A grandmother living with osteoporosis said she and her husband were lucky to not be in hospital after two cyclists with dogs crashed into them while they walked around Champion Lakes last weekend.
On June 11 at about 4pm, 70-year-old Wilma Brown and her 73-year-old husband Paul, their two grandchildren and small dog, were walking on one of two parallel paths surrounding Champion Lakes.
Mrs Brown said she had walked the track many times and had never had an issue with cyclists in the area.
However on that Sunday an incident with two cyclists riding with a medium-sized dog each ended with the grandparents having x-rays.
Mrs Brown said the cyclists approached from behind and did not give warning they were about to pass, nor did they ring any bells.
“The next thing I heard my husband groan and there he was, flattened – he’d been bowled over,” she said.
“They completely took him out.”
The couple’s granddaughter said she had seen one of the cyclist’s dog run between Mr Brown’s legs moments before the accident.
The cyclists stopped and apologised but Mrs Brown’s attempts to explain the need for caution while riding amongst walkers seemed to fall on deaf ears.
The next morning an x-ray confirmed Mr Brown had fractured his ankle and toe.
She said either of them could have potentially ended up in hospital but she was not angry about the accident despite the injury putting the brakes on a trip to Italy the following week.
The couple had to change their tickets because Mr Brown could not comfortably walk and diverted to Amsterdam – a ticket change that cost $1000.
She said the most important thing was getting cyclists to recognise the importance of being considerate while sharing the footpath.
“I was cross, I wasn’t angry, but sorry wasn’t good enough,” she said.
“I’ve got nothing against people riding bikes, they’re meant to be there too – but I’d ask for them to be more courteous and think about what they could do.”
According to the Western Australian Road Traffic Code 2000 it may even be illegal for anybody to ride a bicycle with a dog.
The Code said it was illegal for anybody to ride a vehicle on the road, including bicycles, if an animal tethered to it walked or ran behind or alongside it.
The Department of Transport also said animals must not be tied to a moving bike if it was being ridden on a shared path or footpath.
