A 33-year-old police officer will not patrol the streets for the next three weeks after he was hospitalised in a bike crash.
Pc Gaurav Aggarwal, of Romford, was “sent flying” after a car door opened into him when he was cycling on London Road, Romford.
The collision, which took place after 9am at the junction with Burlington Avenue, has left the Redbridge officer “battered and bruised” and signed off work for up to three weeks.
Mr Aggarwal said that bystanders showed a great deal of kindness to him following the collision that saw him land four meters away from the car.
He was helped by not only an off-duty NHS nurse but also a policeman and a fireman who were not working. He was then taken to an East London hospital by ambulance for immediate treatment.
After seeing numerous incidents like this in his line of work, he offered advice to drivers and passengers.
“It takes two seconds to stop and look before you open the door,” he said.
“Just look, it’s part of the highway code and it’s not difficult and you have to look out for other road users.”
The A118 was closed in both directions for nearly two hours as a result of the crash that “destroyed” the officer’s bike.
Traffic officers investigated the incident but made no arrests.
This is the second time the Recorder has reported on a car hitting a cyclist in London Road in the last month.
In July, the Recorder reported on how a 27-year-old biker was sent flying into the air after a car hit him on London Road. The cyclist caught the incident on his helmet-mounted camera and the video footage went viral within days of the story being published - clocking up almost 1.4 million views worldwide.
Read more:
Cyclist hit by car door and hospitalised in London Road, Romford
Romford cycle crash footage goes viral with 300k views
First cyclist to die on London’s roads this year is Rainham man
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