AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures
SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS #1
A tragic accident at the recent Penang, Malaysia Event -CFAL4 (Campaign For A Lane,Sept.9th 2012) gave pause for me to reflect on the mortality of man, and how fragile we are.
The circumstances surrounding the incident is unclear, how it happened, whether it happened during the ride (some says the poor cyclist was on the way back already) is still subject to some speculation.
Irrespective of how or where, a young man of twenty-eight died while cycling. So let's give some thought on how safely we cycle, and when we drive how much consideration we give to other users of the road, be it another motorist, motorcyclist, cyclist or a pedestrian.
The following is the comment written in FaceBook on 10th September 2012 by our fellow biker Jordan Tan who witnessed and assisted in the unfortunate incident. It gives some details on what happened.
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| Photo posted by Jordan Tan in FaceBook |
I've decided to write this to remind the seriousness of safety gears and the need for safe riding education for all cyclist after I've witnessed a fatal accident. You might think it's not so vital but trust me,it might save your life. You can't deny that cycling is the "in" thing at the moment and as thing goes,will still be for a period of time. So please take this as a wake up call.
The unfortunate incident happened on Sunday morning 9 Sept 12. As you all know,there was an event on that day, it's called "Campaign For A Lane". The round island event was held to request just for a small narrow lane solely for bicycles and if not granted, at least create an awareness not only to cyclists but to all road users of the importance to share the road. But how ironic;the accident have to happen on that day. There is no finger pointing and blaming others in this. The event was held for a good cause and the deceased is not a registered rider for the event. Let me get back to the accident.
That poor guy was riding down hill from Balik Pulau heading towards Paya Terubong hill road when he lost control of his bicycle (Mtb) and slipped onto the path of a car. He was ran over... It did not end there,another car hit him immediately after he was ran over by the first car.
He was motionless and blood gushing out from both his mouth and nose. At times, he was seen grasping his hand fighting the pain that he had to endure. He was carried to the side of the road by good samaritans. Effort to wake him up failed but he is still breathing. 3-4 minutes later, a passing St John ambulance was waved down. The ambulance stopped,but they are short-handed as there is only the driver and a paramedic. I helped to carry the victim to the stretcher and the ambulance sped off to the General Hospital. I was entrusted to take care of the victim's bike and belongings maybe because i was wearing a cycling jersey during that time. I took down the details of the vehicles involved and headed straight to the GH's ICU. His father was expecting me. He needs me to explain what had happened. His father was calm throughout our conversation and he was so confident that his son will make it through. It wasn't to be,the victim died after an operation few hours later due to head and multiple internal injuries.......
I was dumbfounded upon hearing the news. My heart shattered even though i'm just a stranger to that guy. Imagine the feeling of his family during this hard time.
His father came with an inspector to have the picture of his bicycle taken today and his father again told me he was 100% sure his son will survive when he was wheeled in to the ICU.
This is wrong. Very wrong. Nobody should die doing what he/she love to do. Moreover, cycling is not an illegal activity!
By the way,for car and motorbike rider,cycling is a good thing and it doesn't pollute the air we are breathing as u move. It might not make a drastic change but at least,there is an effort to make the future a better place to live for our children, so please don't unleash your "Tokyo Drift" as u overtake a group of cyclist.
I sincerely hope a safety awareness campaign to be held soon to educate cyclist and a lane will be allocated to bicycles before any more lives taken from their loved ones.
R.I.P
The deceased's funeral will be held at Farlim Mortuary either on 11th or 12th of Sept. You can pay your respect starting tonight 10th of Sept.
Excuse me for the bad grammar and poor command of English."
LET'S US ALL PRAY FOR OUR POOR COMRADE AND ALSO TAKE TIME OUT FOR SOME REFLECTION.
I post this incident as a blog so that we can always come back here, to reflect now and again.
He was motionless and blood gushing out from both his mouth and nose. At times, he was seen grasping his hand fighting the pain that he had to endure. He was carried to the side of the road by good samaritans. Effort to wake him up failed but he is still breathing. 3-4 minutes later, a passing St John ambulance was waved down. The ambulance stopped,but they are short-handed as there is only the driver and a paramedic. I helped to carry the victim to the stretcher and the ambulance sped off to the General Hospital. I was entrusted to take care of the victim's bike and belongings maybe because i was wearing a cycling jersey during that time. I took down the details of the vehicles involved and headed straight to the GH's ICU. His father was expecting me. He needs me to explain what had happened. His father was calm throughout our conversation and he was so confident that his son will make it through. It wasn't to be,the victim died after an operation few hours later due to head and multiple internal injuries.......
I was dumbfounded upon hearing the news. My heart shattered even though i'm just a stranger to that guy. Imagine the feeling of his family during this hard time.
His father came with an inspector to have the picture of his bicycle taken today and his father again told me he was 100% sure his son will survive when he was wheeled in to the ICU.
This is wrong. Very wrong. Nobody should die doing what he/she love to do. Moreover, cycling is not an illegal activity!
By the way,for car and motorbike rider,cycling is a good thing and it doesn't pollute the air we are breathing as u move. It might not make a drastic change but at least,there is an effort to make the future a better place to live for our children, so please don't unleash your "Tokyo Drift" as u overtake a group of cyclist.
I sincerely hope a safety awareness campaign to be held soon to educate cyclist and a lane will be allocated to bicycles before any more lives taken from their loved ones.
R.I.P
The deceased's funeral will be held at Farlim Mortuary either on 11th or 12th of Sept. You can pay your respect starting tonight 10th of Sept.
Excuse me for the bad grammar and poor command of English."
LET'S US ALL PRAY FOR OUR POOR COMRADE AND ALSO TAKE TIME OUT FOR SOME REFLECTION.
I post this incident as a blog so that we can always come back here, to reflect now and again.
If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
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