A cyclist who was left with multiple serious injuries sustained in a crash caused by a close passing motorist has claimed that the “majority of drivers do not know the rules concerning cyclists on the road”, and says that she now feels “scared” when riding her bike.
Alexia Hall was cycling on Langton Road in Tunbridge Wells, just outside the Spa Hotel, at around 9.30am on Monday 15 December when a driver close passed her at speed, forcing her to the edge of the road, where she hit a pothole.
The 40-year-old mother-of-two, with no space to manoeuvre, lost control of her bike and crashed.
She suffered a broken rib, a jaw fracture, bruising, a bloodied chin, and other facial injuries in the crash, and was taken to hospital by ambulance after being assisted by some passers-by. The driver, however, failed to stop at the scene.
Kent Police are currently investigating the incident, but speaking to road.cc on Friday, Alexia confirmed there have been no updates so far.
“I hit the pothole that was on the road to avoid the car that overtook me on the right,” she tells road.cc. “The car was right next to me, so I couldn’t move right and was pushed towards the kerb.
“I don’t remember exactly how I fell, just that I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe or call for help at first. It was really scary. If I had fallen slightly differently, I could have gone under the car.”
While the close passing motorist carried on driving, three members of the public stopped to help the stricken cyclist, including two women travelling in a car who witnessed the crash, as well as an older man, who called for the ambulance.
However, Alexia says she was unable to speak at the time, and thus failed to obtain their contact details. The cyclist is now calling for any potential witnesses to come forward and share any information they may have with Kent Police.
Since being discharged from hospital on Monday evening, Alexia has returned for further X-rays and checks, while she also underwent emergency dental treatment this week after breaking a tooth in the crash.
“I’m still in lots of pain,” she told road.cc. “But it could have been so much worse.”
“The injuries are having an enormous impact on my life, I cannot go to work and I’m mainly self-employed, so it is going to be a very tough Christmas,” the 40-year-old continued, adding that her injuries have made it difficult to care for her two children, aged seven and 10.
Alexia also says the crash has made her “really scared” of cycling on the roads again. The 40-year-old says she has relied on cycling as her primary mode of transportation for years, and previously owned a cargo bike to take her children to school.
However, she admits to road.cc that a combination of poor driving, a lack of awareness among motorists of the Highway Code’s rules on cyclists, and terrible road conditions has made cycling increasingly dangerous in the UK.
According to the Highway Code, motorists should leave at least 1.5m space when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph, and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds.
However, Italian-born Alexia, who has lived in the UK for 14 years, notes that British drivers tend to be more impatient and likely to give less space to people on bikes than their European counterparts.
“I’m left feeling really scared of cycling, and I do rely on my bike a lot since I only share a car with other people, I don’t own my own,” she tells road.cc.
“Cars go very fast and pass too close. People see someone on a bike and get annoyed. I’ve been shouted at many times just for cycling on the road. It’s terrifying.”
She called on drivers to better understand the rules of the road surrounding cyclists, and also pointed out that the poor state of the UK’s roads has made navigating them increasingly dangerous for people on bikes.
“I think that the majority of drivers do not know the rules on cyclists on the road, especially the 1.5m space you need to give to overtake a cyclist,” she says.
“It is very scary and too many cyclists die or get very badly injured because of both drivers and horrible road conditions.
“Potholes are incredibly dangerous, and I’m pretty sure we all pay enough in road and council taxes to deserve safe roads.”
33 thoughts on ““Most drivers don’t know the rules”: Cyclist left with broken jaw as close passing motorist forces her into pothole before fleeing scene”
I’m pretty sure most Police
I’m pretty sure most Police officers reviewing submitted footage don’t know the rules either.
i know langteon rd very well.
i know langteon rd very well.
it is just wide enough to encourage drivers to squeeze past despite oncoming traffic if you try to keep to the kerb, as many riders try to do.
not for a moment trying to criticse alexia one iota, but too be safe you really have to have the confidence to ride primary and own the lane
but this does frustrate ignorant drivers who think you are provatively trying to stop them squuezing past
Agree. Most motorists will
Agree. Most motorists will try to avoid crossing the white line and will squeeze past you if they can. I ride about 80cm from the kerb so they have to cross the line. Once they cross it, they tend to give you loads of space. However I live in Paris, France so the drivers are more respectful here. When I moved to France 30 years ago it was the opposite, English motorists had a reputation world-wide for being respectful, how that has changed.
