A CONCERNED Warfield woman is calling for drivers to show cyclists more respect after her husband fell victim to two hit and run incidents in five months.

Paul Woodbridge, an operations manager at e-bike company Swytch, was left battered and bruised after a collision caused by a car near Bird Hill golf centre near Hawthorn Hill on Friday, June 3.

The 49-year-old told this newspaper that a car tried to overtake him on a bend while he was riding on a narrow country road, only for the vehicle to swerve back in lane when the driver saw an oncoming vehicle approaching.

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Paul was forced to swerve off-road and fell head-first into a ditch after going over his handlebars to avoid being ‘wiped out' by the car.

Pictures from the incident show Paul bloodied and bruised after his fall.

 

Paul after his second collision

Paul after his second collision

 

This was the second time Paul had come off his bike in five months.

In February, Paul was approaching a crossroads near the Old Hatchet Pub in Cranbourne, Windsor when he spotted a car was inching out from the junction.

Despite clearly riding towards the vehicle, the driver still pulled out towards Paul.

The car clipped Paul’s back wheel and this sent the cyclist ‘somersaulting’ over his handlebars.

As with the June incident, the driver did not stop to check if Paul was okay.

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Paul, who has been road cycling for two years, suffered a hematoma the size of a grapefruit and a hairline fracture of the hip following this collision.

The Warfield man got back on his bike again after weeks of recovery, but the latest incident has made him think about the dangers posed to cyclists by careless drivers.

He said: “It certainly makes me think should I be going out on the road? It tends to be the country roads where it is worse, where people think wherever it's quiet and they can take more risks.

“The fact the second incident occurred relatively soon after the first does now make me think should I carry on?

“Because although I enjoy it, if something does it's the family that's going to suffer.

“What I would leave behind obviously preys on the mind.”

 

Paul after his first collision

Paul after his first collision

 

Paul’s wife, Karen, has called on drivers to treat cyclists with more respect following her husband’s second collision.

She said: “People really do have to be more vigilant when they’re driving and more respectful to cyclists because cyclists do travel between 40 and 50 miles an hour.

“They don't have any protection other than a helmet. It can be really, really quite severe if they are forced off the road or knocked.

“Drivers really do have to stop being selfish or impatient.”