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Nissan Micra driver sought after Tour of Britain director hurt in hit and runPolice tape (CC licensed by freefotouk on Flickr)

Nissan Micra driver sought after Tour of Britain director hurt in hit and run

Mick Bennett was knocked off his bike in West Horsley, Surrey on Sunday afternoon
by Simon_MacMichael
Mon, May 08, 2017 10:51
13

Mick Bennett, the race director of the Tour of Britain, has appealed for help in tracking down the driver of a silver Nissan Micra after he was knocked off his bike yesterday in a hit and run incident.

The 67-year-old, whose business SweetSpot also runs the Tour Series, which begin's this week, and the Women's Tour, posted details of the incident to Facebook yesterday.

Thanking the people who'd expressed concern for him on Facebook, the two-time Olympic bronze medallist added: "Thanks everyone just hope that by posting I can catch the driver. If he / she does not hand themselves in to Police."

Surrey Police can be contacted on 101.

Mick Bennett
hit and run
Surrey Police
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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13 comments

Avatar
KalBoy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Maybe it was the same driver in Beausoleil earlier today

http://road.cc/content/news/222291-chris-froomes-bike-destroyed-hit-and-...

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fenix | 7 years ago
0 likes

Its usually BMW's or Audis round here.   Roll on the self driving cars !

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dottigirl | 7 years ago
2 likes

I've posted on my club forum asking if anyone was filming.

I went through East Clandon (one road over to the west) at around that time, maybe a bit later. To my knowledge, no one on my ride was running a camera though.

Hoping that Mick was recording his ride, but if anyone fancies some detective work to identify possible witnesses using Strava flybys, here's a link to my ride:

https://www.strava.com/activities/975674505

SWRC also had their May Flyer on that day, and it's possible, while not doing the same route also, that one of the participants may have recorded something. 

Avatar
fenix | 7 years ago
2 likes

Heal well Mick.

Driver is probably an OAP who's been driving 50 years with no accidents. Well none they're aware of anyway.

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Jackson | 7 years ago
5 likes

We need to find the driver to give them their one month suspended sentence and no driving ban

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lio replied to Jackson | 7 years ago
4 likes

Jackson wrote:

We need to find the driver to give them their one month suspended sentence and no driving ban

 

That would be a ludacrously lenient sentence!  They should receive a £50 maybe even £65 fine and a stern talking to.

Unless it's a woman in her 50s who "just doesn't know how it happened" in which case she should be released with no case to answer obviously.

 

Edit: I'd better revise those fines.  They'll probably be more in the region of £5-£7.50 knowing our courts.

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bigshape | 7 years ago
0 likes

the two cars i'm always wary of; nissan micra, and vauxhall astra

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londoncommute replied to bigshape | 7 years ago
0 likes

bigshape wrote:

the two cars i'm always wary of; nissan micra, and vauxhall astra

Probably completely unfair as they must be one of the most popular cars but I'm with you on Astras.  Nothing strikes fear in my heart like a black Astra with dented panels....

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PaulBox replied to londoncommute | 7 years ago
0 likes

londoncommute wrote:

bigshape wrote:

the two cars i'm always wary of; nissan micra, and vauxhall astra

Probably completely unfair as they must be one of the most popular cars but I'm with you on Astras.  Nothing strikes fear in my heart like a black Astra with dented panels....

For me it is the older style, 'boxy' shaped Fiesta. Had so many close-calls with those...

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SteppenHerring | 7 years ago
0 likes

Is it just me, or are the drivers of Surrey/Sussex/Kent getting more aggressive and militant recently? Over the last 2/3 weeks, there's been a hit & run on a rider in Walton on the Hill, hit & run on a horse rider near New Addington, the Vidette UK van, a rider hit on our club run on Saturday (driver stopped and apologised)  and the Kent road-racing debacle. Oh, and this.

 

I suppose we should expect random things to sometime occur in clusters, but it feels like a lot of bad stuff.

Avatar
Huw Watkins | 7 years ago
3 likes

Hope he recovers quickly.

Nissan Micras always scary.  More often  than not the cars that crawl out of side roads in front of you.

Convinced they're bought by people who don't like driving / can't drive very well but need to do so nonetheless.

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Grahamd replied to Huw Watkins | 7 years ago
1 like

Huw Watkins wrote:

Hope he recovers quickly.

Nissan Micras always scary.  More often  than not the cars that crawl out of side roads in front of you.

Convinced they're bought by people who don't like driving / can't drive very well but need to do so nonetheless.

I once had a Micra as courtesy car, following an accident. They are dreadful. My wife thought I was joking when I said I would rather walk than drive it, until she did. Cannot understand anyone who chooses one.

Glad to see the police appear to be doing something. Don't hold your breath expecting success though, as unless there is CCTV and an admission by the driver they seem incapable of achieving anything.

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mike the bike replied to Huw Watkins | 7 years ago
0 likes

Huw Watkins wrote:

 Convinced they're bought by people who don't like driving / can't drive very well but need to do so nonetheless. 

 

It's a comfort to think that the average driver is pretty poor and half the population are below average.

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