A cyclist, injured after being deliberately rammed off his bike by a driver who had moments earlier close passed him, has shared the footage of the incident with road.cc and warned that the roads have become “very unsafe” and “attacks are becoming much more common”, suggesting that cyclists need “more protection under the law.”
On Monday, we reported the news that the driver involved, Sarah Torgerson, had received a two-year suspended sentence for the incident which was described as “like a hate attack” by the cyclist, John Crothers, the recorder telling the court she had “effectively ruined” his life after ramming him off his bike when he objected to a close pass.
Suffering whiplash and severe bruising, John’s £8,000 bike was written off in the incident, and he was left thinking he had broken his back after landing violently on the kerb. Having recovered physically, he then had to overcome the psychological impact and reported suffering anxiety and nearly having a panic attack when trying to cycle again.
“I’m back on the bike now although I commute a lot less,” he told road.cc. “I’m still a lot more stressed on the bike… it is my belief that Leicester roads are very unsafe and attacks on cyclists are becoming much more common. I believe it’s time to give cyclists more protection under the law.”
John was also critical of the sentence the driver received, two years in prison suspended for two years, along with a two-year driving ban and requirement to work with probation services for 30 days.
“I think a suspended sentence in this case is an absolute waste of time,” he said. “Also given it runs out at the same time as her ban… this is clearly someone who uses their car as a weapon. I would have preferred a longer disqualification especially as this is her second conviction for dangerous driving.
“Also 30 hours of probation/counselling… the £180 pound fine… she would have got a larger fine for the initial close pass. There’s been a lot made of the slap on the mirror, this didn’t do any damage, the damage was done when she drove her car into me.”
The sentence came despite recorder Justin Wigoder telling Leicester Crown Court it was a “very serious offence” which would carry the “right sentence [… of] three to four years in prison” as “cyclists are vulnerable and it’s the court’s first duty to protect them”.
However, citing mitigating factors including Torgerson’s mental health history, the fact she has two young children, and a doctor’s opinion that she suffers with post-traumatic stress disorder that might cause “outbursts”, Mr Wigoder concluded she would not be sent “straight to prison”.
The footage of the incident, which happened on 2 February 2022, shows John cycling south on Loughborough Road in Birstall when he is overtaken by two vehicles, the second being driven by 40-year-old Torgerson, who close passed him approaching a road narrowing.
Moments later, as the traffic slowed, he caught up with the driver and objected to the close overtake, telling her that he had a camera running and had filmed the incident.
In response, the driver stuck a finger up at him and both parties continued on their way. Then, the driver forced her Ford Focus past, again very close to the cyclist who “reached out and banged down on her wing mirror”.
Torgerson then deliberately drove into John, launching him into the air and causing a heavy impact to his spine as he landed on the kerb and hit his head on the road. The driver, who it is reported has a previous conviction for dangerous driving from 2007, admitted ramming the cyclist when she phoned Leicestershire Police from the scene.
John suffered whiplash and bruising, his bike written off and a watch worth more than £700 smashed. He also reported having to cancel a cycling trip to Mallorca.
“This incident felt like a hate attack on me,” he said. “I feel hate towards cyclists is getting worse. We are people too.
“Since this incident, when I last went out on my bike I almost had a panic attack. I’m even a lot more nervous in a car, even when my wife’s driving me. I’m not normally a nervous person. It’s the fact she deliberately drove into me.”
61 thoughts on “Cyclist shares shocking footage of driver ramming him off bike after close pass complaint, slams suspended sentence “an absolute waste of time””
How can there possibly be
How can there possibly be mitigation with a previous serious driving conviction ffs
lukei1 wrote:
What got me was the fact that the “mitigation” essentially boiled down to “I was in no fit state to be driving, but I was anyway”. The fact that it worked is utterly insane. But apparently the government is “cowed by the cycling lobby”…
Incompetence paradox yet
Incompetence paradox yet again. Excuse the consequences of my bad driving because I’m not really competent to drive – so it’s unfair to hold me responsible.
It only (mostly?) doesn’t work any more in the context of “I was drunk / stoned, so you can’t expect me to be driving well”. (EDIT still current on road.cc is a case where driving intoxicated was still “careless”).
