Driver fined £1000 for passing cyclist who fell over

[OVERDRIVE]

Thoughts? 
 

A driver who injured a cyclist has pleaded guilty at Northampton Magistrates’ Court after footage which captured his reckless overtaking manoeuvre was submitted to Northamptonshire Police’s Operation Snap.
Paul Nigel Miley, 52, of Main Street in Ashby St Ledger, was recorded on a helmet camera driving without due care and attention as he drove past the group of riders near to the Northamptonshire village in December 2020.
The group had been riding along a single-track road when a Land Rover Defender drove towards them without slowing and forced its way past, causing one of the cyclists to fall off her bike.
The footage was uploaded to the Force’s Operation Snap online portal and when reviewed by police officers, the video proved beyond doubt that Miley had shown no consideration for other road users.
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.”
Miley pleaded guilty when he appeared before magistrates on Friday, March 18 and received five points on his driving licence, fined £1,008 and ordered to pay £100 in costs and a £101 victim surcharge.
PC Allsopp-Clarke added: “The success of Operation Snap is down to the continued support from the public, who enable us to take action against driving offences we otherwise wouldn’t see.
“Hopefully this case demonstrates that we take all instances of poor driving very seriously and we will prosecute offenders accordingly, which can only be a good thing to help keep our roads safer.”
People can report driving offences by uploading video evidence via a simple online portal on the Force website and completing a form, which automatically creates a witness statement to provide a full account of the incident.

 

[MORNE]

Wow…that's a bit if a stretch or am I being silly?
 She looks like she fell after the car passed and then only because she had the dreaded clipped in tumble because she chose to stop and be a Karen? 
the exact same thing has happened to me before at a stop sign. Waited, as soon as i wanted to go, a car came speeding up the road, i hesitated, couldn't unclip, and fell over. They didnt stop. Was it right? I guess not. Should I have chased him down, smashed his mirror and call him a dutch cat? 

….i was too busy checking my bike for scratches and then getting the hell out of there out of pure embarrassment lol.

Maybe its not clear, but then…authorities decided it was clear enough to warrant a fine. Do theres that.  i guess they could have stopped or gone even slower, but they couldn't really give more space by the looks of it without falling into the ditch themselves. 
 

It is narrow yes.

Anyway, hope the aggrieved feel they got what they wanted. All that effort for what? For falling over on your own?

…and now theres a new cyclist hating road user on the road. 

anyway. Probably didn't warrant this long of a reply. 

[Jewbacca]

The fine is because he never slowed down in a considerate manner.

In the UK you get a fine for driving in the right lane while not overtaking and a massive fine for 'under taking' if someone is hogging the right lane and you pass on the left.

Whether she fell or not is immaterial. 

By the law, he probably deserved his fine. Here? The fact that the Landy put half a tire on the grass would have been applauded 

[MORNE]

edit:

nvm. 

LOL

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by MORNE

[JRN89]

At least that grass looked soft, here it’s glass, gravel and kakiebos! 

[Steady Spin]

Her tumble made me giggle a bit. 

He could have slowed down more though. As much space as there was between them it is the right thing to do. 

[OVERDRIVE]

3 hours ago, MORNE said:

Wow…that's a bit if a stretch or am I being silly?
 She looks like she fell after the car passed and then only because she had the dreaded clipped in tumble because she chose to stop and be a Karen? 
the exact same thing has happened to me before at a stop sign. Waited, as soon as i wanted to go, a car came speeding up the road, i hesitated, couldn't unclip, and fell over. They didnt stop. Was it right? I guess not. Should I have chased him down, smashed his mirror and call him a dutch cat? 

….i was too busy checking my bike for scratches and then getting the hell out of there out of pure embarrassment lol.

Maybe its not clear, but then…authorities decided it was clear enough to warrant a fine. Do theres that.  i guess they could have stopped or gone even slower, but they couldn't really give more space by the looks of it without falling into the ditch themselves. 
 

It is narrow yes.

Anyway, hope the aggrieved feel they got what they wanted. All that effort for what? For falling over on your own?

…and now theres a new cyclist hating road user on the road. 

anyway. Probably didn't warrant this long of a reply. 

It did! 🤣

[OVERDRIVE]

10 minutes ago, Steady Spin said:

Her tumble made me giggle a bit. 

He could have slowed down more though. As much space as there was between them it is the right thing to do. 

Lol...but yes he could have. 

[Mamil]

Sure we deal with this sort of thing every day but levity aside, I wish our news sites were sprinkled with stories like this instead of the grim repetition of "cyclist killed in hit and run" headlines that we see.

Point is not how much space he left or didn't leave or how bad her balance is. He was punished for not considering other and vulnerable road users and this is as it should be. 

 

[The Ouzo]

Same comment I left on twitter

Sure the driver did not hit the cyclist. But if you've ever been buzzed by a motor vehicle doing more than twice your speed you'll know how frightening it is. Driver should have slowed down for the cyclists given the narrow road.

[Eldron]

To be fair the title is a bit misleading - he was fined for driving dangerously not because she fell over.

Fining is all good and well but you can't fine people into being better people - that is a societal issue.

