Although John Duncan is a film maker the video which you can watch below is one that he would rather not star in.
John was knocked off his bike yesterday morning around 7 am on Leith Walk by a car coming towards him which then turned into his path. He ended up on the bonnet, but as you can possibly see on the film he bounced up and walked away with a couple of bruises. (We know it is not the clearest footage you will have seen but watch it again – it came from a CCTV camera on a nearby building.)
This lucky escape comes just a few months after he broke his leg while running on Arthur’s Seat. His leg had to be pinned, and he has been attending regular physiotherapy sessions so it was frightening for him to be involved in a collision like this one.
John told The Edinburgh Reporter:-“It was only the second time I had been back on my bike after breaking my leg. Thinking back I feel extremely lucky to have walked away with literally a couple of bruises. I think if I had hit the car a second before or after I probably would have come off worse. I consider myself an experienced rider and it really emphasised to me how dangerous it can be riding around town. I feel pretty angry towards the driver for blatantly driving without care. There really was no excuse it was dry, bright and the road was quiet.”
cctv from John Duncan on Vimeo.
His bike needs a new wheel, although perhaps John’s previous career as a bike mechanic will help in this. He has decided not to proceed with any formal complaint against the young driver who he said was extremely shaken up after the incident and immediately admitted fault. The car was also damaged.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
