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Driver fined £417 and given five points for passing ‘too closely’ to group of cyclists
Some people didn’t think the driver was in the wrong, however…
Police have explained why they fined a driver over £400 for passing ‘too closely’ to a group of cyclists.
The Sheffield North West Neighbourhood Policing Team shared dash cam footage of the incident, which saw a silver Peugeot cross the broken white line and narrowly avoid the approaching cyclists.
Posting the video onto Twitter, the police warned: “If anyone thinks this is an acceptable manner of driving, let this be your warning.”
There, they also confirmed the driver had been slapped with a fine of £417, as well as given five points on his licence for careless driving.
However, the police’s decision to fine the driver was met with mixed opinions, with some drivers not quite agreeing with the severity of the punishment.
One person commented: “The car was completely on the correct side of the road, I suggest an appeal is in order.”
Others pointed out the hazard the parked car on the cyclists’ side of the road caused, noting that it was therefore the cyclists’ responsibility to slow down and give way.
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They wrote: “If I was the cyclist in this situation I’d have slowed down and used the parked car for protection, then checked over my shoulder and signalled if required and then overtake the parked car when safe to pass.
“The cyclist needs to take some responsibility for this close pass.”
In response to the backlash, the Sheffield North West NPT responded: “The driver of this vehicle decided to pass a group of cyclists at excessive speed and far too closely.
“The driver didn’t just endanger one cyclist, he was also too close to those following.
“He would have seen a group of bikes in a line, and chose to accelerate to a speed increasing the danger to all of them and swerve over the white lines towards them.
“If he had simply driven to the conditions at a less dangerous speed and stayed on his own side of the road he wouldn’t have been prosecuted.”
They concluded by reminding drivers that if they are ever to endanger vulnerable road users with their poor driving, they need to remember that any pedestrian, horse rider, cyclist or vehicle may be recording.