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Driver forces Northern Ireland cyclist off road and into barbed wire fencexeno_young_injuries_via_powerhouse_sport_on_twitter.jpg

Driver forces Northern Ireland cyclist off road and into barbed wire fence

Xeno Young, who competed in Commonwealth Games this month, suffered lacerations in incident
by Simon_MacMichael
Mon, Apr 23, 2018 14:43
5

A cyclist who represented Northern Ireland at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games earlier this month has spoken of how a driver forced him off the road and into a barbed wire fence.

Xeno Young, aged 18 and from Lisburn, was left with lacerations on his arms as a result of the incident, which happened when he was on a training ride.

Posting a picture of his injuries to Facebook, he wrote: “Forced off the road and into a field by a careless driver today pulling out of his driveway today. 

“This isn’t the first time I’ve been hit by a car and the sad reality of it is that it probably won’t be last. 

“I’m lucky this time that I only landed through a barbed wire fence, the news could’ve been much worse had it been anything else. 

“I just can’t believe that this stuff still goes on,” he added.

In a tweet, Young’s Powerhourse Sports team, which said that the rider had only been back from Australia for five days, added that “the driver ‘didn’t see him’.”

Young took part in the road race at the Commonwealth Games, and last year won a silver medal in the junior individual pursuit at the European Junior and Under-23 Track Championships.

Xeno Young
Northern Ireland
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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5 comments

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Dnnnnnn | 6 years ago
0 likes

Welcome home, Xeno.

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Metaphor | 6 years ago
2 likes

Disgusting.

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burtthebike | 6 years ago
6 likes

I worked in Belfast for some time and the drivers there were even worse than the rest of the UK, and I had many incidents there, including being clipped by a driver who overtook me while I was overtaking a parked car.  He had his family in the car and stopped just down the road to explain that he had right of way because he'd sounded his horn before he overtook.

Good luck to Xeno and a quick recovery.  Sad to see that things haven't improved in twenty years.

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brooksby replied to burtthebike | 6 years ago
4 likes

burtthebike wrote:

... including being clipped by a driver who overtook me while I was overtaking a parked car.  ...

I've always wondered where motorists *think* we're going to go when we encounter parked cars... 

Do they expect that cyclists will stop behind every parked car and wait for a gap in the (motor) traffic, or do they think that we'll just go up and over? 

(In your incident: since you were in front of the motorist, and were not changing lanes but just moving around an obstruction, I'm pretty sure you'd have priority.  That he couldn't see that shows him up as a bit of a tw@t IMO).

Avatar
fukawitribe replied to brooksby | 6 years ago
1 like

brooksby wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

... including being clipped by a driver who overtook me while I was overtaking a parked car.  ...

I've always wondered where motorists *think* we're going to go when we encounter parked cars... 

Same as where they think motorcyclists and other motorists are going to go - not in their lane. 

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