- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Motorist cuts corner straight into cyclist (credit - Swindon Advertiser)Mechanic escapes driving ban after cutting corner straight into cyclist
A mechanic has avoided a driving ban after cutting a corner and hitting a cyclist “head on”, in what his lawyer has described as a “minor and momentary error of judgement”.
Clive Anstey, who owns a garage in Chippenham, Wiltshire, was driving to work on the morning of 28 February 2021 when he cut a corner while making a right turn. As we can see in the below video, the 49-year-old crossed into the other lane while turning and drove straight into a cyclist, who had positioned himself on the right-hand side of his lane at the junction, waiting to turn.
Anstey’s advocate claimed that the mechanic “just very narrowly clipped the corner of the T-junction” and didn’t see the cyclist – who was wearing hi-vis clothing and had lights attached to his bike – “because of the low sun”.
According to the Swindon Advertiser, the cyclist, who suffered rib and leg injuries in the collision, was taken to a hospital in Bath for treatment and was left “distressed” and “very shaken” following the incident.
Speaking at Swindon Magistrates’ Court last week, prosecutor Asha Seenauth argued that the incident should be placed in the 'greater harm' sentencing category, which meant Anstey would have faced five points on his licence. As the mechanic had already received seven points for two previous speeding offences, this would have resulted in a disqualification from driving.
> Near Miss of the Day 668: Cyclist almost taken out by corner-cutting driver
Defending the motorist, Oliver Small claimed that Anstey had made “a minor and momentary error of judgement”.
He continued: “The defendant intended to turn right onto Cricketts Lane, and just cut the corner, and didn’t see the victim because of the low sun.”
Small noted that “Mr Anstey accepts that he made an error in judgement for a second or two,” and claimed that he “showed immediate concern for the cyclist and offered to call an ambulance”, which was declined.
The defending counsel argued that the mechanic’s garage would lose contracts if he lost his licence, as he was the only staff member with the correct licence to drive some of the larger vehicles, such as private ambulances, currently under contract.
After pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention, Anstey’s case was placed in the ‘lower harm’ category. He received four points, which allows him to continue driving.
He was instead fined £186 by the court and ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation, as well as almost £300 in costs.
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
Latest Comments
- mdavidford 25 min ago
You seem to be rather undermining your own point here, given that LTNs fall squarely into the class of what Chrisona's talking about (modal filters...
- wtjs 26 min 19 sec ago
What do they expect to achieve on one day a week? Not much, which is exactly what they want.
- brooksby 25 min 52 sec ago
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24697990.driveways-blocked-counci...
- wtjs 29 min 51 sec ago
I have been using a Tickr for years, multiple battery changes with no problem at all Same with Polar H10.
- Chris RideFar 10 hours 22 min ago
I know that in independent tests on 10 and 11 speed chains, the SRAM chains always came out bottom in terms of drivetrain efficiency. Lots of...
- quiff 10 hours 28 min ago
The comparison was between two things never intended to be used on a bike.
- chrisonabike 11 hours 46 min ago
Well, send us a review when you've cycled it!...
- Backladder 13 hours 9 min ago
Since the driver used similar language it in not "likely" that he was caused harrasment alarm or distress by having it returned to him. (IANAL)
Add new comment
78 comments
I know defenders have to try to defend their client, however I thought actually lying was actually against their practice. You don't "slightly cut the corner" when the passenger side of the car is the one which hits the cyclist.
Your right , that was totally in the wrong side
Yes it's true otherwise law abiding motorists do three things, speed, use the phone and cut corners. I bet that Anstey drives this route every work day and cuts this particular corner nearly every day. If I were a betting person I'd bet he still does.
I would happily sponsor a camera at that corner to see if he does.
Ahem, the sun was BEHIND the driver at the point of impact! Didn't see the victim because of the low sun my harris. I strongly suspect that this collision was the result of the habitual failure of the driver to follow the correct rules regarding turning into side roads. No mercy, crucifixion!
The sun wasn't behind the driver when the light is on that side and the shadows are where he was turning in. However the Sun doesn't matter as he was on totally the wrong side of the road when he turned in.
@AlsoSomniloquism Correct.
