What should have been a pleasant bike ride for a good cause, got completely out of hand on Monday afternoon. A group of cyclists collided with a car in Vlijmen. One of the victims broke her shoulder. According to her, it was not an accident but the driver deliberately drove into the group. She tells her story anonymously*, in the hope that someone will recognize the perpetrator and report this to the police. “It’s hard to believe that he can get away with it.”
About a thousand cyclists took part in the Climate Classic on Monday. A cycling tour by Cycling4Climate, which draws attention to the rise in sea level. The woman who was hit by a car also took part in this bike ride. That day she wanted to cycle 125 kilometers from Breda to Utrecht, but halfway through the trip, things go wrong in Vlijmen.
“It was such a hard blow that the mirror flew off, he must have noticed that.”
The group drove on the Vliedbergweg in Vlijmen shortly before eleven o’clock in the morning. “We rode neatly along the side, we weren’t cycling wide or anything. The car passed easily and had a good view of the road. But about fifty meters away he suddenly accelerates and starts driving on our side of the road. As a group we tried to swerve as much as possible, but that car hits my shoulder with its mirror.”
Miraculously, the woman does not fall off her bicycle. The car mirror was broken off in the collision, her shoulder was broken from the hard impact. The motorist drove on.
The group was left shocked. According to the fellow cyclists, it was a black Dodge RAM pick-up, with two people in it. A man was behind the wheel.
She is convinced he did this on purpose. “He didn’t have to swerve for anything, he had no reason to hit me. It was such a hard blow that the mirror flew off, he must have noticed that.”
“I have two small children. You don’t just hit me with a collision like this.”
According to the woman, it went too fast to think anything at the time of the blow. “I couldn’t do anything. I mainly thought: what is this guy doing! We were all swearing and yelling afterwards. Everyone is really devastated.”
She was taken to hospital by ambulance and reported attempted manslaughter to the police the same day. The car mirror that was left behind is in the possession of the police. She hopes people will recognize the car, especially if it is now driving around without a mirror.
She can’t imagine what would have happened if the car had hit her with its bumper. “I am very emotionally devastated. That someone does this to you. I have two small children. You don’t just hit me in a collision like this. Perhaps the worst thing I think is that my faith in humans has been completely damaged.”
The police confirm the woman’s story. They are looking for the driver and the black Dodge RAM pickup. She is currently conducting extensive trace research and is asking local residents who have seen something to come forward. She also asks to share camera images with any information with them.
*The name of the woman is known to the editors.