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Manchester PCSO cyclist victim of hit-and-run

Motorist initially stops only to drive away

Police in Manchester are seeking a hit-and-run driver who knocked a Police Community Support Officer off her bike.

The officer was on duty in hi-visibility clothing and was riding along Wordsworth Road South in Old Trafford at about 10.45pm on Friday when a car joining the road from a side street struck her.

The driver initially stopped and got out to look at the rider before driving away without offering any assistance. She was taken to hospital with bruising but later discharged.

Detective Constable Cherylin Allen, from Trafford CID, said: "It appears the motorist actually got out of the car after the incident before driving off, thereby making a conscious decision not to help the injured officer.

"While her injuries are not serious, they could quite easily have been much worse. I would urge anyone who saw what happened to come forward.

"I would also appeal to the driver to do the right thing and come forward and tell us what happened."

Any witnesses to the incident are asked to call Greater Manchester police on 0161 856 8315 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
 

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13 comments

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skippy | 13 years ago
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"big dummy" is correct in his assumption !

Why are cyclists treated as lesser beings ?

Cyclingsilk.blogspot commenter posted a link to a study regarding Motorists and cyclists which clearly shows a bias against Vunerable road Users !

Riding around the cheshire lanes i rarely had problems but on the wider metro streets the animals behave like they are looking for confrontations and deserve all that the law should be able to impose IF THEY DID THEIR JOB !

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BigDummy | 13 years ago
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Aaargh!

Obviously it's impossible to sympathise with pondlife drivers.

But if someone who wasn't a PCSO wandered into a police station and said they'd been knocked off their bike and were a bit bruised, and the driver involved had driven off, the response would broadly be "How fascinating, go away". A man-hunt would not ensue.

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jobysp | 13 years ago
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After the recent One Show piece about Helmet Cams, she probably got out to check the cyclist hadn't got one on before driving off  3

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Roadkill | 13 years ago
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I think so - If they're given lights I can't imagine that they wouldn't use them... and if they haven't been given them then that's not very good at all...

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Tony Farrelly | 13 years ago
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@Roadkill yeah I'm feeling pretty light headed up here I can tell you - wasn't having a pop though, thought that was a perfectly reasonable comment. In fact one well worth following up on.

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mrchrispy | 13 years ago
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I know the area well.
my money is on no insurance and no license.
and this is at a time when GMP are looking at reducing the number of officers in traffic

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Roadkill | 13 years ago
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lol - my first draft had the obvious "but this doesn't condone" statement but I thought that it was obvious....

Just for the record my point was about what wasn't written in the police press release, aligned with my own experiences in the same locality on the same evening...

In future I will prove my membership of the human being club and not assume it  3

In the meantime you can enjoy your altitude training in the moral hi-ground  1

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Tony Farrelly | 13 years ago
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that's definitely the point bikeandy61 - driving away from the scene of an accident whoever is at fault is a crime.

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bikeandy61 | 13 years ago
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Nice comments folks. Now I appreciate the irony after posting with glee about Mr Spin Doctor getting his bikes nicked. It's still a cyclist at the end of the day. If she failed to run lights, well what can you say.

It still doesn't condone the actions of the driver. With the best will in the world, accidents DO happen. Getting out of the car and then driving off is nothing short of callous criminal behaviour in my book.

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Roadkill | 13 years ago
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We were driving to the Track World Cup on Friday night and saw 2 PCSOs riding in hi-visibilty (sic) clothing but without any lights...

Strange that they didn't mention lights...

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A V Lowe | 13 years ago
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Maybe all Police cyclists should wear headcams and should we presume the PCSO had had training. A balance of skills and ability here perhaps between a reaction to the driver's failure to yield may have minimised injury but in failing to anticipate the movement of a large vehicle from a side turning across her path there was a crash.

I hope GM Police don't see another Police Cyclist hit by motor vehicle as a case to pull cops off bikes.

At least the car will be 'marked'

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Jon Burrage | 13 years ago
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hmm, wonder if the police will take this more seriously as it was a semi-one of their own?

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STATO replied to Jon Burrage | 13 years ago
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Jon Burrage wrote:

hmm, wonder if the police will take this more seriously as it was a semi-one of their own?

I think its more likely that the seething hatred displayed towards PCSO's by the media and some of the public probably had something to do with why the driver didnt stop.

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