Witnesses estimate that between 50 and 100 bystanders managed to move a bus so as to free a unicyclist who had been left injured and trapped following a collision. The incident took place last night in Walthamstow during rush hour.
In a statement, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said that police were called out to the incident on Hoe Street at 5.50pm. Pictures published on the London Evening Standard website show how the unicycle was crushed under the wheel of the bus, but witness Kyra Sam told the newspaper how a crowd of people had rushed to lift the vehicle off the injured man.
"I'm really amazed at the strength of Walthamstow – no one hesitated to push the bus off, I was in shock. Everyone really came together to help – it was really nice to see that in the face of something so awful."
Sami Ullah, owner of the nearby Directors Cut café, said that people had emerged from restaurants to help and he estimated that between 50 and 100 people had been involved in moving the bus.
"All of a sudden we saw people leaving their chairs at Turtle Bay and Pizza Express and running towards the road. We saw people actually coming out of the bus as well. Everybody was shouting and screaming. Then all of the people tried to somehow move the bus a little bit."
He added that he had seen the victim earlier in the main square and that he had been seen around quite often.
The unicyclist was taken to an east London hospital where his condition is believed to be serious. The driver of the bus remained at the scene and there has been no arrest.
In 1994, the law changed such that unicycles now come under the definition of a ‘pedal cycle’. The Union of UK Unicyclists refers to a letter from Hampshire Police in which it is stated that it is an offence to ride one on a footpath and such a vehicle should therefore be used on the road.
16 thoughts on “Passers-by free unicyclist from underneath bus following collision in Walthamstow”
I do hope he makes a full
I do hope he makes a full recovery, and learns the valuable lesson that if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.
danthomascyclist wrote:I do
Eh? How do you know he was doing anything stupid? Am I missing something?
vonhelmet wrote:Eh? How do
Of course you are, this is the internet, you HAVE to jump to conclusions!
vonhelmet
We don’t yet know who as at fault, but riding a unicycle in the road is always stupid.
danthomascyclist
We don’t yet know who as at fault, but riding a unicycle in the road is always stupid.— danthomascyclist
Though, as pointed out above, a unicyclist is required to ride on the road.
alotronic
We don’t yet know who as at fault, but riding a unicycle in the road is always stupid.— vonhelmet
Though, as pointed out above, a unicyclist is required to ride on the road.— danthomascyclist
You’re correct in that they are technically classed as bicycles. It doesn’t make them any less dangerous.
At times I feel exposed as a cyclist and we see discussions on here every day about the dangers cyclists face. Would you then remove a wheel, remove your braking, make yourself more susceptible to cross-winds, less stable and find the risk acceptable on the road? I wouldn’t.
Hugely positive to read that
Hugely positive to read that random passers-by and restaurant customers rushed out to assist here. Really made me smile that bit. As for the issue of unicyclists riding on the road – it’s a difficult one, it maybe law but it seems foolish to order folks who can do this with ease to ride on the road. No brakes to speak of, Wobble factor means drivers could read the situation wrong, and generally just not being in 100% control seems to me to be 3 reasons why they would be better elsewhere. But as we all know, if space is limited, there’s really no-where else for them to go.
Its a case of – 4 wheels bad, 2 wheels good, 1 wheel gamble.
@damthomascyclist:
@damthomascyclist: victim-blaming a favourite pastime of yours?
There is a much steeper learning curve for a unicycle, so by the time a unicyclist is competent enough to use it as an everyday travel option or to ride on the road, they’re likely already more competent at unicycling than most Londoners on bikes are at cycling.
Idiot.
adamthekiwi
Of course, I was victim-blaming even though I acknowledged that we don’t know who was at fault. As I stated in my opening post, despite who is at fault, I hope he learns a lesson that unicycles are a stupid idea on the roads. Irrespective of whose fault this accident was, unicycles leave a lot to chance and his next accident could be fatal.
danthomascyclist wrote:
Of
Congratulations on talking out of your arse.
danthomascyclist
Of course, I was victim-blaming even though I acknowledged that we don’t know who was at fault. As I stated in my opening post, despite who is at fault, I hope he learns a lesson that unicycles are a stupid idea on the roads. Irrespective of whose fault this accident was, unicycles leave a lot to chance and his next accident could be fatal.— adamthekiwi
You don’t need to know who was at fault to know who the victim was. He was trapped under the bus.
You may be interested to know that unicycles can have brakes too.
Some are even designed for downhill racing.
Also, this:
http://img.deseretnews.com/images/article/midres/1272087/1272087.jpg
danthomascyclist wrote:Of
https://youtu.be/oAKG-kbKeIo
I’ve seen a unicyclist
I’ve seen a unicyclist mountain biking. So it is hard to comment when the skill level is so stupendous.
Kris Holm may be a bit of an
Kris Holm may be a bit of an exception, but..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiVfvhhK0ww
Bigger wheel stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPnUdxJFgZg
FWIW I used to do a mile and a half-mile on a 26″er at each end of a train journey in the late 90s. I’d completed missed the legal aspect, and used pavements (much of it shared useage anyway), tho’ no-one ever made a fuss about it – as mentioned, the learning curve is pretty steep so you’d actually have to be pretty competent to think about being on-road. Takes a while to get the motor skills dialled in, early day’s it’s arms flailing everywhere and overworking the legs to maintain balance, eventually it’s hands by the sides and just enought pressure through the pedals to keep moving.
The unicyclist was trapped
The unicyclist was trapped under a bus which needed to be lifted for him to be freed, is quite probably suffering serious injuries, and some of you are more interested in blame apportion, despite knowing few of the facts. The things you learn on the internet. Compassion obviously isn’t one of them.
I’ve seen unicycles being
I’ve seen unicycles being ridden with immense skill over terrain that most bicyclists I know wouldn’t be able to ride over.
I do hope your attitude makes a full recovery, and you learn the valuable lesson that if you play stupid victim-blaming games, you end up looking like a bigoted bell end.