Emma Way, the 21 year old accountancy trainee who achieved instant notoriety after tweeting on Sunday about her collision with #bloodycyclist Toby Hockley has broken her silence to say sorry - although without wishing to be churlish it isn't clear from the interview clip whether Ms Way is sorry for hitting Toby Hockley, the Tweet, or the situation she now finds herself in, or indeed all of the above.
In an exclusive interview with ITV Anglia News Ms Way said she had never realised her tweet would attract so much attention or cause such an enormous row. "It was a spur of the moment thing and I'm sorry. I didn't realise it would ever escalate to this."
She went on to explain she hadn't stopped because she didn't think had come off his bike or been hurt… which would seem to be somewhat at odds with what she said in her Tweet: "Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier - I have right of way he doesn't even pay road tax! #bloodycyclist"
Way was in collision with Toby Hockley on a quiet country road on Sunday afternoon, the cyclist who was taking part in the Boudicca Ride Sportive along with other members of his cycling club told us he was thrown up on to the bonnet of her car hitting the windscreen, when she came around a corner at speed, he then bounced off and in to a hedge before regaining control of his bike. Remarkably Toby only sustained cuts and bruises. Possibly even more remarkably the only thing he wanted from Ms Way was an apology. Which he now has - of sorts.
Although Ms Way has been interviewed by Norfolk Police about the incident there has been no indication as yet what, if any further action they will take. However, a good indicator of where things may go next is that it is the issue of her leaving the scene that is the one Ms Way addresses in her interview - while the exact details of the collision may well be quite hard to determine to a level necessary to press charges - that she left the scene is an unassailable fact and one that is likely to have legal consequences. Indeed it has been suggested that the reason Ms Way's "sorry" is so non-specific is that she has been advised not to admit any fault or liability prior to any decision to charge her with an offence.
The immediate consequence for Ms Way is that her employers, an accountancy firm, have suspended her and her job, and career, now hang in the balance. She meanwhile has had a crash course (sorry) in the power of social media - one the comments in her interview demonstrate may not have entirely sunk in, "it's gone national" she repeats bewilderedly as the interview draws to a close. No Emma, it's much bigger than that: the tweet and its aftermath have now featured in newspapers and websites on every continent.
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82 comments
None of my friends are gay black cyclists. Does this mean I have to join the BNP? Hope not
Bitch couldnt give a damn,cold heartless fucking moron,more concerned with her shithole 'career' and her 'bad name'
Utterly oblivious to the carnage she has caused in her shitty little car
If reputable firms are employing this thick generation we are well up shit creek without a paddle
Beyond belief
Piece of fucking shit
Actually the very last second where she glances at the camera, as if to say "do you reckon that will do?" sums up perfectly how sincere she is.
I love the tone of your comments Lane71 but not the swearing..... Please
We should stop being so hostile to Ms Way. Okay, she's been monumentally stupid, and appears to be getting some dodgy PR guidance. Young people, eh? But during her hopefully lengthy driving ban, she may want to cycle more.
Has anyone any suggestions as to a good commuting and leisure bike for Ms Way? She may be relatively unaccustomed to cycling and its dangers, so a road bike may be a little too much, too early.
She is sorry she got caught! And that is not really any kind of sorry.
It's just regret for being a selfish wreckless bitch who didn't get away with it.
What lengthy ban?
A local prick who had previously been caught speeding on the same road killed my friend and shop mechanic rob jefferies. Just drove through him, despite rob being inside the white line beside the verge on a very wide roads. What did he get?
£85
200 hours knobbing around a charity shop where Jane (the widow) bumped into him.
2 year ban.
Emma way is a crook, she has displayed such contempt for everyone. But this will test the legal system. My bet is on 6 points and £120 fine. The legal system won't protect us from potential killers like this stupid bitch.
She is a young girl, she has made a stupidly stupid mistake, I'm pretty sure she has learnt a lesson by this, think back to when you were that age and made a poor judgement call.
This makes me so, so angry.
