Four cyclists in hospital after driver hits group ride from behind

Four cyclists in Somerset needed hospital treatment last week after a driver hit them from behind while they were out on a ride near Yeovil.

The quartet were part of a group of five from Yeovil Cycle Club who were returning to the town after riding to the Chapel Cross Tea Rooms at around 1pm last Thursday, reports Somerset Live.

One of the cyclists involved, Martin Wills, said: “The first I knew, was a heavy blow to my right buttock. This sent me off balance and I fell heavily with my bike landing on top of me.

“Propping myself up, I found I was looking north along the road we had come down.

“One of the riders was lying in the road a few feet away with her wrecked bike next to her. Another rider, who had miraculously escaped injury was putting my wife, who was unconscious, further up the road, into the recovery position.

“A few metres beyond them, another one of the riders was lying in the road.”

He said that three people from cars that had stopped at the scene near the village of Mudford were trained in first aid and helped treat the other victims, all of whom were female.

“As I was speaking to my wife she regained consciousness but had no recollection of what had happened or where she was,” Mr Wills said.

“Two people were attending to another of the riders so I had a look at one of the other riders, who was in shock and shivering violently.

“Her bike lay behind her completely wrecked. A lady from a following car covered her with a coat and stayed monitoring her.”

Emergency services arrived after a quarter of an hour, with the four injured cyclists taken to Yeovil Hospital.

Three returned home the same day after being treated for minor injuries while the fourth was taken to Dorchester Hospital to undergo surgery.

Mr Wills said that he sustained cuts and bruises, while his wife suffered “a broken finger, cracked ribs, a bump on the back of her head and various bruises.”

He added: “As I was at the front of the group and we were hit from behind I did not witness what actually happened to my companions during the crash.”

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Constabulary said following the incident: “We were called to reports of a collision involving five cyclists and a car at just after 1pm.

“The driver is being treated as a witness. Our enquiries are continuing.”

In a similar incident last week, four cyclists in West Yorkshire were hit by a driver who turned across them, with two of the riders seriously injured.

> Turning driver hits four cyclists in West Yorkshire