street due to drinking to excess, or someone hurt in a car accident which was blatently their fault, then I have little or no sympathy.
Phil Wakefield
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 12:21 PM@Optimusprime, you can call me anything you want, I'm thickskinned enough to take it. My problem is that the letter writer was complaining that no one stopped, we will never know the reasons for this, maybe they were disabled themselves, the issue was that when someone did stop she turned down the offer of assistance, which is at odds with the claim that we are uncaring.
ManicManiac
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 08:37 AM@Optimus Prime - Before referring to people as 'sad trolls', you should perhaps consider the facts about the person to whom you are attempting to attach this label. You may be enlightened to know that I'm actually epileptic and have been so since the age of 6. It is only in the last 4 years and with the advances in anti-epileptic drugs that I now have my condition under control. So basically you are labelling someone who has been out cold in public many times, been injured as a result of falls through no fault of my own, has had their belongings stolen whilst suffering a seizure, has been laughed and joked at, and referred to via a plethora of other terms which can't be expressed on here. So please, before labelling people with comical, slanderous terms, and assuming that people have no experience of what it is like to suffer an accident resulting in injury in public, please check with whom you are speaking first - it's a good piece of advice!
vzveteran
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 08:52 PMI was driving on a major interstate highway, in a very bad snow storm one day. Out of the corner of my eye as I passed by, I saw what I believed to be a person standing next to a car, on the median in about three feet of fresh snow. I pulled over and sure enough ,there was an elderly woman standing in the snow next to her car,which she had driven off the road, due to a sudden blinding load of snow that blew off the roof of a passing 18 wheeler. She had mentioned that a man had stopped ,but left her after he said he would call for help. Well as it turns out , this woman was on her way to the hospital ,where her husband was receiving heart surgery and she was worried to see him. Where the car had ended up was in a ditch about ten feet down an incline, and there was no way she was to walk up. I left a note on the windshield for the police and asked her if I may carry her up to my car. So up the embankment we go. Now picture in your mind, I am on the side of the road with an elderly woman over my shoulder in a near blizzard waiting for an opportunity to cross to my car. You would think that maybe that would maybe raise an eyebrow or two? No. I had to literally run across a three lane highway with this woman over my shoulder to avoid being struck by passing motorists. Well it turned out well, as I drove her to the hospital where her husband was being treated in time for her to see him. It does the soul good to take a moment from your day, to maybe make someone else's day a bit better.
Optimus Prime
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 03:22 PM‘I don't feel there is any sympathy to be had’ – seriously? Do you have difficulty reading? The letter is not asking sympathy. It’s raising the point how when someone has been in an accident, the decent and humane thing is to see if the person is ok. So she rode into a sign. As far as any drivers on the road at that time are concerned, there could have been a number of reasons for that – a blackout, sudden ill health – it has been known to have happened. Even if it is the cyclist fault, you think its right to drive past. The fact that some of you guys would ignore a person who potentially could have been seriously hurt speaks volumes about you. Well I suppose that’s the difference between sad trolls and decent human beings.
Stanley Chick
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 02:51 PMwell its good to know there are some good people out there, weather you think it was Katherine's fault or not the decent thing would have been to stop and check she was ok, im not sure what the world is coming to when another human just drives by someone lying in the road, All i can say is well done to my Dad for stopping and helping her, and thank you to Katherine for the kind words
ManicManiac
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 01:01 PM@Optimus Prime: It is very true that the road is for all vehicles, but I think the point here is that the cyclist has blatently admitted to not watching where they were going, and for that I don't feel there is any sympathy to be had. Yes the sign was in a stupid obstructive position, but the roads are fraught with dangers and obstacles, which is why the driver of a vehicle should always have their eyes on the road. All I can say to sum this up is that it's a good job the cyclist collided with a road sign instead of a pedestrian. Perhaps some people on here would see things differently then.
npfiii
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 06:04 PMObviously this site doesn't format URLs correctly - Google "riding a bike without due care" and it's the third link down.
npfiii
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 06:03 PM"Magistrates can set a maximum fine of £1000 for riding a bicycle without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other people using the road."....from criminal-solicitors combicycles.htm
Optimus Prime
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 06:00 PMThe road isn't just for cars - its for cycles too. I think that was the only part of your post I could understand.... As for the other two commenting, well considering how you clearly don't lead fruitful or stimulating lives with a circle of friends that at best only extends to the other online trolls of this site - your responses don't really surprise me.
wakygirl
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 06:33 PMi sypasice with you and what your trying to say, but these days cylists ride like their dads own the road infact it was made for cars!! they not all tho pull out of a street and ride along not looking for a car etc im sick of it law should change, may be its all this claims to blame
Page 1 of 2
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.