When I moved to France 30
When I moved to France 30 years ago it was the opposite, English motorists had a reputation world-wide for being respectful, how that has changed
The reason is the unpleasantly hostile BritFilth attitude to cyclists and cycling – drivers, in Lancashire at least, are well aware that the police are totally uninterested in offences against cyclists and road traffic offences in general.
That wasn’t our experience on
That wasn’t our experience on several holidays in northern France around 30 years ago. We always found the French and other (mostly Dutch) drivers gave us plenty of room when passing but the British drivers were mostly dreadful, just as many are here now.
We always found the French
We always found the French and other (mostly Dutch) drivers gave us plenty of room when passing but the British drivers were mostly dreadful
I agree, I was just quoting somebody else- from my travels by bike on the Continent, foreign drivers were more considerate in general- except in Paris, which was dire. However, that was 74 and it sounds as if Paris has advanced greatly on active travel in the last few years due to a radical mayor.
I’ve lived and cycled in the
I’ve lived and cycled in the French Pyrénées for thé last 36 years and about 75% of drivers (particularly big trucks) give plenty of room when overtaking.
Very true. The Murdoch
Very true. The Murdoch Brainwashing Machine keeps everyone in Daily Mail mode to suit UK toxic politics. Anything to keep the broken economic dogma sliding into the inevitable carnage. Bunkers for billionaires is doing well though.
Most motorists will try to
Most motorists will try to avoid crossing the white line
Not in Lancashire they won’t!
No MOT at the time, either
https://upride.cc/incident/nv07kws_clio_dwlcross etc. etc.
If you’re going in the same
If you’re going in the same direction they’ll avoid crossing the line. If they coming at you they’ll avoid getting back onto their side of the road. They’ll do whatever inconveniences the cyclist the most.
Pub bike wrote:
Best case scenario that I see very often – they’ll cross the line, but only after they’re already past you.
quiff wrote:
Because they didn’t spot you until the last minute, because they were on their phone, adjusting the aircon, etc, etc. So they’re still moving right when they pass you. It’s a failure to observe.
The only way this is ever
The only way this is ever going to change is by putting every driver on a bike, at least some of the time.
I and many others advocate
I and many others advocate for a period of cycling on roads to be a requirement when someone is learning to drive.
There would be very few people who could be excluded from this, ie due to disability.
And if so, they could be required to take classes to learn about vulnerable road users with a test after.
The only way this is ever
The only way this is ever going to change is by putting a brick through the drivers’ vehicle. There shear volume of cases being brought before the motorarti might actually trigger ‘…hang on, there is a pattern here.’ Until this happens, cyclists will continue to be treated as road scum, by drivers, the police, judges and highway planners.
She called on drivers to
She called on drivers to better understand the rules of the road surrounding cyclists
They understand them all right, because they’re not very difficult, but don’t accept the rules apply to them at any time but especially when they’re busy, late, upset by what they had for breakfast, didn’t see the cyclist, didn’t mean to do it, were frightened by a cyclist as a child etc. etc.
This is why I’ve cycled 800km
This is why I’ve cycled 800km and climbed over 7000m in my shed this month My life as a cyclist is worthless
This morning I encountered
This morning I encountered yet another example why I no longer desire to cycle on the road.
A middleaged female driver had difficulty stopping at a junction, even managed to strike the horn button. As I walked around her vehicle, the stench of cannabis was exceptional. Unfortunately my Insta360 Go did not capture the plate properly.
Driving up the M6 yesterday I
Driving up the M6 yesterday I started to smell a stink of weed. Weren’t many cars on the road, so when I passed a red Land Rover Defender 110 I was fairly sure that was the source, and the smell almost immediately dispareared. I slowed down and let them repass, and voila, weed stink again. How much weed do you need to be able to smell in the car behind at 65mph?
