A motorist has been fined for causing a cyclist to fall from their bike, even though no contact was actually made. Watch the footage of the incident here:
Paul Nigel Miley, 52, received a hefty £1,008 fine for driving without due care or attention, after helmet camera footage captured the incident in Ashby St Ledger, Northamptonshire.
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In the clip, recorded in June last year, three cyclists can be seen riding along a single track lane when Miley drives past in his Land Rover Defender.
One rider shows at Miley to ‘Slow down you ****’, before the camera pans round to show another female cyclist falling off her bike and toppling into a ditch.
After the video was submitted to Northamptonshire Police, the force said ‘proved beyond doubt’ that Miley had shown no consideration for other road users.
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However, some people don’t agree that the driver was necessarily to blame, arguing online that he’d given the cyclists enough room as he passed.
One person commented: "Can’t see what he did wrong. Looks like she just fell over cos her feet were attached to her pedals. Maybe she just needs to learn how to get off her bike!"
Another said: "Where’s the offence? Honestly struggling to see what he could have done differently."
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A third wrote: "I think he could have slowed a little bit more but I wouldn’t have blamed him for her falling off! This world has gone mad! That poor driver!"
A fourth said the incident was ‘laughable’, while someone else added: "Honestly. If someone had been on foot, stepped to the side and fallen in a ditch, it most certainly wouldn’t have been the drivers fault. He left plenty of room."
But some sided with the cyclists, with one saying: "A bit of consideration and appreciation of the vulnerability of cyclists would obviously have been better than driving close and fast. The woman could have fallen to the right and into the path of oncoming traffic on a different day."
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A second added: "Agree he should [have] slowed down or stopped, however no contact and as others say she only appeared to come off as others stopped and she couldn’t remove her feet from the foot holders on the pedals."
After pleading guilty to driving without due care or attention at Northampton Magistrates Court on Friday 18 March, Miley was fined and received five points on his driving license, and was also ordered to pay £100 in costs and a £101 victim surcharge.
After the case concluded, Northamptonshire Police shared the footage on social media as an example of a ‘reckless overtaking manoeuvre’.
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PC Mo Allsopp-Clarke, of Northamptonshire Police’s Safer Roads Team, said: “Miley initially pleaded not guilty to the offence, claiming he had driven extremely slowly past the group and was unable to move further across.
“The video evidence clearly showed that Miley had no consideration for the cyclists on that day, and when he appeared at Magistrates’ Court, he changed his plea to guilty.
“His driving fell below the standard of a competent and careful driver, which could have very easily ended in tragic consequences, and I’m pleased the courts have dealt with the driver positively.
“Drivers should always try to give cyclists and other vulnerable road users at least 1.5m of space and pass slowly. In this instance, on this road, that would not be possible.
“On this occasion, the correct thing to do would have been to come to a stop to allow the cyclists to pass safely.
"It takes a couple of seconds and then everyone can continue their journey in safety."
Topics: UK News
Jess Hardiman