94.5Kfm morning jock Ryan O’Connor narrowly escaped being knocked off his bike by a taxi while cycling in Cape Town.
|||Cape Town - “If I hadn’t flung myself off the road, I would not be here today…” These were the words of 94.5Kfm morning anchor Ryan O’Connor after surviving a cycle smash on Wednesday which left him in hospital.
O’Connor is a keen cyclist and this year again swopped his mic for his bike to complete his 14th consecutive Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour.
But on Wednesday, he survived a different kind of ordeal - nearly being smashed off the road by a taxi.
“I was cycling at the back end of Durbanville, on Contermanskloof, out on my road bike. The road gets narrow in parts, but there’s still a healthy lane inside the yellow line, so I stay out of the way as much as possible, almost hugging the dirt. Every time I hear a big truck approaching, I glance behind me.”
At about 12.30pm, O’Connor heard another vehicle’s engine, glanced behind as usual, and saw danger.
“In the yellow lane, there was a taxi literally driving straight towards me. By the time I double-checked, he was right on me.”
O’Connor is not sure how he flung himself and his bike off the road - while pedalling at around 50km/h.
“I went tumbling through the gravel, my bike went over… thank heavens there wasn’t a drop. I landed elbow-first… and by the time I came to rest he was long gone,” O’Connor said of the taxi driver. “I lay there on my back, and slowly checked to see which parts of me were working. Traffic went by, but nobody bothered to stop, but I managed to call my wife, Karen.”
Once in the couple’s car, he was driven to Panorama Medi Clinic.
“My entire left side is grazed - from head to toe - and I had a dislocated radius, which is now popped back in. But I also have fractured and broken the entire joint.” On Wednesday he was waiting to hear if he needed surgery.
O’Connor’s incident prompted fresh impetus on the new cycle safety laws in the process of being passed.
Siphesihle Dube, spokesman for the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, said: “The Safety of Cyclists Regulations are currently in the final stages of their legislative process.
“Following the comments from the public, which were considered at length, the necessary recommendations were made in line with these comments and against the objectives of the regulations. We expect the final regulations to be published in August, where they will then become law.”
Cape Argus
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