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Video shows cyclist hitting pothole and somersaulting into parked car

Hackney council has received over 10,000 complaints about potholes in the last two years

The London Evening Standard has published a video of the moment when a cyclist riding through north-east London hit a pothole and somersaulted into a parked car.

The man is heading up Cazenove Road in Stamford Hill when a sudden jolt appears to jar his hands off the handlebars. Falling forwards, he goes head over heels and somehow flings the bike onto the bonnet of a parked Lexus in which the camera is placed.

Mr Filip, who captured the footage, said the cyclist was largely unharmed and in fact hurried off after the incident, saying that he was late.

“I just saw the bike flying towards me. I wasn’t sure what was going on and then I saw him pick himself up. It was shocking – he could easily have smashed into the windscreen and into my face. He didn’t need medical treatment but he had quite a bit of blood on his head and his hand. He was in a rush to get somewhere and he said he was quite late.”

Hackney council has received over 10,000 complaints about potholes in the last two years with the number reported rising from 3,970 in 2013 to 6,273 in 2014. Faulty road surfaces have resulted in 218 injuries to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in that time with the council having to pay out over £20,000 in compensation.

- Video: Cycling app automatically marks potholes with spray paint

CTC, the national cycling charity, recently said that delays in fixing potholes are a contributory factor in increasing numbers of cyclists being killed or seriously injured on British roads. Its FillThatHole.org.uk website allows cyclists to log problem roads and is then updated when councils or cyclists report that the defect has been fixed. In 17 areas, councils fixed only 1 in 10 problem roads while the majority (168) repaired less than half.

Peter Box, Transport Spokesman for the Local Government Association, has said that while councils fixed more potholes than ever before last year, current funding levels mean they are only able to carry out patching and filling rather than more cost-effective long-term improvements.

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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26 comments

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Paul M | 8 years ago
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A propos of this incident, no comment on this but a young woman who works in my team at work had a similar incident, going over the handlebars after hitting a potholeand broke her back.

Mercifully she will have no long-term injuries but she had to have an operation on her spine and we don't expect to see her at work for weeks if not months. That will cause some difficulties in delivering our projects for clients.

I have advised her to check fillthathole.org, and instruct a solicitor to sue the local authority (I don't know which one) for negligence. I think my firm should do the same as we will be paying her sick pay and losing her revenue generating capacity for quite some time.

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DaveE128 | 8 years ago
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I think his cranks seem to momentarily stop turning about the same time his hand slips off and wondered if a chain jam could be the cause - not sure which is cause and which is effect though. Agree that his weight distribution certainly didn't help whatever the cause. The closest I've come to doing this on road was when I snapped a chain pulling away from lights. Got away with bruised knees from the bar then tho.

CGT wrote:

I nearly did that with the hydraulic disk brakes on my new bike!

Lol. [off topic rant]I know that's almost certainly tongue-in-cheek but I can't resist taking the bait and asking - have you ever actually ridden a bike with hydraulic disks?  1 The advantage of discs is not particularly increased power but better control of braking. (Plus more consistency across varying conditions). I'd go so far as to say you'd be less likely to go over the bars with disc brakes. On mtbs I've (anecdotally) seen a lot less of it since discs have been popular.

Even the interviews with pros about discs that I think GCN did lately were full of daft and misinformed concerns. The one about them being dangerous in crashes and acting like knives is particularly amusing. When did you last see someone get cut up by a cassette in a crash? Oh, and chainring are in a much more dangerous position. They'd better start putting bash guards on all road bikes!
[/off topic rant]

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Stumps | 8 years ago
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Its his rear wheel that hits the hole and he yarks the breaks on as his rear wheel skips to the side. The pot hole isnt big enough to throw him its his panicked breaking and position on the bike that causes that.

If you look at the clip mrmo has put on and then go back to the original footage you can see where he hits it.

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Vili Er | 8 years ago
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It’s always good to see the country’s leading video analysts commenting on here. What would we do without your expert knowledge. FFS.

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drphiliplee | 8 years ago
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Is there a helmet police on road.cc who actively scans for helmet related posts then pounce on it like a falcon?

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J90 | 8 years ago
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Effort.

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rjfrussell | 8 years ago
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helmet and gloves might have prevented some of the abrasions/ bleeding.

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rjfrussell | 8 years ago
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Ironic that it is the car guy, not the cyclist, who is Mr Flip.

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mrmo | 8 years ago
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https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.563921,-0.0728375,3a,75y,51.51h,49.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shbcGB9qC3BgeOEd1DUDaSQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

may so not that old, there appears to be a defect, but it doesn't look that big? it could have grown, but the video isn't much clearer.

