Dan Walker explains why he didn't use cycle lanes in underpass after Sheffield roundabout bike crash

The 45-year-old former BBC Breakfast presenter first shared the news of the incident with a post on Instagram, showing him with cuts to his face and a bloodied nose.

Writing in The Sunday Times newspaper, Walker said he “could have died” but confirmed he is unable to remember any details of the incident in Sheffield, which took place on a city centre roundabout close to a Waitrose supermarket.

He said: “There is still nothing there, which a large part of me is very happy about.

“I can’t go into details at the moment because the police might take another week or so to publish their report but, after talking to Conor (a police officer), I am confident that I am not to blame and I hope this can be resolved outside the courts.

“I know I could have died but I also know how easy it is to make a mistake, even when you’re trying to be careful.

“I can’t really remember what they (the driver) looked like, from that moment they were looking over me as I came round, but I do recall that they looked deeply distressed and I imagine it is all they are thinking about at the moment.

“That Monday could have been the day that changed their life for ever. I asked Conor if I would be able to talk to the driver if they were OK with that. I’ll let you know what happens.”

Walker said paramedics told him “that my helmet had probably saved my life”.

He said that since posting about the incident on social media, he realised he had landed “on quite a few societal fault lines”.

"There were motorists angry that I was on the road at all, angry that I was on ‘their roundabout’ and even upset that the driver hadn’t ‘finished the job’. There were cyclists furious that I was ‘victim blaming’ by talking about helmets at all when the real problem is ‘idiots in their tanks’. They accused the paramedics who said the helmet saved my life of ‘confirmation bias’ and accused me of ‘doing the heavy lifting for militant drivers’.”

Walker called for better cycling infrastructure across the country following the incident.

“I have cycled in Amsterdam where “hardly anyone wears a helmet” and it’s great, but the whole transport culture revolves around two wheels. In the UK, we don’t have the same respect for vulnerable road users. I have witnessed terrible driving and awful cycling everywhere. We desperately need better infrastructure, better training and more respect for other road users, but a bike is never going to win a tussle with a car and the questions always seem to be centred around what a cyclist should do to stop getting killed, rather than safer driving.

“One of the pertinent questions I have been asked this week is: “Why didn’t I use the subway under the notoriously busy Sheffield roundabout that morning?” The last two times I ventured down it was covered in shattered glass from the night before and, when you try to use it at that time of the morning, you will often find the cycle lane packed with pedestrians on their way to work.”

Walker thanked the police, NHS and ambulance services, friends and family and members of the public who helped him following the crash.

Walker also said he has hated “doing nothing” and confirmed that he hopes to return to his role as a Channel 5 news anchor next week.

“As long as the swelling and bruising have gone down, I think I will go back to work later this week,” he wrote.

“Channel 5 have been brilliant. They sent me some chocolates in the post. I sucked the caramel one and will come back to the rest once the mouth is back to full power.”

In a number of Instagram posts following the accident, Walker, who lives in Sheffield where the incident occurred, gave further information on what happened and credited his bike helmet with saving his life.

Walker left the BBC for his current post at Channel 5 last year.

A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police previously told the PA news agency that as it was a “minor injury collision” the force would not be “providing details”.