Ride turns into nightmare as mate’s hit by car
The weather was perfect as these mates headed out for a weekend ride, but they couldn't know one of them wouldn't be coming back.
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ANTHONY Ward had no idea a routine ride with a mate would end in absolute tragedy.
The weather painted a perfect day for him and David Halliwell to share in the passion they bonded over almost a decade ago.
But the next thing Anthony knew, he was “going through the air”.
“It happened completely out of the blue,” he said. “There was nothing that we saw coming at all.”
That was until he saw David and his bike “flash past” him.
“I could see him up ahead of me, probably about 10 metres, on the ground unconscious.”
What happened next could only be described as Anthony’s worst nightmare.
“One of the first cars who saw it happen stopped, I’m not sure who it was, but a gentleman checked his pulse,” he said.
“I yelled out to see how he was and he said ‘he has no pulse’.
“I was trying to get someone to start CPR on him, and a lady who had first aid experience did straight away until the ambulance came.”
Tragically, there was nothing the paramedics could do. David, 62, was another life taken too soon on Sunshine Coast roads last Saturday.
Although Anthony escaped the collision with minor injuries, he feels an ache for the “real gentleman” the community lost.
“When you ride with someone, you share your life,” he said.
“Anything you’ve read or heard about David is true. He was a really gentle sort of guy, and always happy.
“My heart goes out to Dave’s family … I’ll just think of him … that he was having a good day.”
The pair were cycling along Steve Irwin Way around 8.30am when the accident occurred.
Preliminary information from police suggests a 21-year-old driver collided with the rear of the two men travelling in the same direction.
Anthony said he and David “made sure (they) were well inside the white line”.
“We were very conscious that it was a busy day, there was a lot of traffic around,” he said.
“We were just cruising along very leisurely, just enjoying the day.”
As a cyclist for 10 years, Anthony, 51, is privy to drivers’ “polarising” attitude towards bicycle riders on the road.
“It’s very mixed,” he said. “A lot of people are gracious, but a lot are very reckless.
“They do things that put cyclists’ lives and others in danger.”
The Alexandra Headland man believes more education on road rules could contribute to a decline in accidents.
“I still don’t think people know the rules in terms of allowing enough room between a rider and a car,” he said.
“I appreciate it can be frustrating on the other side of it as well, but when you’re talking about people’s lives … it’s not worth it.”
Originally published as Ride turns into nightmare as mate’s hit by car