‘I want to get back on the bike but I’m terrified’: After being hit by three drivers, one cyclist has had enough

A third crash left one rider with a broken back and a long time off the bike

A helmet lies in the road after a bike crash
(Image credit: Getty Images)

To be hit by a car driver once is unfortunate, but something that many of us cyclists can empathise with. To be hit twice feels like the worst misfortune, a cruel joke. To be crashed into a third time in under two years feels like an outrage, an indictment of the lack of road safety in the UK.

64,022 cyclists were killed or injured - with 248 killed, and 15,258 seriously - in collisions with car drivers in 2018-2022, according to government statistics, although these are clearly only the ones that were reported. Car drivers are the overwhelming reason behind cycling casualties on British roads, making up 77% of the overall number.

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Adam Becket