Dad Shares Images of 10-Year-Old Son’s Horrifying Bicycle Crash to Spread Message About Road Safety

Rich Cope said his son wasn’t wearing a helmet and was listening to loud music at the time of the accident

NEED TO KNOW

• Lewis Cope, a 10-year-old boy who was riding his bike and wasn’t wearing a helmet, crashed into a moving car, resulting in a concussion, cuts and bruises
• The boy’s father, Rich Cope, said his son was listening to loud music when the accident occurred, which he said likely contributed to the scary crash
• Rich is now sharing images from the incident caught on CCTV footage in order spread awareness about helmet use and road safety, saying his son is “lucky beyond imagination” to be alive

A father in England is sharing security camera footage of the moment his son crashed his bicycle into a moving car, saying he hopes the frightening incident encourages other families to talk about road safety.

Lewis Cope was riding his bike in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on the evening of June 24 when he failed to stop at a junction and collided with the side of a passing vehicle, according to Kennedy News and Media. 

Lewis, 10, survived with a concussion, cuts and bruises despite not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

“Lewis just wanted to go for a ride and have a bit of fresh air,” Lewis’ father, Rich Cope, explained.

“He’s just an ordinary 10-year-old. He’s a lovely lad,” the father of two, 43, added.

Rich went on to say that he said he learned about the accident through a phone call from a bystander at the scene.

“[Lewis had] been out for around half an hour when a member of the public rang me off his phone and said that Lewis had been involved in an accident on his bike,” he recalled. “Naturally, I asked if he was okay and she kind of hesitated and said you need to come really quickly.”

“I wanted to be instantly there,” the company director continued. “He was conscious by the time we got there and the paramedics and police crew were with him. He was concussed and out of it.”

Lewis spent two days at a local hospital, where he received treatment for a concussion along with cuts and abrasions.

Afterward, Rich obtained surveillance footage from a neighbor that showed what had happened in the moments before the collision. He also discovered Lewis had been riding without his helmet while playing music through a speaker attached to his phone.

Rich believes the loud music prevented his son from hearing the approaching vehicle.

“He was very lucky. In most cases, it’s a much worse outcome,” Rich said. “[After watching the footage] I was horrified. It was worse than I thought it would be. Just to see how he’d put himself in that situation also shocked me.”

While Rich said he and his wife regularly talk to their children about bicycle safety, he acknowledged that mistakes can happen.

“He clearly wasn’t paying enough attention to the road,” Rich continued, adding that the crash was the result of “the perfect storm” of factors.

“We’ve spoken about it and he knows that he got a number of things wrong,” Rich said. “Being on the road without a helmet was a risk in itself, but then he didn’t help himself by having music playing on speaker through his phone, which didn’t allow him to hear anything coming.”

Rich hopes the footage serves as a reminder that even seemingly small distractions can have devastating consequences.

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“You’ve got to give the road and other road users maximum concentration and respect,” he said. “I don’t think he did anything unusual to many other 10-year-olds. They are going to make decisions and some of them are going to be bad.”

“We’ve pointed out a number of factors that put him in that situation and he understands,” Rich continued. “It could’ve easily been so much worse. He’s lucky beyond imagination. The other driver wasn’t at fault at all.”

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