Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Police appeal after driver rams Suffolk cyclist from behind

Rider speaks of "terrifying" ordeal...

A cyclist from Suffolk has spoken of his “terrifying” ordeal when he was hit by a car that dragged his bike along the road and was driven away without stopping.

Chris Matthews, aged 26 and from Bury St Edmunds, was out for a ride with friends at around 5pm on Thursday 19 June when the incident happened on the B1066 at Whepstead, reports the Bury Free Press.

He told the newspaper that the driver of the vehicle, a silver Vauxhall Corsa, sounded his horn as it passed the riders, then slowed down, meaning they had to pass it again. The vehicle then struck the rear wheel of his bike, causing him to be thrown off.

The cyclist said: “It was a feeling of disbelief more than anything. The initial impact had thrown me straight off.

“I was dragged along for a metre or so before I got free from my bike.”

The driver then made off, stopping only to reverse his car to free the bike, which had been caught underneath it.

“When it first happened I was concerned how my bike was but then realised I was bleeding,” Mr Matthews recalled.

“It was terrifying moment. My bike was wrecked - the handlebars have been worn away. I have nothing broken thankfully but both my elbows and forearms have been scratched and grazed.

“It could have been a lot worse. As a cyclist you get a few irresponsible drivers but not in a million years would I expect someone to ram you from behind.”

Suffolk Constabulary have issued an appeal for information to help track down the motorist, who is described as a stocky man aged in his late forties with short, light coloured or grey hair. Police can be contacted on 101.

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.

Add new comment

14 comments

Avatar
oozaveared | 9 years ago
0 likes

helmet cam or bar cam.

If you have the means then I sincerely recommend that you pick one up.

In this case the incident, driver behaviour, vehicle registration, distinguishing marks on vehicle, possibly a description image or partial image of the driver would be available. This would enable them to have a better chance of catching the driver and then a very good chance of convicting them.

Avatar
Al__S | 9 years ago
0 likes

I hope you're being facetious MercuryOne. After all, I'm usually riding at 5pm on a weekday... home from work.

Avatar
WolfieSmith | 9 years ago
0 likes

If you go out on your bike at 5pm on a weekday when people are trying to get home after a hard day at work what do you expect? Bloody cyclists.

Avatar
brooksby replied to WolfieSmith | 9 years ago
0 likes
MercuryOne wrote:

If you go out on your bike at 5pm on a weekday when people are trying to get home after a hard day at work what do you expect?

Of course, many people out on their bike after 5pm on a weekday are also trying to get home after a hard day at work...

Avatar
harrybav | 9 years ago
0 likes

Sounds like the steroids.

Avatar
PhilRuss | 9 years ago
0 likes

[[[[[ If Chris Matthews had been out for a walk instead of on his bike, surely this premeditated attack would be regarded, by anyone with even half a brain, as attempted murder.
Surely at least one of Chris's friends got the reg. number of this silver Vauxhall Corsa?
[[[[[ And I read very recently an alledged quote from the police---would you Adam'n'Eve it---that there is no such charge as "Using a motor vehicle as a weapon against a person or persons".....(I paraphrase, of course). I but why the phluck isn't there? It seems to happen pretty much every day.

Avatar
Metaphor | 9 years ago
0 likes

Shame. I have fond memories of cycling in Suffolk and I will always remember them as kind people for having given me a lift to the next town when my spoke snapped.

Avatar
lolol | 9 years ago
0 likes

I had one, some years ago, in central London. The car just turn left while I was level with his front wheel, I had looked to see the car, it was signalling and then just went through me, I bounced down the side of the car and onto the road. I had a pedestrian witness on the corner and we got the full number plate. The Police said that as I couldnt see the drivers face clearly there was nothing they could/would do. I have never had any faith the police again.

Avatar
severs1966 | 9 years ago
0 likes

This has been going on for decades. The surprise is that the police gave a damn. If it had been Leeds police they would have refuse to investigate. Yes, exactly that has happened to me.

I hope they catch the driver, but it is unlikely without number plate details. I wonder what they would charge the driver with? Would it be the attempted murder that it ought to be?

Avatar
IanW1968 | 9 years ago
0 likes

In forty years of cycling every collision with a car I have been involved in or seen first hand has been deliberate by the driver.

Theres no psychopath test required to get a licence.

Avatar
Sub5orange | 9 years ago
0 likes

Depressing, accidents are bad enough, recently there seem to be more reports of psychopaths deliberately swerving into cyclists and now deliberately running cyclists over. I am starting to dread road.cc posts as too many are about similar stories. Scary how many people seem to generate so much hatred against other road users, that they are happy to risk ruining other people's life.

Avatar
bikez | 9 years ago
0 likes

If (big if) they catch this driver there should be an immediate jail sentence no matter what their personal circumstances, followed by a lengthy driving ban and some psychiatric help. Hope Chris is O.K. and continues riding.

Avatar
Airzound | 9 years ago
0 likes

I was hit and run. It is indeed terrifying. Driver never traced.

Fortunately Mr Mathews and his bike don't look too badly damaged. I would be getting both checked out.

It's not helmets that should be mandatory but head cams, front and rear, tax free zero rated VAT with a huge subsidy for cyclists only, to film and record these c***s trying to kill us.

Scumbag.

Avatar
Paul_C | 9 years ago
0 likes

your link to the bury free press article is broken

here's the proper link:

http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/news/local/latest-news/terrifying-moment-...

Latest Comments