Everything else though? “I was old” (the other day – and the police even helped with that!). Medical episode (even if not the first time). “I was distracted by my kids in the back / calling on my phone” (totally understandable to people – and it’s hardly the kids’ fault…)
All else fails just say “I don’t recall that” and let the defence worry about if the issue is enough to sway the jury’s / the judge’s tendency to look sympathetically on drivers, well above “beyond reasonable doubt”.
Also mitigation – she has
Also mitigation – she has mental health challenges which make her prone to using a 2 tonne box as a lethal weapon – and we think this person should be allowed back in a car before that condition is fully dealt with? Clearly not.
Should be minimum of two years and until she gets a clean bill of health that this wont happen again. Then when she doesn’t it again she can’t run that tosh in mitigation again.
You can’t read much of this
You can’t read much of this one
https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/23895234.costcutter-great-bromley-attack-sees-man-sentenced/
but the assailant was already on a suspended sentence and previous convictions but no jail
“was serving a suspended
“was serving a suspended prison sentence at the time of the offence” – so why doesn’t that immediately become unsuspended?
rogerbeardsworth [at] yahoo
Possibly because prisons are full to the rafters, which is partly because
A) Mental health services are inadequate (despite many heroic people working in them)
B) Rehabilitation work in prisons has been cut to the bone
So prisons are crowded with ill people and recidivists, more than partly because we have had governments that have different spending priorities for a long time, including the idea that the best things for hollowed out public services are profit extraction and tax cuts.
Hence courts are strongly encouraged not to send to prison, despite the “fact” that “prison works” (c) M Howard.
There is no excuse for this
There is no excuse for this behaviour. But why did he get involved with her after the initial incident? It is no good being right if you are dead.
I’m sure you don’t mean it
I’m sure you don’t mean it but your comment does tend towards victim-blaming. This incident happened because Torgerson is a dangerous driver and a violent criminal. Not because the cyclist was a bit annoyed.
There’s victim blaming, and
There’s victim blaming, and then there is stating the obvious. I personally think there is a valid point here, namely that escalating a situation, tends to… well escalate a situation.
My friend recently bought cameras for his bike purely to help him avoid getting involved like this. Now, whenever he is a victim of poor driving, he simply makes a response like ‘that was close’ or whatever is needed for the footage, and carries on with his ride. His revenge is in submitting the footage.
Whilst he is no crusading cycling evangelist, his submissions have led to multiple prosecutions.
Revenge is a dish, best served cold my friends.
Stating the obvious doesn’t
Stating the obvious doesn’t change anything, Jimmy; it’s still victim blaming. It’s liking blaming the guy who made a wisecrack someone didn’t like for getting the sheet beat out of him.
cmedred wrote:
It certainly was not victim blaming. To be frank I’m poxed off with the number of times that a valid observation is labelled “victim blaming”. You could tell from the overtake she didn’t give a FF about the cyclist, what did he achieve by catching up with thsi lunatic driver? That’s nothing by the way.
Try improving your comprehension and critical thinking. “There is no excuse for this behaviour” isn’t a complex sentence to understand.
Whilst he is no crusading
Whilst he is no crusading cycling evangelist, his submissions have led to multiple prosecutions
Wow! This is some Herculean achievement! A friend who has only recently bought cameras now has multiple prosecutions to his name already, when most of us find that any action takes months and the police (at least Lancashire Constabulary) refuse to specify what action they have taken. The kindest interpretation I can put to this is that a NIP is being interpreted as a prosecution- a grave mistake where the police are concerned as they have multiple ways of binning action even after they have claimed to be taking some.
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:
I can definitely see both sides (although not sure that’s allowed BTL).
The issue I have is with “There is no excuse for this behaviour. But“… [my italics]. It’s in danger of being the thin end of a wedge (“but if you will cycle on busy roads…”, “wear a short skirt”, etc.).
Agree – you have the shit
Agree – you have the shit driving on camera, no need to get more evidence of shit driving.
Because sometimes you’ve just
Because sometimes you’ve just had enough with how people treat you on the road and the non response by the police you get, and you stand up for yourself.
Is it wise? probably not,so pick your battles carefully, but if more people called these drivers out more publicly, maybe attitudes would start to change to it.
After all what do you think she’d have got just for the first close pass, a letter ? offer of a driving course at best?
I know and I’ve done things I
I know, I know and I’ve done things I regret in that sort of situation. At the end of it, it was his choice and whatever led up to it, he got a fcked bike, fcked body and a horrible bruise. She got 2 years suspended so you (we) can judge who got just deserts. Was it really worth it?
