Sandy Peters was hit by a speeding Forest dockless hire e-bike while walking on the pavement with her son outside Morden Hall Park in south London on October 30 last year. She suffered serious injuries including a broken nose, cheekbones, teeth, and upper jaw, which was pushed out of alignment with her lower jaw. The e-bike rider was under 16 years old, despite Forest's terms and conditions requiring users to be aged 18 or over.
Forest hire e-bikes do not have rider liability insurance, which would cover costs if the rider is legally liable for injury to a third party, and Sandy Peters has been advised there is little chance of getting financial redress from the rider. Police and ambulances were called to the scene, and Sandy was treated at a local hospital for four hours before being transferred to another hospital where she stayed for seven days. Sandy Peters has post-traumatic stress disorder and faces about £10,000 in dental costs.
I have no recollection of impact of what happened. It struck me on the right hand side. It was so fast that I have no protective injuries. My face smashed into the brick wall.
She was told that had it been a small child who was hit, they would have been killed. It remains unknown who the e-bike rider is and what legal actions, if any, have been taken against them, as well as what specific measures Forest has in place for age verification and how the underage rider accessed the bike. The current status of the police investigation into the crash has not been disclosed, and it is unclear if Forest has responded to Sandy Peters' contact or what resolution, if any, is being considered.
I had this feeling like a heavy metal grate pressing down on my face. I was telling myself to get up, but I couldn't get up.
It was so traumatic, and so fast, and so brutal, and in a place where I should have been safe. I should have been safe on a pedestrian pavement.
Both my cheeks are broken, the whole of my upper jaw is broken. It's out of alignment with my lower jaw. And the key concern now is that there was a lot of damage to the teeth.
You wouldn't expect them not to have it. It just didn't make any sense.