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Video: Cyclist featured in Car Vs Bike episode of new BBC Three series How Not To Die

Seven-part series uses real life stories to provide advice on what to do in life-threatening situations

A cyclist who almost died when he was hit by a motorist while taking part in a charity cycle ride from Newcastle to London in 2016 features in a new BBC Three Series, How Not To Die.

The series tells the stories of people who have found themselves in life-threatening situations, and also provides advice of what to do to people who find themselves in a position to provide assistance.

Episodes of the short-form video series have titles such as Electrocution, Cardiac Arrest, Acid Attack, Ecstasy, Dog Attack and Stabbing and, in Adrian Leake’s case, Car Vs Bike.

He was struck from behind by a distracted driver who was travelling at 60mph near Ferryhill, County Durham on 20 August 2016, and was airlifted to Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital with spinal injuries.

The video explores his thoughts about the crash and discusses his injuries and recovery from them.

A spokesperson for Great North Air Ambulance, quoted in the Northern Echo, said: "In 2016 our paramedic and doctor team came to the aid of Adrian Leake, who feared he would never walk again after a bicycle crash near Ferryhill left him with severe spinal injuries.

"Two years later, the father-of-two from Rugeley, Staffordshire, has made a great recovery and started a new career as a driving instructor.

"Adrian has now been featured in an episode of the BBC Three series How Not To Die, which aims to inform people of what to do if they find themselves in a life-threatening situation."

All episodes are currently available on YouTube and will be released as a box set on BBC iPlayer this Thursday 3 January at 10am.

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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13 comments

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... | 5 years ago
3 likes

Do they include "don't live in a car-dominated country"?

Though I suppose at the moment that would be the same as "move to the Netherlands".

Avatar
HoarseMann | 5 years ago
6 likes

Love the fact he’s become a driving instructor. That’s a direct way of improving the standard of driving. I bet his students get a good grounding in how to drive around cyclists.

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Hirsute | 5 years ago
0 likes

What happened to the bike ?

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to Hirsute | 5 years ago
4 likes

hirsute wrote:

What happened to the bike ?

Come on, show some respect! What about the CAR?!?

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Russell Orgazoid | 5 years ago
4 likes

Car vs Bike.....That isn't helping, is it?

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Reedo replied to Russell Orgazoid | 5 years ago
3 likes

Plasterer's Radio wrote:

Car vs Bike.....That isn't helping, is it?

Yea that is super gross. We deserve better from BBC. 

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burtthebike | 5 years ago
16 likes

Useful advice, and for once, the BBC didn't push helmets.  Slightly concerned that the prog barely mentioned that the collision was entirely the driver's fault.

I've tried various searches to try to find out what happened to the driver who caused the collision by retuning his radio whilst driving at 60mph, but can't find anything.  Does anyone know what happened to them?  Might have been useful if the prog had highlighted the dangers of driving, and how to prevent yourself from killing other people rather than how to survive their incompetence; prevention is always better than cure.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to burtthebike | 5 years ago
5 likes

burtthebike wrote:

Useful advice, and for once, the BBC didn't push helmets.  Slightly concerned that the prog barely mentioned that the collision was entirely the driver's fault.

I've tried various searches to try to find out what happened to the driver who caused the collision by retuning his radio whilst driving at 60mph, but can't find anything.  Does anyone know what happened to them?  Might have been useful if the prog had highlighted the dangers of driving, and how to prevent yourself from killing other people rather than how to survive their incompetence; prevention is always better than cure.

That's going to be covered in the follow-up series called "How Not To Kill". There'll be the usual suspects of looking where you're going, paying attention and travelling at a suitable speed.

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growingvegtables replied to burtthebike | 5 years ago
5 likes

burtthebike wrote:

Does anyone know what happened to them?

 

At 06:31.  £400 fine and six points on his licence.  WTF.

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burtthebike replied to growingvegtables | 5 years ago
6 likes

growingvegtables wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

Does anyone know what happened to them?

At 06:31.  £400 fine and six points on his licence.  WTF.

Thank you, how did I miss that?

WTF indeed.  Can't wait until the government review of road law finally gets around to treating road crime like other crimes that kill and maim so many people.  Any day now.

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Housecathst | 5 years ago
11 likes

The bbc just love to fan the flames of bike vs car don’t they.

how about acid vs human face?  

You’ve got to love that quote from the air ambulance too, “bike crash” completely removing the distracted motorist travel at 60mph that ran into the cyclist from behind. 

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to Housecathst | 5 years ago
4 likes

Housecathst wrote:

The bbc just love to fan the flames of bike vs car don’t they.

how about acid vs human face?  

You’ve got to love that quote from the air ambulance too, “bike crash” completely removing the distracted motorist travel at 60mph that ran into the cyclist from behind. 

 

Wonder if he describes cars being driven into buildings with the term 'building crash'?

Avatar
burtthebike replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 5 years ago
0 likes

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Housecathst wrote:

The bbc just love to fan the flames of bike vs car don’t they.

how about acid vs human face?  

You’ve got to love that quote from the air ambulance too, “bike crash” completely removing the distracted motorist travel at 60mph that ran into the cyclist from behind. 

Wonder if he describes cars being driven into buildings with the term 'building crash'?

Medical and emergency staff are part of the same society as us, and are conditioned the same way as almost all of us; it is rarely the driver's fault and always the cyclist's.

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