Cyclist, 70, knocked off bike by lorry

A pensioner is calling for drivers to take more care on rural roads after she was knocked off bike the day before her 70th birthday.
Mary Hooper 70 year old woman wants to raise awareness about bike safety after being knocked off her bike by a lorry.Mary Hooper 70 year old woman wants to raise awareness about bike safety after being knocked off her bike by a lorry.
Mary Hooper 70 year old woman wants to raise awareness about bike safety after being knocked off her bike by a lorry.

Mary Hooper, of Wirksworth, was left tending to cuts and bruises on her birthday following the incident last Monday.

The retired social worker was cycling along the B5035 towards Carsington Reservoir. A long trailer lorry was overtaking her on a blind corner when a car came in the opposite direction and the HGV pulled in slightly.

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“He was getting closer and closer and just clipped my handlebar, so my bike fell over and I flew off.

“If he’d come that bit closer a bit sooner I would have been right up against the lorry and I might have gone under the wheels.

“There was nowhere else for me to go because the side of the road was a bank.”

Mary managed to scramble to her feet and attempted to catch the licence plate number but it had driven off before she was able to do so.

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“I was left with a very tender arm, a huge bruise on my thigh and scratches on my knee,” she said.

Mary is now calling for lorry drivers and managers of haulage firms to be more careful on the road.

“I might have been lying there badly injured or dead,” she said.

“If you are a lorry driver or a manager of them, consider the cyclist on these winding narrow country roads. Don’t overtake on blind corners. Think Bike!”

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The athletic 70–year–old is a keen cyclist and celebrated her birthday by going for a swim, before enjoying an evening with friends.

Commenting on Facebook, Gemma Louise Boden said: “It takes a lorry longer to slow down and break than a car especially if it has a full load on.

“I’m surprised the lady only had a few cuts being hit by a lorry surely do more damage?

“It’s a hard one everyone should take care.”

Barbara Fletcher added: “lorry drivers are professional drivers who are insured and taxed to drive on the roads.”

To comment on this story online visit www.matlockmercury.co.uk

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