I'm sorry - the court made an assessment of whether this warranted sentencing on the basis of greater or lower harm based on the impact it would have on the defendant!?!
That's a bit of a mockery of the whole distinction! The guy was hospitalised, defendant was clearly driving wholly on the wrong side of the road, but it's "lower harm" ...
You can bet if he'd hit a car head on there and hospitalised the occupant of the passenger seat, it would have been classed as "greater harm" ..
Unbelieveable. To accrue 7 points is quite some feat in itself. This should have been a driving ban. That was no momentary lapse, it was appallingly bad driving. Got nothing to do with the low sun, had he not cut the corner no collision would have occurred.
It seems to go against reason that people who depend upon their licence professionally should thereby be held to a lower standard.
Incredibly, one of the contracts he stood to lose from not being able to drive, was driving children in a school bus!! I really hope the school he drives for decides to find another operator who hasn't got 11 points on their licence.
Momentary my arse. This is habitual bad driving. Number of times I've had stop well short of the stop line - driving or cycling - to avoid some numpty doing this is not a joke. Indeed, it's routine around here for drivers about to turn right into a side road to flash people out so they can cut the corner rather than go round properly.
It's not like you need to be Geoff Capes to turn a steering wheel properly.
Exactly. All cars now have power steering so there is absolutely no excuse for this but it standard practice for so many drivers. I refuse to move when being flashed or waved at to turn right at a T junction by someone who is too lazy to drive forward and correctly make their turn. Apart from anyting else should a colision occur if I were to procede I would be held responsable.
I've noticed this too, and once nearly got hit turning LEFT out of my iwn road. But had a really bizarre one the other day. Driver in long wheelbase van positioned himself to left of junction as I waited to turn right. Was assuming he would flash me out when traffic cleared but he didn't, just started turning straight at me, clearly intending to fully occupy the wrong lane. When I objected strongly, he said what was he supposed to do given length of van? He then moved forward a bit and tried again before realising the middle of the van would catch me. It took him a third try to navigate the turn successfully - evidently not the most competent driver! It was only later that it occurred to me to wander what he was expecting me to do when he started turning . . .
Why is cutting the corner at junctions become so ubiquitous?
Seems incredibly lazy, and as this and many others, some involving death, dangerous, though I suppose not for those inside the metal cages.
I wonder if the two cases of speeding were "minor and momentary errors of judgement" too.
Odd how, needing a full driving licence to operate your business and keep your employees in work, whilst already having been caught breaking the law on several other occasions, doesn't encourage driving to some easily manageable driving standards.
The grand in compensation doesn't often happen, maybe for the "very narrowly clipped the corner" comment by the brief.
Either everyone watches too much F1 racing and thinks that is how you take a corner or (more likely) it is simply because you don't have to slow down as much to take the straighter line, therefore you might save a whole second and half on your journey time.
Again - it's both "culture" and "environment". It's a cycle. People don't slow enough, so we build wide sweeping corner radii even in places where there should be slow traffic (and often no through traffic). Because there are sweeping turns this signals to people they shouldn't slow and permits them to go faster. So they don't slow.
Because we're not slowing down we're not prompted to thoroughly check. We lack time to thoroughly check. If we suddenly realise there's a problem we lack time to react AND have extra momentum / energy in a collision.
Breaking the cycle is tricky because it reinforces itself. If we do what we should and make many of these tighter turns there will be more collisions while people learn. This will create immediate pressure to stop / undo the changes "because they're causing accidents". Concern about drivers crashing into each other / houses / walls / poles etc. will almost certainly outweight those on the "safety" side unless: a) we change and recognise the source of the problem. b) we simultaneously get lots more people cycling AND they start getting hit at junctions like this (worse before it gets better).
Hence the "separate cycling infra where needed" as a way of avoiding some of the issue while we increase the "population of regular cyclists".
I've recently been shouted at and literally had a fist shaken at me by drivers who wanted to cut the corner but were prevented by my positioning, similar to in the video. Like I'm somehow inconveniencing them. I also had a driver start to cut the corner, then notice me, and redirect to pass behind me entirely on the wrong side of the road. BMW of course.
Pages