I’ve done this type of thing
I’ve done this type of thing in the past chasing after reckless drivers and then realising afterwards how recklessly stupid it is. Sometimes you do get really angry that someone is prepared to risk your life for no reason (they don’t even make up any time, as they’re stuck in traffic anyway). In this case, they have a camera, they’ve recorded it. it is best not to engage. The same type of rage that made you engage with them can equally cause them to make rash decisions.
The video evidence speaks for
The video evidence speaks for itself as to who bears responsibility for this and as usual, the more vulnerable comes off the worst. That’s an impressive array of bruising…
However, having just been close passed like that, I’m not sure I’d be overtaking the culprit and putting myself back in front of the idiot that had just nearly wiped me out.
Absolutely NOT victim blaming here but sometimes self preservation is the wisest choice. It can sometimes be better to give best and be alive/intact than right and dead.
She needs to be off of the
She needs to be off of the roads permanently, or at least until a medical professional confirms she is no longer a danger to other road users.
I would have liked the driver to be charged for both careless driving for the close pass and dangerous driving or assault for the the attack.
Idealy the would have been locked up for that assault and a lengthy ban from driving. It was clearly a physically assault with a weapon of over a ton in weight.
However…. I too do question the wisdom of the cyclist putting themselves back in front of that car – this was clearly deliberate on their part and did nothing to descalate the situation.
I personally would have either held back or done my best to sail off into the distance.
You see someone who is using something weighty as a weapon in a threatening manner – do you steer clear or engage?
Indeed – better to be alive
Indeed – better to be alive than dead sat on top of the moral high ground.
Yes. Having a camera avoids
Yes. Having a camera avoids the need to have an argument. Record, report and let the police deal with it.
(I appreciate the police response varies according to force).
Agree, you cannot change all
Agree, you cannot change all shitheads. Stay safe, report rathen confront.
The first one ” I’ve got you
The first one ” I’ve got you on camera ” was ok I think but after that, I would not want them behind me. Very hard to control that flight or fight when your life is put at risk though.
But remember folks, people on twitter will tell you you should have a dialogue with drivers so they can understand what they did wrong.
This is The Way.
Hirsute wrote:
Not excusing any behaviour or victim blaming here, but…
If you have to confront the driver, then I’d probably recommend at least saying something constructive like “that was way too close, wait until after the pinch-point”. I think most drivers are just inept rather than outright malicious and it’s very possible that she is such a shit driver that she didn’t think she’d done anything wrong.
If that’s the case, then just going over and shouting “I’ve got you on camera” is just escalation for escalation’s sake – it’s not going to put the driver right if they’re so incompitent they don’t know what they’ve done.
Like I said, I’m not aiming to victim blame here – the initial close pass was unacceptable, and the fact the driver’s reaction to a simple rebuke should have landed her in prison – but I sure as hell wouldn’t have done what John did here.
Very sensible approach and
Very sensible approach and one that will lead to fewer hospital visits. Wonder if the rider thought all that overtaking and shouting was worth it to admonish a shit driver for a close pass? Dont f about when you are vulnerable and you dont know who you are dealing with – thats my approach in the car even – just let the video talk.
The last one I spoke to when
The last one I spoke to when I asked if she thought she could have got a bit closer just now replied with “I didn’t hit you”.
I try to say something like
I try to say something like “That was really close, it’s scary when you drive like that.” in a neutral way and then leave it at that. ‘Scary’ sounds pretty dumb, but it seems to work better than the other things I’ve said. This is when they’ve close passed and then I’ve caught up with them at the lights / traffic.
How about right and alive.
How about right and alive. What do you think the police would have done had the cyclist just submitted the footage of the close pass. My guess is absolutely nothing but words of advice at the most. As a result of this cyclist’s brave and selfless actions this driver is off the road for a while (not long enough in my opinion) and unable to put another cyclist’s life in danger. He has done us all a favour unlike the legal system.
I for one would like to thank the cyclist and really hope that he makes a full recovery and gets back on his bike when the time is right. I understand what he’s going through. I could barely cross the road after someone ran in to the back of my car when stopped in a line of traffic. I thought the cars were all going way too fast and out to get me at the time. It does pass.
