Suspended sentence for van driver who hit cyclist and drove off (31/7/12)
A van driver knocked a cyclist off his bike and did not go back to help out the injured rider, a court heard.
Daniel Varey, 34, who lives on a caravan site near Church Broughton, left the biker with his arm broken in five places after the crash in Crowfoot Lane near the village.
Derby Magistrates’ Court heard that on July 31, the cyclist tried to get out of the way after the driver failed to spot him coming in the other direction before he was then clipped by the van’s wing mirror.
“It drifted towards my side of the road and I started to take evasive action, going to the left and onto some gravel on the side of the lane,” the cyclist later said in a statement to police.
Varey, who works as a roofer, was thought to be travelling between 35mph and 40mph. He admitted driving without due care, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report it to the police.
He drove 100 metres and stopped, but failed to return to the injured man before leaving the scene, said Andrea Charity, prosecuting.
She said that Varey failed to wind down the driver’s window or get out of his vehicle and the cyclist suspected he was about to leave the scene — so made an effort to memorise the van’s registered number.
Varey was given a three-month prison sentence, suspended for a year. He was also ordered to complete 140 hours unpaid work, and will have to obey a nightly curfew for three months.
He had already been banned from driving for four years over an offence committed since the accident, and 10 points were added to his driving record.
John Hay, defending, said: “He does accept responsibility for the accident. He was driving on this fairly narrow lane when he came round a corner. It may well be he was distracted but the next thing he came on the cyclist.
“He did stop by the road and saw the man get up, but he panicked and drove off. The man was up and seemed to be all right.”
Presiding magistrate Irene Longstaff told Varey: “This was a very serious accident causing major injuries to the cyclist.” He will also have to pay £200 in court costs.
The driver here was subsequently banned from driving for 4 years, yet for seriously injuring this cyclist he only received 10 points and a tiny (£140) fine.
It is amazing that the courts fail to deal properly with drivers who are obviously dangerous – in this case he had two very serious injuries within weeks or months of one another, yet still they suspend the sentence.
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