Dirt Rider ‘Clotheslined’ off Bike

A dirt rider says he feels lucky he was not decapitated after being clotheslined off his motorbike by a high-tensile wire strung up across a forestry road at neck height.

Ben Bird was riding on a forestry track at Amamoor, near Gympie in southeast Queensland, surveying fencing around the property he cares for, when “an invisible force” hit him, knocking him off the bike on Tuesday afternoon.

He got up to find a high-tensile wire strung up across the track between two trees about seven metres apart.

“I was pretty shocked, wondering what the hell it was,” Mr Bird said.

“I thought maybe it was a branch at first … I wasn’t too sure. It was like an invisible force took me off.

“I looked up and I could see the wire dangling from where I hit it.

“I took one of my gloves off instantly and there was no blood. I could move my neck and I stood up straight away. That was a relief.”

Mr Bird said he was wearing his neck guard at the time, but the wire slid up underneath and got him across the neck.

The 25-year-old had just come onto the forestry track and estimated he was travelling at only 15 kilometres per hour at the time of impact.

Any faster and he fears what would have happened.

“Normally in that spot of the track it’s a flat straight. I could be going up to 60-70 kph there,” he said.

‘The same thing happened to me’

Mr Bird shared his story on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening as a warning for locals and was met with an overwhelming response.

Source
ABC News