It’s because arrogant people
It’s because arrogant people in cars are protected, that they behave like this. Get them out of the car and suddenly, they realise what a f**k**t they are.
As I also motorcycle, I can state that I believe everyone incapable of driving a nail in, let alone a motor vehicle. I factor in that everyone wants to kill me, if they can get away with it. Which as we know, drivers often do.
This has led me to certain attitudes like pushing 400w on a bicycle along a suburban road with severe speed humps when impatient t**t is up my a**e, to then hear their exhaust system being torn off over speed hump unnoticed in rage against cyclist….
…do I stop to help? Of course not. I do wish I could achieve this feat more often though, like 5 times a day.
It baffles me how this doesnt
It baffles me how this doesnt count as attempted murder or agrivated assault at a minimum and how it doesnt result in an immediate driving ban.
I’d have thought an assault
I’d have thought an assault charge appropriate.
Indeed. Motoring offences
Indeed. Motoring offences should be limited to cases where the driving is an essential ingredient, e.g. dangerous driving, speeding, unsafe vehicles etc. Where we already have laws which cover deliberately or recklessly injuring or killing people, we should use them.
I don’t think an attempted murder charge would quite stick here, but (attempted) GBH might: deliberately ramming a cyclist with your car must show an intention to cause them really serious harm.
Imagine phoning the police
Imagine phoning the police after something like that and explaining that yes, you did ram them on purpose, but they did after all touch your wing mirror…
If her psychological issues are so bad that they were used in attempted mitigation, then she clearly should not be on the road again until they can be demonstrated as clearly having been “fixed”. Because as it is, she is clearly an ongoing threat to other road users.
brooksby | 1 hour ago
brooksby | 1 hour ago
7 likes
Imagine phoning the police after something like that and explaining that yes, you did ram them on purpose, but they did after all touch your wing mirror..
Having just watched the TV drama long shadow about the Yorkshire ripper, Your statement makes me thing there just might be institution bias against cyclists just as there was back then against woman.
Scenario 1: Someone uses a
Scenario 1: Someone uses a hammer, weighing a couple of kilos at most, to deliberately hurt someone.
Gets arrested and imprisoned for GBH/attempted murder.
Scenario 2) Driver uses vehicle, weighing more than 1000 kilos, as weapon to attack cyclist and driver admits it to the police.
Doesn’t get arrested on the spot and simply recieves suspended sentence.
Hmm…
mitsky wrote:
Yes, that’s ridiculous, that’s clearly a health and safety in the workplace issue!
That’s what I struggle to understand. If you use a hammer or a knife to injure someone, it’s not put down to that weapon’s primary use, but if you use a motor vehicle, it’s a driving offence.
Ah, but everybody drives, all
Ah, but everybody drives, all the time!
Carrying a hammer? You’ve made a choice.
But “I have to drive…”
mitsky wrote:
Nice…I’ll check if the guy I want to kill rides a bike…in case…I’ll do it without any risk…thank you very much
Spammercial wrote:
Scenario 1: Someone uses a hammer, weighing a couple of kilos at most, to deliberately hurt someone.
Gets arrested and imprisoned for GBH/attempted murder.
Scenario 2) Driver uses vehicle, weighing more than 1000 kilos, as weapon to attack cyclist and driver admits it to the police.
Doesn’t get arrested on the spot and simply recieves suspended sentence.
Hmm…
— Spammercial Nice…I’ll check if the guy I want to kill rides a bike…in case…I’ll do it without any risk…thank you very much— mitsky
You already have someone you want to kill??
brooksby wrote:
You already have someone you want to kill??
— Spammercial
S’fine – they can just say it was someone else they wanted to kill but this one was just an accident.
Need to post these on X and
Need to post these on X and tag Matthew Briggs in every one where the driver gets away with murder or ABH using their car as a weapon. He needs some perspective, if he genuinely wants to make the roads safer.
Unfortunately he doesnt
Unfortunately he doesnt actually give a hoot about road saftey. Horrible person
Having been knocked off my
Having been knocked off my bike, brake checked etc I have come to the conclusion that : you don’t overtake the car that has just close passed you, you don’t shout at them (a fear fuck is acceptable), you don’t pass if they stop – keep your distance – and you don’t try and take it up with them at the time.
