Rider says police too "busy" to attend crash that broke leg

A Surrey cyclist whose leg was broken after he was hit by a car has lodged an official complaint after police failed to attend the incident.

Mike Preece, aged 42, was hit by a Ford Mondeo in Weybridge as he cycled home from work, reports GetSurrey.co.uk.

The 42-year-old rang the emergency services but while paramedics arrived, police failed to do so and he was later told that they were too busy.

While the cyclist believes that the crash was an accident, he added that he would have liked police to come and investigate.

He said: “I was lying in a heap on the floor. I phoned the police. They asked if I wanted them to come out.

“I said ‘isn’t it your job to investigate?’”

Because his bike wouldn’t fit in the car of the paramedic who treated him, Mr Preece started to make his own way to the NHS walk-in emergency treatment centre in Weybridge, and was picked up by a passing motorist.

He subsequently found out that his leg had been broken in the collision, and eventually police arrived at the walk-in centre to speak to him.

He went on: “I am really shocked about what happened. I phoned up the next morning to find out why they didn’t come out and they said they were quite busy.

“You want someone there to back you up. I am battered and bruised. I can’t walk. The pain is all down my left side.”

Mr Preece, from Guildford, has lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

A spokeswoman from Surrey Police told GetSurey.co.uk that they had logged a call from him at 5.57pm on the day in question.

“Due to the minor nature of his injuries, and other operational priorities, officers did not immediately attend the scene,” she said.

“However, a call was made to Mr Preece around 20 minutes after the original call, offering him three options – to wait where he was to be seen by a police officer, for a police officer to visit him at home, or for him to attend his nearest police station.

“At this point Mr Preece ended the call.”

She added that an officer took a statement from him at the NHS walk-in centre, and told him the Traffic Processing Unit would contact him inside a fortnight.

“An account has also been taken from the other party involved and a check has been carried out on the vehicle,” she added.

“The file has been submitted to the traffic and process unit and a decision will be made as to whether any further investigation will be required.”

Organisations including RoadSafe, CTC and British Cycling have lobbied the government to review the investigation, prosecution and sentencing of cases in which cyclists and other vulnerable road users are the victims.