Cyclist feels lack of repercussions for collisions 'a slap on the wrist'

Pro cyclist Imogen Cotter, who was hit and serious injured by a van speeding on the wrong side of the road. Picture: Keith Arkins

A professional cyclist who had to undergo five surgeries and hundreds of hours of recovery has said that she feels there are not enough repercussions for drivers who collide with cyclists.

Imogen Cotter fractured her femur, ruptured tendons, and shattered her patella when she was hit head-on by a van which was driving at 60km/h, on the wrong side of the road, in Spain, in January 2022.

The driver in question did not receive any punishment, and was back on the road in the same car two weeks after the accident.

Speaking as part of the Road Safety Authority’s (RSA) Easter Appeal, which has a focus on cyclist safety, Ms Cotter spoke of how she felt “lucky in an unlucky situation” to be able to come back to cycling after the incident.

In 2023, nine cyclists were killed and a further 216 were seriously injured.

New RSA research showed that, between 2018 and 2022, eight in 10 cyclists suffered serious injuries in multiple vehicle collisions.

Ms Cotter said: “I feel that there are not enough repercussions maybe for drivers. I think that it’s almost like a slap on the wrist kind of thing.

Professional cyclist Imogen Cotter said: 'I feel that there are not enough repercussions for drivers'. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

“I have friends who’ve been killed by drivers while cycling, and a lot of people I know have been hit by cars while cycling.

“I’m not sure of the exact kind of ramifications here in Ireland, but the guy who hit me — he never apologised, never reached out, never paid a fine, never got the point in his licence. He was driving the same car again a few weeks later, [it was] just repaired and no consequence.”

Ms Cotter said that there was an “almost aggressive” attitude from some drivers towards cyclists.

“I saw something online; someone said the easiest way to kill someone and get away with it is to hit them with your car and say you didn’t see them.”

This is Ms Cotter’s second campaign with the RSA, but there was a vitriolic reaction towards her first [in 2023] when it was pushed on digital media.

“I think you know, we launched this campaign last year on TikTok and on video on demand. I remember scrolling through the comments on TikTok last December and just being like ‘what is happening here?’.

People were using such violent language to talk about cyclists, and it was really eye opening to me.

“I was sharing the most traumatic event of my life and it was a very emotional video, and comments underneath it were still saying things like: ‘When I see cyclists, I tried to get a strike.’

“You know, like with bowling pin emojis, and I’m like: ‘This is a real life situation,’” Ms Cotter added.

“That is another human being. There’s a whole network of people that — for every cyclist dead — there’s a whole network of people who also have to deal with the aftermath of if.

From left: Chief Superintendent Jane Humphries, Jack Chambers TD, Imogen Cotter, and RSA chief executive Sam Waide at the RSA's Easter Appeal. Picture: RSA

“There’s a death, of course, there’s a whole family and friends who are impacted by it. I think also it has to be accepted that cyclists are more vulnerable road users.

“We are flesh and bone on a carbon frame against somebody in a cube of steel, and we’re always going to be the ones who suffer,” she said.

Ms Cotter is currently taking a break from professional cycling, saying that her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) became “debilitating” at the start of 2024.