Edited April 4, 2022 by Eldron

[Jewbacca]

1 minute ago, Eldron said:

To be fair the title is a bit misleading - he was fined for driving dangerously not because she fell over.

Fining is all good and well but you can't fine people into being better people - that is a societal issue.

Yes and no...

When I first moved to New Zealand I had no idea that I would get a fine just about every time I broke the law driving. 

I went 120 in a hundred zone on a highway with no other car in sight... fine. Turned right through an orange light... fine. 60 in a 50 zone... fine.

Once I realised that the laws weren't in fact guidelines like they are here, I adjusted accordingly and didn't get any more fines.

So I guess one can change ones behaviour based on outcome. I'm not saying I was a better person, I have and always will be a grumpy (insert rude word), but due to the consequence I was forced to change how I drove. 

I guess consequence plays a role in how people behave or perhaps how people are taught to behave. 

[Mamil]

3 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

Yes and no...

When I first moved to New Zealand I had no idea that I would get a fine just about every time I broke the law driving. 

I went 120 in a hundred zone on a highway with no other car in sight... fine. Turned right through an orange light... fine. 60 in a 50 zone... fine.

Once I realised that the laws weren't in fact guidelines like they are here, I adjusted accordingly and didn't get any more fines.

So I guess one can change ones behaviour based on outcome. I'm not saying I was a better person, I have and always will be a grumpy (insert rude word), but due to the consequence I was forced to change how I drove. 

I guess consequence plays a role in how people behave or perhaps how people are taught to behave. 

We change when we perceive advantage in adapting (rare) or when the consequences make it too painful not to (far more common and sometimes not even then)

[DieselnDust]

This is a great outcome. The driver admits guilt, there's a bit of a change. Consequence of being fonud guilty is loose your license for 6months and a hefty fine. Even if the driver still doesn't believe he/she did wrong (the SAFFA mindset = not dead therefore no harm done) the fine and the admission of guilt will make them think twice about their decisions when encountering other vulnerable road users again. That's how change happens, small uncomfortable steps sort of like attaching jumper cables to the drivers nipples and flipping the switch randomly while cranking the voltage up and down

[MORNE]

12 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

Yes and no...

When I first moved to New Zealand I had no idea that I would get a fine just about every time I broke the law driving. 

I went 120 in a hundred zone on a highway with no other car in sight... fine. Turned right through an orange light... fine. 60 in a 50 zone... fine.

Once I realised that the laws weren't in fact guidelines like they are here, I adjusted accordingly and didn't get any more fines.

So I guess one can change ones behaviour based on outcome. I'm not saying I was a better person, I have and always will be a grumpy (insert rude word), but due to the consequence I was forced to change how I drove. 

I guess consequence plays a role in how people behave or perhaps how people are taught to behave. 

why did you keep breaking the law in full sight of The Man?? 😇

It goes both ways. I used to have a friend at varsity. He was just too nice for his own good. We used to spend weeks in the studio where you'd go 3 days without sleep to get a project done...functioning on energy drinks and coffee. I myself have literally fallen asleep at a traffic light on the way home after one of these. 

One night he was driving home around 2am from varsity, it was raining and he was obviously barely functioning from being sleep deprived. He took out a street light...on his own, no one in sight. Most people would hit reverse, pick up any important bits...and drive off since no one else was involved and no one was hurt. I know I would have.

The good person that he was. He drives to the closest police station and tells them what he did...and they repay his deeds by throwing him in jail for the night. Our legal system being what it is....they just put him there and waited till the next day, where they then claimed he must have been drinking right? Surely he was drunk? why else? But they didn't test him obviously. (not that it would have mattered, he was a bit of church nut and a teetotaller ). So then that act of being a good person then changed into him needing to go to court for the next 3 years to prove that he wasn't drunk basically. His lawyer got him off in the end on a technicality and some cummunity dervice since he bumped his head in the shunt and didnt get any medical attention in jail. 

all because he did the right thing...

 

[DieselnDust]

11 minutes ago, MORNE said:

why did you keep breaking the law in full sight of The Man?? 😇

It goes both ways. I used to have a friend at varsity. He was just too nice for his own good. We used to spend weeks in the studio where you'd go 3 days without sleep to get a project done...functioning on energy drinks and coffee. I myself have literally fallen asleep at a traffic light on the way home after one of these. 

One night he was driving home around 2am from varsity, it was raining and he was obviously barely functioning from being sleep deprived. He took out a street light...on his own, no one in sight. Most people would hit reverse, pick up any important bits...and drive off since no one else was involved and no one was hurt. I know I would have.

The good person that he was. He drives to the closest police station and tells them what he did...and they repay his deeds by throwing him in jail for the night. Our legal system being what it is....they just put him there and waited till the next day, where they then claimed he must have been drinking right? Surely he was drunk? why else? But they didn't test him obviously. (not that it would have mattered, he was a bit of church nut and a teetotaller ). So then that act of being a good person then changed into him needing to go to court for the next 3 years to prove that he wasn't drunk basically. His lawyer got him off in the end on a technicality and some cummunity dervice since he bumped his head in the shunt and didnt get any medical attention in jail. 

all because he did the right thing...

 

South African law and its application......#eish