However potholes have and do result in cyclists dying, but councils don't care. (haven't the money)

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2Loose | 8 years ago
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Bloomin camera owning car drivers go out of their way looking for trouble to record...

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philbo | 8 years ago
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Whatever caused him to lose control isn't clear but I'm pretty sure he hits the front brake as he slides and this is what causes the flip.
The car driver is understanding, there would have been some damage to his bonnet and wing for sure.
Still could have been a nasty crash if he fell in front of a moving vehicle.

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Anas.Z | 8 years ago
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Last month my left radius was broken in half due to an elevated drain cover in the middle of the road. No work for 3 months, no cycling for god knows how long. Suing Hackney still an option

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Jem PT | 8 years ago
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Agree, I can't see a pothole and it looks like he just lost control. The question is, how did he survive without wearing a helmet!?!?!

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Jem PT | 8 years ago
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Agree, I can't see a pothole and it looks like he just lost control. The question is, how did he survive without wearing a helmet!?!?!

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TheSpaniard replied to Jem PT | 8 years ago
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Jem PT wrote:

Agree, I can't see a pothole and it looks like he just lost control. The question is, how did he survive without wearing a helmet!?!?!

Or gloves?!

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zagatosam replied to Jem PT | 8 years ago
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…..because of course, Jem PT, (as your !?!?! suggests?) helmets don't necessarily save lives. It's all to do with logical fallacy: Cyclist wearing a helmet has a crash. Cyclist survives crash. Sic it MUST have been the helmet which saved his/her life. But it ain't necessarily so. And to wear a helmet 'just in case' isn't a valid argument either. Ask yourself- is the decision to wear a helmet based on fear or reason?
Just for the record: I'm a vet, not a psychologist or a philosopher. And I do wear a helmet, primarily because I wear one while racing so I might as well get used to it!

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danthomascyclist replied to zagatosam | 8 years ago
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zagatosam wrote:

…..because of course, Jem PT, (as your !?!?! suggests?) helmets don't necessarily save lives. It's all to do with logical fallacy: Cyclist wearing a helmet has a crash. Cyclist survives crash. Sic it MUST have been the helmet which saved his/her life. But it ain't necessarily so. And to wear a helmet 'just in case' isn't a valid argument either. Ask yourself- is the decision to wear a helmet based on fear or reason?
Just for the record: I'm a vet, not a psychologist or a philosopher. And I do wear a helmet, primarily because I wear one while racing so I might as well get used to it!

Brilliant rant. 10/10 would read again.

Oh BTW, it's probably work noting that Jem PT was being sarcastic.

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pethas | 8 years ago
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The pothole is just by the 20mph markings on the road, his hand slips, loses control, then flips as the front wheel goes...

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BBB | 8 years ago
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It looks like his front wheel slipped to the side...

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Angelfishsolo replied to BBB | 8 years ago
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BBB wrote:

It looks like his front wheel slipped to the side...

That is exactly what I thought. In my experience a pothole would have caused a more straight line crash.

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dassie | 8 years ago
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There doesn't appear to be any pothole; it looks as though they may have simply lost control. Hand slip?

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CGT | 8 years ago
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I nearly did that with the hydraulic disk brakes on my new bike!

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bikebot | 8 years ago
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It's quite difficult to tell what's going on there. I can't see any pothole, but the bike is thrown with such force the front wheel has obviously hit something. Is it just out of sight (below the line of the bonnet), with the guy braking to avoid it before?

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Tired of the tr... replied to bikebot | 8 years ago
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bikebot wrote:

It's quite difficult to tell what's going on there. I can't see any pothole, but the bike is thrown with such force the front wheel has obviously hit something. Is it just out of sight (below the line of the bonnet), with the guy braking to avoid it before?

He's also leaning forward strongly. It's not very clear if this is only during the fall, but it does look as if he was standing up and leaning forward while still pedalling well before he lost control. If he cycled along with the weight too much forward, even small road defects (or abrupt braking) can lock the wheel. But it's all speculation really...

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vonhelmet | 8 years ago
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I can barely make out a pothole in that video. It looks more like there's a seam in the tarmac, though they can be as bad if not worse.

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danthomascyclist | 8 years ago
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Quote:

It was shocking – he could easily have smashed into the windscreen and into my face

Gosh. What a terrifying ordeal that must have been for you. More needs to be done to protect motorists from nearly-dying cyclists.

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