This shocking hit and run incident left a cyclist severely injured and has received widespread criticism for the way the case was handled.
By Brian Canty
A case of a hit-and-run incident in the UK which left one man severely injured has grabbed the headlines after the courts failed to determine who the driver of the car was at the time. of the collision.
The incident took place in November 15th 2014 when the driver of a Volvo car collided with an unnamed cyclist and subsequently drove off.
But because the car was a hired vehicle, there wasn’t enough evidence to distinguish who the driver was but instead, the person who the police deemed eligible to drive the car was fined the equivalent of €180.
The case has received widespread coverage in the UK due to the farcical manner in which the case has been handled – even though there was significant – and distressing, footage of the event.
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The victim in the case needed four months to recover from his injuries, with a further month of physiotherapy, having suffered a severe back injury and internal haemorrhaging.
He said he was disappointed with the whole outcome.
“We’ve seen this with a lot of cases involving cyclists, drivers are getting away with these kinds of attacks.
“The driver is not admitting to hitting me, neither is his wife, they both claimed to be in possession of the vehicle, they both claim it was them driving on that day but because they said ‘no we don’t remember hitting a cyclist’ it stood up in court.
“How it stood up with their names on the documentation I have no idea but I’m not a lawyer.
"It's left me feeling surprised at the injustice and the ability for criminals to get away with crimes so easily, especially those perpetrated against cyclists, and it's left the wider cycling community feeling totally betrayed.
"It would never put me off cycling but it has made me very annoyed at the fact that cyclists are being let down time and time again when it comes to justice."
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Nottinghamshire Police said the investigating officer determined the car was a hire vehicle that had been sub-leased through a number of different companies.
They had determined a man and a woman were both eligible to drive the car and though they were issued with a request to supply details of, they failed to respond.
They were eventually tracked down and interviewed and summonsed to court for failing to stop at the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident and failing to respond to a legal request for driver details but not enough evidence was presented to force a conviction.
As a result, the prosecution for failing to stop and failing to report was discontinued.
The 52-year-old man, from Nottingham, received six penalty points and a £150 fine for failing to provide driver details.
“While we share the victim's disappointment at the outcome, we feel the investigating police officer made every effort to ensure that the occupants of the car were found and brought before the courts," the force said in a statement.
The cyclist, however, was less than impressed by the whole thing.
“After the police closed the investigation further evidence came forward and I honestly feel they could have possibly done more and I’m sure the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) could have done more too to prosecute the driver.
“I don’t believe they wouldn’t notice hitting a cyclist at that speed”
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