A cyclist has suffered life-changing injuries after he was knocked over by a 4x4 in a car park.
The man, believed to be in his 30s, was severely burnt when he became trapped underneath the wheels of the Nissan Qashqai shortly before 7pm Friday, October 11, in the car park of Sainsbury's in Merton.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) were called to help rescue the man, who had been burnt by the car’s catalytic converter and had major breathing difficulties.
Aided by the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, they were able to free the man in about 60 seconds.
A crew member said: “Due to the nature of his injuries, which are going to be life-changing, we had to quickly extricate the casualty from the vehicle.
“It took about 60 seconds. It was a really quick, really important extrication.”
Staff from Wimbledon Fire Station said cyclist safety has become an increasing problem.
The crew member added: “There is a big problem with cyclists at the moment generally.
“There are so many more cyclists on the roads that we have had a number of incidents ourselves with fire enegines and recent months.
“What they do is tuck themselves between the 150mm gap of the curb and lorry and really get themselves into places they just should not be.
“They are not respecting the road are getting themselves into dangerous positions.
“If there is a small gap just stay back.”
A London Ambulance spokesman said: "We were called just before 6.55pm to reports of a collision involving a car and a cyclist.
"We sent two ambulance crews, a responder in a car and medical teams to the scene.
"The patient was a man believed to be aged about 30.
"He was conscious but suffering from pain to his ribs.
"He was treated and stabliised before being taken to St George's Hospital."
Firefighters from Wimbledon, along with representatives from Halfords, will hold a safety workshop for cyclists in December outside Morrison’s in Wimbledon.
Cyclists will be able to sit in the fire engine to see what the view is like from the driver’s seat in an exercise aimed at reducing injuries caused to them on the roads.
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