London cyclist tells of payout from TfL for damaged manhole that left her unable to bend arm

A cyclist who won an undisclosed amount in compensation from Transport for London after hitting a damaged manhole on a protected cycle path has said that dangerous road defects need to be addressed urgently.

Katrina Kersey had four different operations on her right arm, having broken her elbow falling from her bike when it hit a hole on a cycle superhighway in the capital.

It comes just days after a cyclist and father of three died after crashing when he reportedly hit a pothole in Surrey, which was apparently reported to the council several times since 2009.

Katrina says she will launch a petition to raise awareness of the state of the roads.

Her fall happened in Clapham in March 2011, when she didn't manage to avoid a damaged manhole and came off when her front wheel struck it.

The 32 year old spent two years making a full recovery.

She told the Evening Standard: “It’s dredged up so many memories and made me think of how lucky I was and how badly I feel for his family and what they must be going through.

“I just find it amazing how the roads are not being taken care of at all.”

She said it took a further several weeks for the manhole to be repaired after the accident.

“It just made me so angry and so scared for other people,” she added.

“Luckily I landed in the cycling lane and wasn’t run over immediately afterwards. All the cyclists who were travelling behind formed a circle around me until the ambulance arrived

“For two years, I couldn’t touch my nose with that arm as I couldn’t bend it at the elbow. I was basically disabled.”

This week we reported how Ralph Brazier, a 52-year-old tech entrepreneur, was cycling with Twickenham Cycling Club (TCC) riders on Tuesday when he is believed to have hit the three inch deep pothole around a drain, at the junction of Weybridge Road and Weystone Road, in Surrey.

The South East Coast Ambulance Service were called to the scene at just before 8pm, and Mr Brazier later died at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey.

Several residents near the accident had spoken to council chiefs about the pothole, which was marked with red paint for repair, while a CTC report suggests the pothole was reported via its website as long ago as 2009.

Within 24 hours of Mr Brazier’s death the hole was filled in. Surrey Police and the Health and Safety Executive have launched an investigation into the crash.