No!
I can honestly say looking back from my current age of 43 that I have NEVER done anything quite this blindingly stupid, arrogant, self-serving or braggart
If you have then I suggest that's your problem
Emma Way, seems more concerned about her career and good name; and the fact that she has shown some stupidity in posting a "Hateful Tweet" - She now has the publicity of being a horrible inconsiderate person, with total disregard for the lives of others! I'd be hanging my head in shame, if she was my daughter.
Hope she gets all the publicity she deserves; as an example to other inconsiderate motorists.
No Mistake! When you endanger someones life; then bragg about doing it!
Stupid is; as stupid does! We have all done something stupid in our lives; but not endangering another persons life in the process.
"How can she afford a car?" She's an accountant in training.
Think of the old jokes from another perspective: "What would you have if you laid all the accountants in the world face down naked?" "A lot of bicycle parking spaces".
"I'm pretty sure she has learnt her lesson"
Really, the amount of contradictions in that interview is alarming. She is just stacking up lies to save her self. Lie upon lie. Self serving, selfish, dishonest, the regret is for being stupid, not what she has done.
It does not matter how old she is. **** her. It's shits like this that can kill anyone of use. I have dead friends and it's not OK because the killers were 18 (or whatever).
Whether she (or you) like it or not she is the public face of wreckless driving, lies, self-serving bullshit. Being it on.
The interviewer was a bit lame IMO, I would have liked to have seen him question her about her previous tweets and photo's taken whilst she was driving.
The Government should be composed entirely of cyclists!
Well it seems Emma Way is beating the PR trail to escape Pariahville.
I think the police and her employer have taken appropriate action in this matter.
I'm not sure she deserves to lose her job - but this depends on what she understands and has learned from her experience.
As some have suggested, she may have been advised to contain her apology to not openly accept culpability, but her apology does disappoint me.
As other point out, it reminds me of Armstrong's pale imitation of an apology, which is really "I'm sorry that I got found out" rather than "I realise my actions were wrong". This should be the benchmark for her, and her employers.
Reaching out to the cyclist personally would be an important starting point. Perhaps Mr Hockley can go on air/TV and make this point, because it will truly be lost by a media focused on the next big news event (I'm sure after Woolwich it will be buried pretty quickly).
The only lesson she's learnt is not to use Twitter.
If someone had boasted about this in a pub to friends, it would have gone nowhere. The difference here is just that some younger people appear to view Twitter as the equivalent of chatting to friends in the pub.
All we can hope for is that this very publicly highlights just how leniently the law treats drivers.
I don't really think its a "driver vs cyclists" thing (it could have been a pedestrian or car she hit), its just that the law tends to view driving badly as just "one of those things" that would should all put up with.
Perhaps because so many of the jury (and the judges themselves) can easily imagine themselves making the same mistakes, and thus feel empathy for the driver?
"I didn't think he'd come off his bike" - she must have been amazed. After all, it's only c. 1 ton of car hitting 85 odd kilos of bike and rider. Who'd have thought?
i hope this issue doesn't just "blow over" an example needs to be made of reckless drivers who gamble not only with their lives, but the lives of other road users as well. the law NEEDS to flex its muscles to show that this is a serious offence to deter others from being so daft and ignorant.
notable mention goes to all the social networks that get blown out of "precaution"
After seeing the interview it's clear that she was only apologising, as many have mentioned, for using Twitter - not the worst of her recent actions but perhaps one of the most foolish, as it 'made her look bad'. A la Mr Lance Armstrong - 'I'm sorry for myself for being stupid enough to get caught, but really have no compassion for anybody who may have been affected by my actions'.
Previous tweets should be taken into consideration when the courts (if it gets that far - who knows - given past form she's frankly unlikely even to get a single point/fine, which is another debate) are deciding what to do with her. Her driving licence should DEFINITELY be revoked - how can she POSSIBLY be allowed to continue driving when there is a stack of evidence, provided by her herself, of her appalling attitude to road use and other road users?! Whether she should lose her job is only for her employers to decide and really outside the context of this particular offence (although it is easy to understand why people have been clamouring for that outcome) but I wouldn't want anybody with that sort of contempt for others, arrogance, stupidity and selfishness working with me.
