Another shocking hit and run on our roads has thrown the issue of cyclist safety back into the spotlight.
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Police are continuing to investigate after a cyclist was seriously injured in a hit and run incident in Glendonald on Saturday morning, on the same road where much-loved CFA captain Mark Spenceley was killed while cycling earlier this year.
A large campervan travelling south-bound on Clunes-Creswick Road slowed to pass a group of cyclists travelling in the same direction, but the driver did not stop when it hit a cyclist, according Ballarat Highway Patrol Senior Constable Guinther Borgelt.
Cars were also passing north-bound at the time of the collision.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson confirmed paramedics assessed a man believed to be in his 60s at the scene.
He was transported to the Ballarat Base Hospital in a stable condition with injuries to his leg and pelvis.
Police investigations are continuing into the incident that happened just before 10am.
Senior Constable Borgelt said he had interviewed the driver and would be speaking to more witnesses as the investigation continues.
No charges have been made.
Steve Linane was cycling with the victim and a group of four others in the Saxons cycling group at the time of the collision.
We were flabbergasted.
- Steve Linane
He said they had just turned from West Berry Road on to Clunes-Creswick Road and were riding single file when they heard the camper van approaching behind them.
"I was second from the back. I heard what I thought was the gears shift down a bit and I thought 'good, she will wait until these cars coming the other way go past'," he said.
"Next minute she was about six-inches from my shoulder. I was probably four or five metres back from the blokes in front of me. I saw her go past the next bloke in line and she was about an inch from his shoulder. She went passed the next bloke and I could see the cloth on his sleeve touching the vehicle and the next bloke second from the front came off.
"If she had waited five seconds the cars going the other direction would have been past and she could have moved to the right. With a vehicle that big she was taking up the whole lane."
Mr Linane said the driver of the campervan did not stop after hitting his friend and he was 'flabbergasted' to hear her response when she was later stopped by a following vehicle.
"A vehicle behind us with a great couple from Clunes pulled over and said they saw what had happened," he said.
"I asked them to chase it and get the number plate for us. They took off after the vehicle and we found out from them later that they pulled her over a few minutes later down the road and she said something along the lines of 'not my problem, they shouldn't be riding on the road'.
"We were flabbergasted."
Incidents like this affect the cycling community and are a constant reminder of the high risk we take even going on the roads in the first place.
- Tim Canny, Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
Mr Linane said the victim suffered a dual fracture to the pelvis and a collar bone injury.
"Hopefully he will be able to walk out of hospital. He is meant to be going on a bike riding trip to Europe in the next three weeks," he said.
Mr Linane said despite feeling a little shaken, the incident would not keep him off his bike.
"I love riding. I know there is risks and I know I have to keep my wits about me," he said.
The incident comes as Transport Accident Commission data shows the number of cyclists killed on Victorian roads has increased 300 per cent on the same period last year.
Eight cyclists have been killed on Victorian roads from January 1 to July 28 2019, compared to two in the same period last year, according to the TAC.
Statistics show the five year average is five cyclists killed on Victorian roads each year.
Ballarat cyclists have told The Courier every incident was a reminder of the high risk of cycling on the road.
"Incidents like this affect the cycling community and are a constant reminder of the high risk we take even going on the roads in the first place," Tim Canny, Ballarat Sebastopol cycling club president said.
"It certainly gives more weight behind our argument for a law like the one metre passing law."
Victoria remains the only state without a minimum bicycle passing distance law or trial underway.
Cycling advocate and City of Ballarat Cr Belinda Coates said it was an indictment on Victoria that protections like the one metre passing law were not enforced for vulnerable road users.
"Cyclists are unfortunately particularly vulnerable on the road and a basic protection like that is something that should be enforceable," she said.
Two cyclists have been killed on Clunes-Creswick Road in the past eight years.
Much-loved CFA captain Mark Spenceley was killed while cycling on the road in March this year, only a few kilometers from the site of Saturday's collision.
He was struck by a car travelling the same direction.
In 2012, long-time member of the Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Club Doug Garley was killed when he was struck by a car travelling in the same direction on Clunes-Creswick Road.
READ MORE: Cyclist killed in accident near Clunes
The road has no shoulder.
Victorian legislation change on minimum passing distance is dependent on a report evaluating the effectiveness of TAC's 2018 "give the space to bike riders" campaign, due to be released later this year.