'He's gone up and over me with the front end of his car'
A cyclist struck by a car and dragged along Beaufort Street says he feared he would be seriously injured.
Derek Holland tried unsuccessfully to reach the safety of the footpath before he was struck.
He heard his friend shout a warning and claimed he looked behind to see a car crossing to the incorrect side of Beaufort Street and driving towards him.
"He's hit my back wheel and I've rolled onto my side and he's gone up and over me with the front end of his car," he said.
"I have a pretty high pain threshold but I was squealing like a girl, feeling the pressure of the car on top of me on the road and realising I could be seriously seriously injured. My adrenalin was so high that I couldn't feel anything. I thought it was the end of my life.
"The car started to roll off me so it's very lucky I didn't get more hurt than I have been."
Mr Holland believed the incident was sparked when he banged his hand on the driver's car after the man cut him and a mate off at traffic lights.
He quickly realised the driver reacted aggressively and he did a u-turn to ride away.
Derek Holland moments after the incident in Beaufort Street. Picture: Mike Dann
But he claimed the car also did a u-turn to follow him, crossed to the wrong side of Beaufort Street and ran him down.
Mr Holland said he was unsure if he damaged the man's car but apologised if he had.
But he said there was no justification for using a vehicle to retaliate, claiming the man could have easily killed him or another pedestrian.
"My injuries are trivial compared to a lot of people on the road," he said.
He said he could almost not believe he had escaped with grazes and bruises.
"It was literally the scariest thing that has ever happened to me," he said.
He said nothing would stop him from cycling but it did make him wary about how he would approach a similar situation.
Picture: Mike Dann
He said cycling helped reduce congestion for other motorists.
Police officers crossing the street raced to help, pushing the car back to free the man and pulling the driver from the Mazda hatchback.
Friend Mike Dann said the incident came shortly after Mr Holland remonstrated with the driver for dangerously pushing past them at traffic lights.
Mr Dann took pictures immediately after the incident.
Derek Holland is helped immediately after the incident. Picture: Mike Dann
He claimed that when his friend turned away from the car and cycled back towards him, the driver had run a red light and done a u-turn to follow him.
"It's accelerated, I've yelled at Derek to not go on to the road because I've heard this car spinning it's wheels and coming back up the road."
Mr Dann said he was not sure if his friend had been flung on to the bonnet before going under the car but the passenger side windscreen of the vehicle was cracked.
He said he did not know if the driver and his friend had both "seen red" but "the whole situation was not necessary and not good".
He said his friend had remained conscious during the ordeal but had been taken to Royal Perth Hospital.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing... I don't know if it was about us or the guy was in a rush to get to work."
He said the driver seemed distraught when he was pulled from the car by police.
A 54-year-old man from The Vines has been charged with reckless driving, and an act or omission causing bodily harm. He is due to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on February 3.
The injured rider is stable in Royal Perth Hospital.
24 year-old Derek Holland was hit by a car. Picture: Simon Santi/ The West Australian
A woman was injured when her bike and a car collided at a crossing near Carlisle train station just before 8am.
She was taken to RPH with non-life threatening injuries.
A third cyclist was injured when his bike and a car collided near Fremantle fire station just after 9am.
Emergency crews were still at the scene on Phillimore Street, near Pakenham Street, at 9.45am.
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