Fatal bike accident in Bonn First aider complains about unwillingness to help

BONN · A lorry hit a cyclist while turning at the junction of Bornheimer Straße and Heinrich-Böll-Ring on Monday morning. The 25-year-old woman suffered fatal injuries. A 49-year-old disrupted the police’s recording of the accident.

A 25-year-old woman cyclist, who suffered life-threatening injuries in an accident on Monday morning, died shortly after being admitted to Bonn University Hospital. Police said the young woman was hit by a lorry at the junction of Bornheimer Straße and Heinrich-Böll-Ring at around 10.15am.

According to police spokesman Robert Scholten, the cyclist and the lorry driver were on Bornheimer Straße travelling towards the fire station. The 63-year-old lorry driver turned right at Heinrich-Böll-Ring towards the roundabout and according to initial investigations, failed to see the young woman on her bike and a collision occurred.

First aider shocked at unwillingness to help

A first aider complained to the General Anzeiger about the lack of willingness to help of passing car drivers and passersby stopping at the scene of the accident. “They simply all drove by. Two men were standing right next to the woman but didn’t help her,” said the woman, who wanted to remain anonymous. When she arrived at the accident scene, she parked her car half on the bike path and half on the road. Her sister ran to the cyclist with a first aid box and looked after her. She herself made an emergency call. “It seems no one had done this yet,” suspects the first aider.

As if the situation were not bad enough, other road users sounded their horns and gesticulated wildly. “It seemed to bother some of them that I was there with my car. I am really shocked at how some people behaved,” said the woman. After the rescue services and police arrived, she left the accident scene with her sister.

Passerby disrupts police recording of accident

There were also unpleasant scenes at the accident location around 10.45am, when a 49-year-old, aggressive man suddenly passed through the police cordon and ran through the evidence collection site at the accident scene. As he did not react when a policeman spoke to him several times and resisted attempts by officers to lead him away from the accident scene, he was brought to the ground by officers and pinned down. The 49-year-old, who according to police is a known drugs user, was charged with assaulting police during the recording of an accident.

The Bonn district association of the General German Cycling Club (ADFC) reacted with dismay to the fatal accident and is holding a vigil at the scene this Tuesday from 7pm. “Such accidents are always particularly tragic,” said spokesperson Axel Mörer. The ADFC has therefore been working for some time, especially at a municipal level, to ensure large vehicles such as buses and refuse trucks are equipped with turning assistant systems. The Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB) said this is not possible because at present, current buses are not being retrofitted by manufacturers. “The two manufacturers can’t offer turning assistants with an coupled automatic breaking system until model year 2019/2020,” explained SWB spokesperson Michael Henseler. “It is currently being examined whether retrofitting solutions are possible at all for existing vehicles.”

(Original text: Maximilian Mühlens, Laszlo Scheuch. Translation: kc)

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