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Witness appeal after hit-and-run driver leaves cyclist unconscious

Crash on A4 at Midgham puts 29-year-old in hospital

Thames Valley Police are appealing for information after a cyclist was left unconscious by a hit-and-run driver in Midgham, east of Newbury, on Friday.

Between 6pm and 7.45pm, the 29-year-old cyclist was hit by a vehicle on the A4 Bath Road, opposite the Spire Ridge Kennels.

The cyclist was knocked unconscious and was found by a member of the public on the side of the road. He was taken to hospital, where he was treated for fractured ribs and a fractured cheekbone, along with cuts and bruises.

The driver failed to stop.

The cyclist was riding a red bike and was wearing a high visibility vest.

In the weekend's other incident on Thames Valley Police's patch, a cyclist was assaulted by a car occupant as another passenger filmed the attack.

Anyone who has information about the fail-to-stop collision is asked to contact investigating officer PC Kate Lathe from Newbury Police Station on 101.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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14 comments

Avatar
Yorkshie Whippet | 9 years ago
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On another note, today saw a cyclist riding on the A4 near Heathrow wearing a yellow jacket. Travelling against two lanes of 50 mph traffic. I can only think the shared path wasn't good enough.

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Das | 9 years ago
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A cyclist is seriously injured and all you can do is complain about it is the Grammar. FFS, get a grip.

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choddo replied to Das | 9 years ago
1 like
Das wrote:

A cyclist is seriously injured and all you can do is complain about it is the Grammar. FFS, get a grip.

It's not about the grammar. It's about the implication of responsibility.

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PhilRuss replied to Das | 9 years ago
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Das wrote:

...."do is complain about it is the Grammar. FFS, get a grip.

[[[[[ "...do is complain about it is the Grammar..." Wassat? And why do you spell grammar with a capital "G" ? And another fing---this used to be all fields rand 'ere! But seriously, you seem to be missing the point, old bean.

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Airzound | 9 years ago
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I hope the fucker who hit and left this cyclist for dead is found, but the chances are slim.

Unfortunately it is looking like high quality tamper proof head cams front and rear will be necessary pieces of equipment …….. in cars.

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Grubbythumb | 9 years ago
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Only slightly related, an 84 year old man was recently knocked down and killed not too far from where I live. The driver did not stop.

It is a sad sad society that we live in.

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SuperG | 9 years ago
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I'm more worried about drivers on the road and the poor guy who was knocked off. Rather than if the car or the driver stopped.

....lighten up  1

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Bez | 9 years ago
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"The car failed to stop."

The driver. The driver failed to stop.

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jacknorell replied to Bez | 9 years ago
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Bez wrote:

"The car failed to stop."

The driver. The driver failed to stop.

^ this. A thousand times, this.

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EarsoftheWolf replied to Bez | 9 years ago
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Bez wrote:

"The car failed to stop."

The driver. The driver failed to stop.

It's amazing that even a website like road.cc is perpetuating this attitude.

That said, the quality of writing here seems to be slipping lately in a more general sense.

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AyBee replied to Bez | 9 years ago
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Bez wrote:

"The car failed to stop."

The driver. The driver failed to stop.

What's the problem? Ever seen a car stop without a driver or the driver stop without the car?

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jacknorell replied to AyBee | 9 years ago
1 like
AyBee wrote:
Bez wrote:

"The car failed to stop."

The driver. The driver failed to stop.

What's the problem? Ever seen a car stop without a driver or the driver stop without the car?

I've never seen a car take any action without a driver. The driver is in charge, makes decisions and is responsible.

The criticised language removes that responsibility due to its phrasing.

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PhilRuss replied to Bez | 9 years ago
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Bez wrote:

"The car failed to stop."

The driver. The driver failed to stop.

[[[[[ Exactly. One only ever hears about "cyclists riding too fast"- ---it's always the cyclist--the person. "Cyclist injures pedestrian". On the other hand, it's "struck by a BUS", hit by a CAR", "crushed by left-turning LORRY"
So somehow, it appears motor vehicles are inherently dangerous ( they have a will---an evil will ) of their own, and although the driver may be mentioned further into the story, the headline lets him/her off the hook. Do we ever see "The bicycle failed to stop." ? Or, "Pedestrian struck by bicycle" ? Nah..it's these bleedin' cyclists, innit? Baht time they paid their effin' road-tax!"
P.R.

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felixcat replied to PhilRuss | 9 years ago
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PhilRuss wrote:

So somehow, it appears motor vehicles are inherently dangerous ( they have a will---an evil will ) of their own,

Well, every so often they "go out of control", no doubt in spite of the driver's best efforts to restrain them.

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