Paul Nigel Miley, 52, was hit with a £1,008 penalty for driving without due attention regardless of not even touching the cycle rider as he passed her in a village. Footage showing a cyclist falling off her bike after a car drove past her on a country lane. The incidence triggered a divided opinion as to who was in the wrong after the motorist was penalized.
Video shows the woman tumbling over into a trench after Miley drove past her in his Land Rover Defender in Northamptonshire. The footage was then surrendering to Northamptonshire Police who said it verified beyond doubt that Miley had shown no concern for other road users.
But web users were swift to jump over to the driver’s defence saying that he’d left room to pass and the woman appeared to have got her feet trapped in the pedals.
One web user commented that the cyclist just looks like she fell over because her feet were attached to her pedals and said that maybe she just needs to learn how to get off her bike. Another user says that Miley could have slowed a little bit more but the user wouldn’t have blamed him for her falling off.
Others disagreed and sided with the cyclists, with one web user adding that a bit of consideration and appreciation of the vulnerability of cyclists would obviously have been better than driving close and fast. Another user says that Miley should have slowed down or stopped.
Miley was fined, received five points on his driving licence and was ordered to pay £100 in costs and a £101 victim surcharge. He had pleaded guilty to driving without due attention when he appeared before Northampton Magistrates Court.
Subsequent to the case, the force took to social media to share footage of what they designated as the reckless overtaking manoeuvre. It shows the group of three riders going along the single track lane before Miley drives by. After the car 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 yell obscenities.
PC Mo Allsopp-Clarke of Northamptonshire Police’s Safer Roads Team said that Miley primarily pleaded not guilty to the offence, claiming he had driven very 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.
The team said that Miley’s driving fell below the normal of a capable and careful driver, which could have very simply ended in sad consequences. It added that drivers should always try to give cyclists and other susceptible road users at least 1.5m of space and pass gently. It concluded that in this instance, on this road, that would not be possible. On this instance, the right thing to do would have been to come to a stop to allow the cyclists to pass securely.
What do you think about this situation?
