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Just Eat food delivery cyclist pushed off bike by jogger on Birmingham canal

University student says incident is making her consider giving up part-time job

A cyclist working for Just Eat has spoken of how she was pushed off her bike by a jogger on a canal in Birmingham.

The incident happened at around noon on 12 October on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Selly Oak with the rider, 23 year old Josie Bennett, who was dressed in a Just Eat uniform and riding one of its bikes, hitting the towpath head first.

Ms Bennett, who is a student at the University of Birmingham, was treated in hospital for concussion, bruising and grazing after the assault, and is now considering giving up her part-time job with the food delivery service.

Speaking to Birmingham Live, she said: “What was his motive ? It was vindictive. I was way out of his way, not going too fast, I don't know who he was.

“There was no one else around except for this gentleman jogging. He jumped in front of me and he shoved me over the handlebars. I went over and hit the pavement head first, really hard.

“If I hadn't been wearing my helmet, I don't know what would have happened. There was a dent in the foam.

“I was quite dazed for a second and I heard him laughing and he ran off as I was getting my bearings.

“I assessed myself for injuries in case I had an injury to my spine. I called the police and then my workplace. Some friends from Oak Tree Lane came and we waited for an ambulance.”

In the end, she walked 15 minutes to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment.

I'm considering leaving my job over this,” Ms Bennett added. “When you are a Just Eat rider and you follow all the rules of the road, you still get so much abuse. You get people nearly running you over all the time.

“I don't know why he targeted me. He was just laughing like it was a big joke.”

The assault happened on the same day as a cyclist was robbed of his £3,500 bike by a masked gang as he rode home from work along a canal in the Small Heath district of the city.

West Midlands Police said: “We were called just after 1pm on Tuesday 12 October by a delivery driver who told us that a man had just pushed her off her bike as she rode down a canal towpath. Thankfully, she wasn’t badly injured.”

> Birmingham cyclist attacked by gang in violent bikejacking with thieves stealing £3,500 bike

In response to the assault on Ms Bennett as well as the recent robberies of bikes on the city’s canals, police have stepped up their patrols on Birmingham’s towpaths.

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

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chrisonabike | 2 years ago
2 likes

RE: food delivery companies. I'm sure they do tacitly (at least) incentivise "non-standard cycling". Their business model is largely the same as parcel delivery where you see pavement parking, aggressive driving to hit the time targets etc. Get stuff delivered fast for minimum cost and don't worry too much about wear and tear on the streetscape / drivers. I'm also sure they'd be the first to say "We can't believe that our partner riders were not cycling in the most courteous manner - we provide training..."

Same applies with "static" businesses though. My "favourite" is this Papa John's Pizza place. The Google streetview picture surprises me because every time I pass here (which I do regularly) there are cars or the occasional moped parked on the double yellows, pavement, bike lane entrace / crossing etc. (Nearest sign has No loading Mon-Fri 8-9:15 4:30-6pm - given this is on a junction and in a bike lane I think it's pretty strange to allow any loading here...). You'd have thought someone might a) do something about that and b) it might be seen as looking bad for them. Again the bigger picture - before the cycle lane there were single yellows here so they got into the pattern. And someone let them open up there in the first place... (There are parking bays down the side street but good luck with that).

Avatar
Toon Army | 2 years ago
0 likes

I have lost count of the number of Deliveroo, Uber Eats etc riders I have had to jump out of the way on pavements.

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Sriracha replied to Toon Army | 2 years ago
6 likes

And you offer this by way of excuse, or insight?

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Captain Badger replied to Toon Army | 2 years ago
6 likes

Toon Army wrote:

I have lost count of the number of Deliveroo, Uber Eats etc riders I have had to jump out of the way on pavements.

Yeah, no wonder this lone woman was assaulted and hospitalised...

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peted76 | 2 years ago
0 likes

Thank goodness it was a jogger and not the Melborne Logger, then she'd have been in shit!

 

(Sorry to the just eat rider by the way, that can't have been nice, but bad stuff happens to good people sometimes). 

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RoubaixCube | 2 years ago
5 likes

Probably the same guy that was formerly known as the 'Putney Bridge jogger' from 2018 but relocated and now known as the "Birmingham canal Jogger"

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brooksby | 2 years ago
5 likes

Was he a Real Jogger or was he just a man wearing trainers?  3

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