Video captures Austin cyclist being hit by car and then bouncing right up
A FOX 7 viewer captured the moment a car hit a bicyclist while crossing the road. It shows an incident that could have been a lot worse. It also sparked memories for another cyclist involved in an accident years ago. She now works to spread the message of "share the road" with other drivers.
You can see the bike flinging across the road like a toy and the man, landing on the ground. The incident happened just beyond the intersection behind the cars. It's another accident cyclists like Erica Ryan are familiar with.
Take a look at this. FOX 7 viewer Chiawen Yang sent this to us. Look beyond the cars and you can see a man flying off of his bike after a car hit him. The man was alright as you can see. The driver did stop to check on him. Are these types of wrecks pretty common? I have the numbers tonight at 9 and 10 on #Fox7
"Attitudes need to change quickly," Ryan, executive director for "Please be Kind to Cyclists," said.
Ryan was in a wreck several years back. Since then she's made it her mission to prevent these kinds of accidents.
"A girl was driving in her SUV on her cell phone and just turned the corner and hooked me and didn't stop until she saw a large crowd gathering around me and when she did stop she got out of the car and thought it was hilarious," Ryan said.
Austin police records show a sharp decline in "reported "bike related wrecks" since 201. The number is still not at zero.
"It's sad because it's another symptom of the problem," Ryan said.
Ryan believes the problem lies with enforcing the law so drivers and cyclists can face the music if they are responsible for an accident.
"The tragic part is they are preventable and people aren't held accountable," Ryan said.
As for the cyclist in the video, he was okay. The driver did get out of the car to check on him, and that's the best thing a driver can do, instead of running from the scene--that, just gets you in deeper trouble.