Later in the article, she mentions having her bag snatched:
When I was mugged two years ago in Kensington, West London, it was by a youth on a bike who rode on to the pavement, snatched my bag and disappeared at high speed. No one could stop him, even after I yelled that the bag was a fake.
If that was 'two years ago', that was 2008.
On 8 September 2012, a Petronella Wyatt article about 'lycra-louts' and a 'thuggish minority of cyclists' was published on MailOnline. It revealed that on 16 August, Wyatt's mum was hit by a cyclist in London. The cyclist 'failed to stop' and Petronella's mum was left with a broken right arm.
Wyatt reveals that her mum was then knocked down again three days later but, strangely, she does not mention the 2010 incident. At all.
But later in the article, she mentions having her bag snatched:
In 2012, I had my handbag stolen by a gang of youths on bikes.
Are these two women just exceptionally unlucky with cyclists? Three accidents, two arm breaks and two muggings within a few years is very unfortunate.
Or is there something else going on here?
Look at how Wyatt describes telling a female friend about her mum's accident in 2010:
Last week I met a friend for coffee. 'How is your mother?' she asked. I stared into my latte. 'Um, she had a serious accident. Her arm is broken.' 'Oh, no. What on earth happened?' 'She was run down by a bicycle.'
The inevitable convulsion took place in the nerves of my friend's face. She looked as if she was going to laugh. She could not suppress a gurgling sound before she managed to compose her features into the correct position of commiseration and shock, and say: 'How awful!'
Curiously, there was a very similar reaction from a male friend when she told him about the 2012 incident:
Yesterday, a friend telephoned to ask about her health. 'She would be feeling better,' I replied, 'if she hadn't been hit by another bicycle the other evening.'
I could hear a convulsion in his voice. It sounded like stifled laughter. He could not repress a gurgling sound before he managed to compose himself to express sympathy and shock. 'Again? How awful!'
Does Wyatt really have two friends who make gurgling noises when told an elderly woman has been knocked down by a bike, before they look shocked and say: 'How awful!'?
Questions about these articles have also been raised by road.cc and bikebiz.
(Hat-tip to @WorkingMan)
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