Driver ordered to pay £1,100 and given points for overtaking cyclist too closely

What changes are being made to the Highway Code?

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A Ranger Rover driver was fined £500 and ordered to pay £620 in court costs. On top of that, he was forced to give the cyclist £50.

Shocking photographs showed the Range Rover driver coming within inches of hitting the cyclist.

Barry Field, 59, was slapped with a fine for driving without due care and attention.

Headcam footage showed the cyclist riding on March 5 last year.

The clip clearly showed Field’s black Range Rover drive past the cyclist who appeared to wobble after the frightening near miss.

The cyclist passed the video to the police’s Operation Snap team who hunt down dangerous drivers using footage from every day road users.

Field denied driving without due and attention but was found guilty following a trial at Warwickshire Magistrates Court last week.

In addition to the £500 fine, he had three points slapped on his licence and he was ordered to pay £620 court costs and a £50 victim surcharge.

The cyclist, who has not been named, said: “I know there are bad drivers and bad cyclists out there but all I want to be able to do is go for a ride and come back home safely to my family.

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“His impatience could have killed me.

“Bad cycling mainly causes annoyance to people but bad driving results in five road user deaths a day.”

PC Ken Bratley said: “Fortunately the cyclist was not injured and on reviewing the footage there is no doubt that this was an extremely careless pass.

“Cyclists are much more vulnerable than drivers in cars and that’s why the Highway Code has been updated asking drivers to give cyclists more care and attention.

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“This includes waiting behind a cyclist until it is safe to pass them and leaving at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds.

“It’s really important that drivers understand their responsibility to look after more vulnerable road users such as cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians by slowing down and giving them extra space.”

New rules surrounding cyclists came into force on January 29, 2022.

Drivers now have more responsibility to watch out for people cycling, walking or riding a horse.

Cyclists, on the other hand, have more responsibility to be aware of pedestrians.

The new rules mean cars must leave at least 1.5 metres room when passing bicycles – and revised guidance also says “it can be safer” for cyclists to ride two abreast.

Cyclists are also now instructed to ride in the centre of the lane in slower moving traffic, “on quiet roads or streets, moving over to the left if a faster vehicle comes up behind them, but only if they can do so safely” and “at the approach to junctions or where the road narrows, where it would be unsafe for drivers to overtake them”.

Another recommendation is for car users to reduce the risk of opening a door into the path of a cyclist by using the hand on the opposite side to the door, as that will often lead to them looking over their shoulder.

This is known as the Dutch Reach technique.

Provisional Department for Transport (DfT) figures show 4,290 pedestrians and 4,700 cyclists were killed or seriously injured in crashes on Britain’s roads in the year to the end of June 2021.

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