Pragmatic reality. Maybe the
Pragmatic reality. Maybe the guy felt more empowered to tell her off and threaten her with the camera as she was female? Idiotic to risk his life like that though – obviously a shite driver and a nutter. Protect yourself. Always.
The cyclists had pretty much
The cyclists had pretty much commited to that without knowing anything about the driver.
I wouldn’t have thought he
I wouldn’t have thought he knew if the driver was male/female prior to the first exchange. The close pass had happened and the cyclist based their reaction on that.
That’s avery odd comment
That’s a very odd comment probably says more about your own views. I didn’t assume the sex of the driver and lacking the zen like calmness that some people posses. I was not empowered I was angry.
I have found that if you are
I have found that if you are a bloke then a middle aged female driver is the most likely type of driver to be agressive against you. I have wondered if it is a life-time revenge thing, now finally they are in the big car and the man is vulnerable.
VIPcyclist wrote:
Would you accept this in any other walk of life? Would you not challenge if someone deliberately knocked over your pint, clipped your kid’s ear, defecated in your front garden (probably not all at the same time)? Nobody should feel obliged to challenge, and discretion is definitely the better part of valour, but we all know that when bullies and thugs aren’t challenged they’re just going to keep on bullying.
I recently had a similar
I recently had a similar close pass on a pedestrian refuge pinch point; I protested as the driver squeezed me towards the curb and he was yelling at me behind a closed window. I turned off the road immediately after that (car went straight on), following my route but was regularly checking behind me for the car. Submitted my camera footage and had the standard ‘fixed penalty, prosecution or letter issued to the driver’ e mail from the police. Unless there’s a big gap I always take primary position at refuges. If I’ve had an altercation with a driver then the very last place on earth I want to be is in front of them; they obviously think they’re invincible behind the wheel. A newspaper report on this said she’d had a previous conviction for dangerous driving; she had form!
Could this now be pursued in
Could this now be pursued in civil court?
Imagine when he pulls up
Imagine when he pulls up after the close pass, he pulls out a firearm and just fires into the car, not caring if he kills the driver or any passenger and the calls the police and admits it. In any universe would he get a suspended sentence? Would anyone consider that behaviour just “bad cycling”. Would anyone say that it was the drivers fault in any way? … I bet not, so why are people here and elsewhere saying he should have protected himself, is Wayne Cousins somehow less guilty because he targeted a woman alone at night who “could have” done more to protect herself? This is assault with a weapon intended to harm someone who was neither a threat nor a doing anything criminal. Unless his behaviour was threat, then she had no right to harm him. She did so not because she considered him a threat but the exact opposite, she was the threat and he wasn’t on he knees begging for his life, so she tried to seriously harm him because he had the audacity to point out that she was the one acting threateningly towards him. He wasnt scared enough, he didn’t think he would or should be seriously hurt for riding his bike, that was his crime, thinking his safety actually mattered.
It’s called victim blaming
It’s called victim blaming and is a result of discriminatory in- and outgroup thinking.
Also, ,the ‘moment of madness
Also, ,the ‘moment of madness’ defence only appears to apply to people driving:
BBC News – Boy admits manslaughter of man he tripped up in Hanwell
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67298418
Can anybody tell me how many
Can anybody tell me how many drivers were charged with close passing by Police Scotland?
No, but guessing it would be
No, but guessing it would be close to zero.
Surely zero. Last time I
Surely zero. Last time I checked, as there is no portal to upload footage they want you to phone 101 and then an officer may visit your house to view the footage! Then there’s the problem of how they get the footage even if they happen to visit your house at a time when you’re at home.
PS I’m not making this up, it’s from the cyclinguk website.
Whilst I wholeheartedly agree
Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with everyone else here in that the motorist should be behind bars and ought to be made to undetake physoligical examination before being allowed to be in charge of anything motor powerful than a toothbrush, I do wonder if the courts took the antagonising of the motorist into account when considering sentencing.
As the saying goes ‘When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves: one for your enemy, and one for yourself.’ In this case, part of that second grave is an excuse for the judge to hand out a more leanient sentence.
Judges are obliged to explain
Judges are obliged to explain all the factors that they regard as mitigating in sentencing, the fact that he didn’t mention it makes it unlikely that it played a serious part in his decision-making process. Could have been subconsciously affected by it I suppose.
Judges rarely are cyclists.
Judges rarely are cyclists. However nearly all of them drive.