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Cyclists speak of carnage after driver ploughs into group rideBroken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)

Cyclists speak of carnage after driver ploughs into group ride

Father-of-four says his first thought was that he'd been paralysed...
by Simon_MacMichael
Tue, Feb 09, 2016 11:51
7

One of five Donegal cyclists that a motorist ploughed into on Saturday, leaving two needing hospital treatment, has said his first fear was he might have been left paralysed. He has also spoken of how his wife arrived on the scene of the crash shortly afterwards as she took one of their children to sports practice.

Bikes, several with broken frames and wheels, were left strewn across the road as were riders from Errigal CC including father of four Denis Shields who took most of the force of the impact when the car hit the riders from behind.

The riders had been passing the Millbridge Bar in Kilmacrennan when the incident took place at around 9am on Saturday morning, reports the website Stickybottle.ie, which has pictures of the scene showing the resultant carnage.

Mr Shields told the website: “We just got cleaned from behind. We left Letterkenny at 8am and it was five past nine when the incident happened.

“I was at the back and I remember it like a dream. I remember being up in the air and then hearing skidmarks and going ‘what the fuck’… I remember nothing after that.

“I came down and shattered the windscreen of the car and I was then stretchered to hospital when the ambulance crews arrived.

“I was unconscious for 10 minutes so I don’t recall what happened here, though my bike was shattered.”

The 46-year-old continued:  “It was scary thinking I was paralysed. I thought ‘I’ve four kids and I’m in a wheelchair’… that’s the first thing I thought about.

“My wife is a GP and she came on the scene then but by then I was coming around, thankfully.”

 “I remember turning my head to the side and seeing all the guys scattered on the road, bodies everywhere.

“I’ve to go to Dublin now for an MRI, my rotator cuff could be shattered; I can’t lift my left arm, my neck’s sore, my shoulder blades are sore. It took me a while to get up out of bed today,” he added.

Earlier, another of the riders, Sean McFadden, had told the Donegal Daily: “I was ahead of the lads and I heard a screech of brakes. I turned around and all I could see was the lads being thrown up into the air and going over the car.

“They were just shunted into the air like rag-dolls and propelled down the road for what must have been seventy five yards or so.

“How none of those lads were seriously injured or even killed is a miracle. To be honest I’m still not right after it.

“It’s the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my years of cycling,” he added.

The Garda are investigating the incident.

Donegal
Denis Shields
Sean McFadden
Errigal CC
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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7 comments

Avatar
Ush | 8 years ago
0 likes

Bloody hell. Every time I go up the Wicklow mountains I worry this could be me. Here's hoping he heals up soon and can get back on the bike.

Avatar
ChrisB200SX | 8 years ago
2 likes

Sadly, from the CW article, it just show that a driver who has made a serious error would rather plough, at high speed, into the back of a group vulnerable road users rather than face the consequences of their error and slam into a car coming the other way. Bring on the driverless cars.

Avatar
mrmo replied to ChrisB200SX | 8 years ago
0 likes

ChrisB200SX wrote:

Sadly, from the CW article, it just show that a driver who has made a serious error would rather plough, at high speed, into the back of a group vulnerable road users rather than face the consequences of their error and slam into a car coming the other way. Bring on the driverless cars.

 

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/why-driverless-cars-might-have-to-...

 

I agree that driverless might well be the way forward, i just wonder how you sell something that would have to be programmed to kill the driver/passenger. How many people are selfless enough to place the greater good above their own self interest? 

Avatar
Carton replied to ChrisB200SX | 8 years ago
9 likes

ChrisB200SX wrote:

Sadly, from the CW article, it just show that a driver who has made a serious error would rather plough, at high speed, into the back of a group vulnerable road users rather than face the consequences of their error and slam into a car coming the other way. Bring on the driverless cars.

Have you ever been in a crash?  Car or bike? Once a collision is inevitable you're acting on sheer instinct. No one's instinct is to slam into oncoming traffic head on. And for good reason.

The best decision at that point might've been to veer off the road, but that's really neither here nor there IMHO. Again, at that point your decision making is basically sub-conscious. 

The real issue was the driver not knowing when and how to overtake. And the underlying reason behind that is that most people look at crashing as a minor driving mistake, instead of the the life-and-death issue it is. Until they actually crash badly. Then it's suddenly, "I never thought that could happen, I'm scarred for life, I'm so sorry". And then everyone is meant to move past it and pray for the victims to heal and for the driver to be able to move past it. Because the jails are too full and vengeance is wrong and the criminal system should be about rehabilitation and helping people grow as productive citizens, and for that you need them to be able to drive to work and drop their kids off at school. And we're all fundamentally good people who make mistakes and the the only virtuous path is forgiveness.  So those affected move on, the lives of some of them curtailed and dimished, but all parties ultimately strenghtened by having their mettle tested and overcoming adversity. Ultimately all is well as long as you let go of your anger and prejudice and believe in the law and most imporantly the narrative.  And so the vast mayority of drivers remain in this constant suspension of disbelief about the dangers of driving, which not only society and the media but the formal legal system caters to. 

So yeah, do bring on the driverless cars, I'm 100% with you on that.

Avatar
LarryDavidJr replied to Carton | 8 years ago
2 likes

Carton wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

Sadly, from the CW article, it just show that a driver who has made a serious error would rather plough, at high speed, into the back of a group vulnerable road users rather than face the consequences of their error and slam into a car coming the other way. Bring on the driverless cars.

Have you ever been in a crash?  Car or bike? Once a collision is inevitable you're acting on sheer instinct. No one's instinct is to slam into oncoming traffic head on. And for good reason.

The best decision at that point might've been to veer off the road, but that's really neither here nor there IMHO. Again, at that point your decision making is basically sub-conscious. 

The real issue was the driver not knowing when and how to overtake. And the underlying reason behind that is that most people look at crashing as a minor driving mistake, instead of the the life-and-death issue it is. Until they actually crash badly. Then it's suddenly, "I never thought that could happen, I'm scarred for life, I'm so sorry". And then everyone is meant to move past it and pray for the victims to heal and for the driver to be able to move past it. Because the jails are too full and vengeance is wrong and the criminal system should be about rehabilitation and helping people grow as productive citizens, and for that you need them to be able to drive to work and drop their kids off at school. And we're all fundamentally good people who make mistakes and the the only virtuous path is forgiveness.  So those affected move on, the lives of some of them curtailed and dimished, but all parties ultimately strenghtened by having their mettle tested and overcoming adversity. Ultimately all is well as long as you let go of your anger and prejudice and believe in the law and most imporantly the narrative.  And so the vast mayority of drivers remain in this constant suspension of disbelief about the dangers of driving, which not only society and the media but the formal legal system caters to. 

So yeah, do bring on the driverless cars, I'm 100% with you on that.

Eloquently put.

Avatar
crazy-legs | 8 years ago
1 like

Quote:

The Garda are investigating the incident.

If it's anything like over here, the Police will no doubt investigate and then fine the cyclists for daring to get in the way of a poor innocent hardworking motorist.

Best wishes to all the riders involved.

 

Avatar
CygnusX1 | 8 years ago
0 likes

CW has more photos of the scene - lots of shattered carbon and riders laying in the road:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/the-horrific-photographs...

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