An absolutely miniscule shred of respect for her for coming out into the public eye, although to be honest all she did was dig herself into a deeper hole, with steeper edges, and reveal her total lack of giving a sh*t. I'm sure it speaks volumes about something but this post is getting very long already...
I am an accountant. I could certainly not have afforded a car when I was training. I cycle to and from work most days and work in the bicycle industry. I have never hit a cyclist nor, fingers crossed, ever been hit while on my bike.
Please rethink your comment.
Indeed the eye at the camera at the end says it all you can see the cogs whirring ‘Can I go now I have to go and drive my car like a complete twat and rundown every #bloodypeasant in my way’.
I’m sure there is a joke in there somewhere about accountants and six fingered Norfolkians
"I didn't even feel him touch my car, apart from when his handle bar donked the wing mirror". That is admission that there was a collision, and then she left the scene.
She then goes on to say if "If I knew he was hurt i wouldn't have driven off" - Why didn't she stop and check then? She knew she hit him and then tweeted about it.
The fact that she only apologised about the tweet and the interviewer did a poor attempt to her to say something about the victim shows contempt and arrogance all too common these days.
She's a trainee accountant so any conviction means she'll struggle to qualify. Additionally, a lot of contracts now have clauses about bringing disrepute to the company so she is likely to fall afoul of that. If the firm of accountants wants to put an image of being upstanding and law abiding forward, having a trainee who crashes into people, tweets because she finds it funny and then tells lies and is disingenuous about it is hardly helping.
Unfortunately for her there are consequences to actions. She's got to live with hers.
I've just watched the interview footage. Why did she bother? She is clearly more concerned about the personal impact of her behavior than anything else. The apology was just vacuous. And the 'I'm a cyclist too..' comment?
However what I'm more interested in is what happens with the Police and CPS. This is going to be a very public test of the legal system with respect to the sort of road traffic incident involving a cyclist they can normally brush under the carpet quite easily.
No doubt road.cc will be following this closely.
'kin hell.
what a stupid, stupid girl.
Toby Hockley needs to press charges to make an example of her. Its been so publicised, if nothing happens it'll make it even easier for car-drivers to run over cyclists with no fear of the law.
As for the "I'm a cyclist myself" comment. No you aren't, not saying things like "#bloodycyclists"
What you mean is "I know how to ride a bike". There's an enormous difference.
Personally, I have not one shred of sympathy of any sort for this idiot child - only her parents.
My dearest wish is that the punishment will be severe enough to fit the crime and the outrage it has caused ... but of course we all know it won't be.
For us, as cyclists ... when does it ... ever?
10 years - not even life - for murdering two happy tandem riders...
£85 and 200 hours for killing a bike mechanic ...
How much more has to be posted before the law makers sit up and listen?????
Blimey, the way some of you lot go on on here you'd think you had never been young yourselves.
Yes, she is far from convincing or eloquent in her apology, and of course her solicitor (if he's worth daddy's money) will have advised her not to admit to anything. But come on, she's a young girl who made a mistake and I can only imagine the levels of abuse she is being subjected to if these comments are anything to go by.
Websites like road.cc are right to highlight this case on behalf of the battle to ensure our roads are safer for cyclists. And yes, she should be charged with her motoring offences; Hopefully she will serve as an example to other young drivers.
But please, cast your mind back to when you were 21 - did you never say/do anything stupid? I know I did so thank god Twitter & vicious internet forums weren't so prevalent back then.
Lay off the vitriol, eh?
Yesterday someone was jailed for 10 years for the same hit & run action. Sadly two cyclists died in that case, this could have so easily ended the same way.
It is telling that she is more upset about her stupidity in tweeting about her actions (and the effect it has had), rather than for the actions themselves.
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