Brentford man knocked off bike by open door of parked car
A cyclist
has been killed on Chiswick High Road after been knocked off his bike
by the open door of a parked car. The incident occurred on Sunday 17
August and the dead man has been named as Geoffrey Joseph aged 40 of Brentford.
Alan Cousins of the Metropolitan Police traffic management unit said, "Initial reports state that a man was riding along Chiswick High
Road, W4 near the junction with Dukes Avenue when he was in collision
with the open door of a parked car. The cyclist went into the path of
a following vehicle where he was hit and despite prompt medical attention
subsequently died of his injuries."
Shocked passersby tried to rescue Mr. Joseph by lifting up the car under which Mr Joseph had been trapped but their efforts were in vain.
One eye-witness reported, "The driver door was open and pushed too far forward as if it had been impacted. There was a bike in the road by the door. There was a second car, pointing westward but in the middle of the road (about 30 feet further down the road than the parked car). To my horror, there was a person under this car. After a short period of quiet, there was general panic as people tried to lift and then jack up the car in the middle of the road. The police arrived very quickly, and with the help of many people managed to lift the car and pull the person out from underneath."
The fire
brigade, the ambulance service and an air ambulance attended the accident
but Mr Joseph was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr Cousins added, "This year London has seen a rising number of road
collisions involving pedal cycles. Many of these have resulted in the
tragic death or serious injury to cyclists. In order to reduce casualties
in the capital the Metropolitan Police would like to appeal to all road
users to take extra care at all times to avoid the conflict so often seen
between cyclists and motor vehicles."
The incident
is currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Collision Investigation
Unit who are appealing for any witnesses to this incident to contact them
on 020 8247 6935.
August 22, 2003
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