Motorist fined for careless driving for causing cyclist to fall off despite not even touching her

Steve Hopkins

Footage of the incident in Northamptonshire has divided the internet

Footage showing a cyclist falling off her bike after a car drove past her on a country lane has divided opinion as to who was in the wrong after the motorist was fined.

Paul Nigel Miley was fined £1,008 for driving without due care or attention – despite not touching the rider as he passed her in Ashby St Ledger, Northamptonshire.

Video from a helmet camera shows the woman toppling over into a ditch after Miley, 52, drove past her in his Land Rover Defender.

The footage was submitted to Northamptonshire Police who said it “proved beyond doubt” Miley had shown no consideration for other road users on 11 June last year.

https://twitter.com/NorthantsPolice/status/1509472416619245570

But web users were quick to leap to the driver’s defence pointing out he’d left room to pass and the woman seemed to have got her feet caught in the pedals.

One person wrote: “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 added “What a waste of everyone’s time” while another put: “Where’s the offence? Honestly struggling to see what he could have done differently.”

One 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!”

Others disagreed and sided with the cyclists, with one web user commenting: “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.”

Another put: “Agree he should of 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.”

Miley, of Ashby St Ledger, also received five points on his driving licence and was ordered to pay £100 in costs and a £101 victim surcharge over the incident.

He had pleaded guilty to driving without due care or attention when he appeared before Northampton Magistrates Court on March 18.

Following the case, Northamptonshire Police shared the footage of what they described as the “reckless overtaking manoeuvre”.

It shows the group of three riders going along the single-track lane before Miley drives by as one cyclist shouts “slow down you ****”.

After the vehcile has passed the camera pans back to the middle rider, who can then be seen falling off her bike, while the other woman continues to shout expletives.

PC Mo Allsopp-Clarke, of Northamptonshire Police’s Safer Roads Team, said Miley had initially denied the charge, claiming that he had “driven extremely slowly past the group and was unable to move further across”.

He added: “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.”

Allsopp-Clarke said drivers “should always try to give cyclists and other vulnerable road users at least 1.5m of space and pass slowly.”

He said, in this instance, “that would not be possible”, so the “correct thing to do” would have been to stop to allow the cyclists to pass safely.

“It takes a couple of seconds and then everyone can continue their journey in safety,” Allsopp-Clarke said.