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Bournemouth pavement cyclist pleads guilty while police appeal to hit & run driverJustice (Lonpicman, Wikimedia Commons)

Bournemouth pavement cyclist pleads guilty while police appeal to hit & run driver

"Do the right thing" appeal to driver...
by Tony Farrelly
Tue, Dec 27, 2011 13:11
7

A 37 year old cyclist who handed himself in to police in Bournemouth after a pavement cycling incident in which a female pensioner was seriously injured has pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous cycling at the town's magistrate's court. Police in the town have also made a direct appeal to the driver of a vehicle involved in a hit and run incident in which a cyclist was seriously injured to "do the right thing" warning the driver that there is nowhere to hide.

Bournemouth magistrates last week ordered David Berwin to pay £300 compensation following an incident on the 16th of September in which a 71-year-old woman was knocked down while walking to her local post-office. Speaking to the Bournemouth Echo the woman said that she spent 5 weeks in hospital as a result of the serious injury she sustained when she was hit, and that she requires a further operation in the New Year.

The paper reports that police have also arrested a 19 year old youth in connection with another pavement cycling incident when a four year old girl suffered a broken leg in another pavement cycling incident.

Justin Graham spent four days in hospital after suffering broken vertebrae and other injures when he was knocked from his bike as he approached the Wallisdown roundabout at approximately 5.30am on 8 December. As reported at the time police appealed for witnesses to the incident and said they were looking for a Toyota Corrolla registered between 2001 and 2004 - those details have now been confirmed by traffic unit investigators and the police have appealed to anyone with any information on the incident itself or who has been asked to repair one to come forward. They have also issued a direct appeal to the driver through the local media.

“As recent investigations and news reports have shown, the traffic unit has successfully traced a number of drivers involved in failure to stop collisions across Dorset in recent weeks. We would urge the driver to do the right thing and call the police. The law is very clear – if you are involved in a collision you must stop and exchange details.
“If for any reason you are unable to report it at the time, then you must report it to a police officer or station as soon as possible and in any case within 24 hours.”

Pavement cycling
hit and run
dangerous cycling
bournemouth
Tony Farrelly

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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7 comments

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OldRidgeback | 12 years ago
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Riding a bicycle on the pavement isn't illegal per se.

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Paul M | 12 years ago
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Not wishing to defend pavement cycling - all too prevalent in central London and I am one of those who has been knocked over by a pavement cyclist (a courier) you have to look at the statistics. According to stats collected by CTC, in a period when 70 pedestrians were killed/seriously injured by "collisions" with vehicles on "footways" (pavements), 2 of those vehicles were bicycles. Apparently both cyclists received prison terms.

So what were the 68 motor vehicles doing driving on the pavement? How many of their drivers received prison terms?

Nationwide over the period 1998-2007, according to a parliamentary answer given by Jim Fitzpatrick as then-roads minister, there were about 265 pedestrians killed by a motor vehicle, and 130 pedestrians so injured, for every one killed/injured by a bicycle.

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koko56 | 12 years ago
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I used to cycle on the pavements when I was just starting - it is absolutely a barrier to start cycling on the roads.

In the beginning cycling in a 30mph zone feels almost like cycling on a busy dual carriageway after you become more experienced.

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CraigTheBiker | 12 years ago
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It would be interesting to see some statistics which show what percentage of drivers (or cyclists) flee the scene of the accident.

I really don't like to see cyclists using pavements, and it seems to be becoming more prevalent. My other half is German, and she wasn't actually aware that cycling on the pavement was illegal in this country. She soon became aware of it, though, when a granny smacked her on the head with her handbag as she cycled past!

She quickly learned that it's sometimes safer on the roads!

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downfader replied to CraigTheBiker | 12 years ago
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CraigTheBiker wrote:

It would be interesting to see some statistics which show what percentage of drivers (or cyclists) flee the scene of the accident.

I really don't like to see cyclists using pavements, and it seems to be becoming more prevalent. My other half is German, and she wasn't actually aware that cycling on the pavement was illegal in this country. She soon became aware of it, though, when a granny smacked her on the head with her handbag as she cycled past!

She quickly learned that it's sometimes safer on the roads!

I read a few years back that as many as 1 in 6 drivers flee the scene of a crash. Cant find the original article (typical) but found this instead:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6102520.stm

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mad_scot_rider replied to CraigTheBiker | 12 years ago
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CraigTheBiker wrote:

... she wasn't actually aware that cycling on the pavement was illegal in this country. She soon became aware of it, though, when a granny smacked her on the head with her handbag as she cycled past!

She quickly learned that it's sometimes safer on the roads!

Cycling on the pavement in the UK is illegal *under certain circumstances* - assault however is ALWAYS illegal.

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A V Lowe | 12 years ago
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The message needs to be made very clear to drivers, even the slightest impact with a cyclist will leave clear evidence on the car, often several hundred pounds worth of damage which cannot be hidden, and the forensic ability of investigators to nail down the flakes of paint and fragments of plastic accessories to very closely defined years and marques.

Because no injuries were caused the recent damage to my bike (caused when a driver moved off the jump a red light (which had turned against him at a congested junction - and he decided to try for a gap in the queue by driving across the flow of traffic then getting the green light) He had a windscreen and bodywork damage from 110Kg rolling over the front and the forks of my bike digging in to the front valance of his car, and the going under it. Apparently a bill of over £500 but for me, forks and front wheel plus a pedal axle bent.

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