A top Tauranga cyclist has hit out at people who don't wear bike helmets after one most likely saved his life when he smashed into a van at 45kmh near the harbour bridge.
Jon Hume suffered multiple fractures and a dislocated shoulder after he and a van collided on Wednesday. The
mountain biking champion was taken to Tauranga Hospital and discharged.
Hume believes he would have died had it not been for his helmet - and he has seized on the chance to highlight the issue, saying anyone out cycling without one can expect a cold reception from him.
"Don't come near me. I will not be talking to you," a bruised and bloodied Hume said from his Mount Maunganui home yesterday.
Already a strong advocate of cycle helmets, the first thing he wanted to do when he got home yesterday was to meet the Bay of Plenty Times.
"I get so annoyed seeing adults and kids not wearing their safety helmets," he said, the outline of his own helmet still freshly imprinted on his head from the impact.
Hume was on his way home after a 120km training ride around Welcome Bay when a van unexpectedly turned in front of him at the entrance to the Harbour Bridge Marina.
With a strong tailwind accelerating his speed, he was travelling at an estimated 45kmh.
"The last thing I saw was this van in front of me ... I woke up with police and ambulance officers looking down at me. I was having trouble breathing."
His $10,000 titanium cycle was written off.
The traffic was bumper to bumper at the time and he believes that the driver of the van failed to see him after being waved through by another driver.
"It's not his fault, it's just one of those things. You just never know when your time's up, when you're going to have a bad day."
Hume, who visits schools to talk about road safety, said he often saw children and adults riding their bikes with helmets strung over the handlebars.
As he was saying this, three boys cycled past on the road below his house - only one was wearing a helmet.
"See," he gestured. "That is what I'm talking about."
His own children, Felix, 6, and Giverny, 4, are not allowed on a bike without one.
"They won't go anywhere without a helmet on."
Hume said police needed to be "hard-nosed" about issuing tickets. Failing to wear a helmet can incur a $55 penalty.
Parents also needed to enforce it more, he said.
"I have seen dads taking their kids to school and they have their helmets on the handlebars."
Cyclists have their own code of conduct and will usually strike up a conversation when they are out riding.
Hume feels so strongly about it that he shuns fellow cyclists who don't wear helmets. "I tell them: 'Don't ride round me. I don't want to be giving you CPR."
It is the first time in 20 years of being involved in the sport that the seven-times New Zealand national mountain biking champion has suffered broken bones from cycling.
Scheduled to attend a "boot camp" training session in Australia in two weeks, combined with a family holiday, Hume said he would now be spending it on the beach.
With months of recovery ahead of him, it is unlikely he will be able to compete in any events this summer. Instead, he will have to be content to sit on the sideline and cheer on his wife, Carla Forster, who is also a cyclist.
"I'll have to take up tiddlywinks or bowls next door," he said laughing and looking out the window at the neighbouring bowling green.
Right now he's just happy to be alive. "I can say I'm one lucky character."
A top Tauranga cyclist has hit out at people who don't wear bike helmets after one most likely saved his life when he smashed into a van at 45kmh near the harbour bridge.
Jon Hume suffered multiple fractures and a dislocated shoulder after he and a van collided on Wednesday. The
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