Lanes operatives praised after pedestrian is injured in collision

Two Lanes Group plc wastewater operatives have been praised for helping a man struck by a car as he was carrying his toddler daughter while holding the hand of an older child.

Kevin Shields and Luke Dawson had been travelling along Whetley Hill in the centre of Bradford, West Yorkshire, when they witnessed the collision 20 metres in front of them. A black car involved did not stop.

Kevin and Luke pulled over their CityFlex jet vac tanker and went to help the man who was left on the pavement screaming in agony while the children, both girls, were crying.

Flagged down police

Kevin said: “The man had clearly been badly injured. His ankle looked in a bad way but he was more concerned about the wellbeing of his daughters.

“I tried to calm them and see about making the man comfortable while Luke called for an ambulance. Then we flagged down a police car that happened to pass by a couple of minutes later.”

Kevin and Luke work for the Lanes Group operation that delivers sewer unblock and cleaning services for Yorkshire Water. They had been travelling between jobs when they witnessed the collision.

The car had been turning left out of a side road into the stream of traffic the Lanes jet vac tanker had been in, just as the man and his daughters tried to cross the road.

“Either the driver hadn’t known the car collided with the gentleman or they carried on deliberately,” Kevin said. “It’s hard to think they didn’t know there had been some sort of bump.”

Decisive response

Kevin briefed the police while Luke advised ambulance control. After about 15 minutes, the injured man’s partner arrived to take the children home while the man was taken by ambulance to hospital.

Kevin and Luke advised the police officers at the scene that they were likely to have video footage of the incident, recorded by the vehicle’s Samsara camera system.

Lanes Group Contracts Manager Michael Boocock praised his colleagues for their decisive response to the emergency.

He said: “They did everything right. Making sure the injured man was stable, keeping his children safe, and alerting the emergency services promptly. Everyone’s impressed with their actions.

“All our teams receive first aid training, so they were aware of what needed to be done and followed best practice to the letter. The video has been downloaded and will be shared with the police if they request it.”

Michael Boocock added: “It shows the gentleman falling to the ground and clearly having the presence of mind to twist around so his toddler lands on top of him, not beneath him or onto the pavement. We wish him a speedy and full recovery.”