–hits cyclist, causing minor injuries

A SPEEDING car just after 1:00pm yesterday turned turtle in the canal between Irving Street and Vlissengen Road after hitting a cyclist, who fortunately only suffered minor injuries. 

The capsized vehicle, bearing number plate PNN 639, was reportedly being driven by one Nicole Mendonca, and according to an eyewitness, “That is what does happen when yuh want to WhatsApp and drive,” indicating that the driver was using a cell phone at the time of the mishap.
The injured cyclist, Keith Springer, who was hit by the car, told this newspaper that he was heading south on Vlissengen Road when he saw the car making a left turn from Garnett Street onto Vlissengen Road.

Springer explained that the driver failed to approach the “right-of-way” (Vlissengen Road) with caution, forcing him to “swerve” to the right hand side of Vlissengen Road.
He said that the driver apparently panicked and accelerated, brushing him into the corner and eventually going “overboard”. The cyclist suffered minor injuries, and blood could be seen on his fingertips.
Meanwhile, members of the Guyana Deaf Mission, who were described as the first persons on the scene, corroborated Springer’s version of the accident.
Levan Rodney, through a sign language interpreter, revealed that the driver failed to exercise due caution as she was approaching Vlissengen Road.
However, an effort to secure a statement from Mendonca subsequent to her giving a report to the police was unsuccessful.
Shortly after the accident, an ambulance from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation arrived and took the injured cyclist away.

(By Ravin Singh)