And the POS didn’t stop
And the POS didn’t stop either? Drivists just assume they have impunity because theres no traffic police these days. This is why you need a camera. Every time. So plod can ignore the evidence.
It is my experience that
It is my experience that since the revision to the HC, the incidence of close passing doubled, much of which I feel is deliberate. This year, 2025, I have only cycled on the road 11 times. I used to go for a ride with anticipation, now when I go for a ride it is with apprehension, and I rarely return home feeling uplifted but with mental exhaustion from battling my space on the road.
In early 2025, I was going to report a close passing driver to OpSnap, but when I reviewed the videos, I realized they didn’t really depict how close the driver was.
I have developed a strategy to help with this in the future. In future if I make an OpSnap report, along with the original video I will include the same video with an overlay image depicting the passing distances. The cones cost £9 from Decathlon and the orange tape cost about £3. I will then make a video from the same cameras of the bike on an area of grass with the distances marked out, and use this as a standard overlay on the original footage.
Cones at the ready!
Cones at the ready!
Unfortunately, it’s not going
Unfortunately, it’s not going to make any difference as before your video even arrives, the Filth have decided to bin it because their opinion is that if you weren’t hit the pass wasn’t close enough. See if you can come up with anything closer than these, which the police ignored
https://upride.cc/incident/yn67mvj_sainsburys44tonner_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/ku71cuk_montgomery44tonner_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/4148vz_travellerschoicecoach_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/du61vhj_stuartbraithwaitebuilders_dwlcrossclosepass/
They would have seemed even closer if I kept the camera on ‘wide-angle’. Perhaps I should have swerved all over the place to show I was ‘inconvenienced’ and ended up under the wheels! Usually you have no time to even think about that when a short vehicle passes you at 50+
https://upride.cc/incident/pe69ooc_clio_closepassspeed/
https://upride.cc/incident/ca70mkc_citroenvan_closepass/
Perhaps there is an adjective
Perhaps there is an adjective in your posting they may make those you report to less sympathetic?
I guess you are referring to
I guess you are referring to ‘the Filth’. But isn’t that a noun rather than an adjective? If they were ‘filthy’ that would be an adjective.
This is why close passes need
This is why all close passes need to be prosecuted, even when no-one is injured. At the very least, the close-passed cyclist will have been frightened, and possibly, like john1967, gives up riding on the road entirely.
It isn’t a victimless crime, and the police forces that treat it as such are letting people and society down.
Langton Rd is a horrible road
Langton Rd is a horrible road to ride on. My kids could ride to and from the station if it weren’t so awful.
I’ve reported several close
I’ve reported several close pass incidents to Kent Police. I’ve never had any response to any of them. All included uploaded footage. Neighbouring Sussex is different. But in Kent, it feels like cyclists don’t matter.
I’ve reported several close
I’ve reported several close pass incidents to Kent Police. I’ve never had any response to any of them
We’re getting differing messages about Kent Police: one is that you must have permission from an officer before you can send in video and they undertake to look at it, and another is that you’re free to send in a report with video but there’s no response. If it’s the latter, then they’re part of the race to the bottom apparently initiated by Lancashire. They initially advertised OpSnap Lancs, and used to send out misleading ‘we’re taking action’ emails- as soon as they find out that people are keeping records of what they say and discovering that they actually did nothing at all/ sent out the completely worthless advice letter, they cease responding at all. Anybody from Kent here? Maybe it’s all at the whim of individual officers (who didn’t sign the log- a favourite dodge in Lancashire!)
HKR wrote:
Cleveland Police don’t even request the footage after reporting a close pass. Driving in the area reflects this, in that drivers just do what they want without any fear of repercussions. It really concerns me to see anyone hurt on our roads.
Fucking appalling. Sick of
Fucking appalling. Sick of reading these accounts of shit drivers causing such carnage on the roads with no comeback.
Haven’t you heard. Drivers
Haven’t you heard. Drivers always get punished for the slightest infraction. Its those cyclists that are the problem. Lawless the lot of them!
Apart from the misdeeds of Mr
Apart from the misdeeds of Mr Toad and his ilk, did we really need to be informed three times of the good ladie’s age? I was brought up never to enquire of a ladie’s age, nor broadcast it if known.