Driver to pay out ?1346 after cyclist is overtaken on narrow road

A motorist has to pay out more than £1,300 and has been hit with six points on their licence after their vehicle overtook a cyclist on a narrow road in Somerset. In stills posted by Avon and Somerset Police's Road Policing team on Twitter today (July 18) a large Mitsubishi truck can be seen approaching a cyclist from behind on one of the county's winding country lanes.

Rather than waiting for the coast to be clear, the driver of the truck^[1] can then be seen overtaking the cyclist^[2] as a red car saloon-style car passes by in the opposite direction. From the pictures - most likely taken from footage recorded by another cyclist wearing a helmet camera - the truck appears to have missed the oncoming car by a few inches and was also close to the cyclist.

Following the incident, the registered vehicle keeper has been fined £660 and must pay costs and a victim surcharge after being found guilty at Taunton Magistrates Court^[3] earlier this month. Avon and Somerset Police's Roads Policing Unit^[4] tweeted: "This driver was reported for Without Due Care but the registered keeper (RK) failed to respond & was reported for Failing to Supply Driver Details.

"RK [registered keeper] then entered a Not Guilty Plea but found guilty at Trial 5/7/2023 Taunton Magistrates. £660 Fine, 6 points, £620 Costs, £66 VS [victim surcharge]."

SomersetLive^[6] has contacted Avon and Somerset Police to find out which road in the county the incident happened on. The release of the nail-biting stills comes after it was realised that a £1 million cycle route in Somerset was in need of repair work, just two weeks after opening to the public.

Eager cyclists in the county were finally able to use the route, which runs along the A39 between Dunster and West Somerset College in Minehead, when it opened on June 30, following nine months of construction. After it was opened, reports began to circulate on social media that part of the route would already need to be redone due to "fundamental flaws" in its construction.

Somerset Council^[7] has since confirmed that the stretch of the route near West Somerset College has some "snagging issues", which will be fixed at no additional cost to the taxpayer. You can read the full story from SomersetLive here^[8].

Click here^[9] for more traffic and travel news.

References

1. ^{^} driver of the truck (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
2. ^{^} cyclist (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Taunton Magistrates Court (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Avon and Somerset Police's Roads Policing Unit (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Man parks for day and is charged £1,201.85 at car park (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
6. ^{^} SomersetLive (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
7. ^{^} Somerset Council (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
8. ^{^} here (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
9. ^{^} Click here (www.somersetlive.co.uk)