Make the roads safer; report bad drivers says the CTC

Cyclists’ organisation CTC has said that the case of a teenage driver who repeatedly drove at a cyclist in an attempt to run him off the road is just one example of the dangerous driving that bike riders face on a daily basis, and has urged cyclist to continue to report bad driving.

Yesterday, we reported that 18-year-old Benjamin Harrison had received a suspended sentence after aiming his vehicle at off duty police inspector Melvin Martin as he cycled home from Burnley police station.

That story provoked a number of comments from our readers, with some expressing surprise at the leniency of the sentence, although when we contacted the Crown Prosecution Service for their view, a spokesperson told us that “sentencing is a matter for the courts and we do not comment on individual sentences.”

Debra Rolfe, campaigns co-ordinator at CTC, commented: "This may sound like a remarkable story, but actually cyclists experience aggressive and dangerous driving all too frequently. In this case, the victim just happened to be a police officer and his account was acted upon, but we hope that the police always take accounts of driving such as this very seriously indeed.”

Ms Rolfe added: “Any cyclist who has experienced bad driving can report it to CTC's Stop SMIDSY ("Sorry Mate I Didn't See You") campaign, and help CTC make a case for stopping bad driving."