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A90 (Google Maps)Delivery driver who hit cyclist and blamed low sun found not guilty of causing death by careless driving
A jury has found a delivery driver not guilty of causing death by careless driving following a trial that centred around the defence that the accused was unable to see the cyclist killed due to glare from the low sun.
Christopher Morrison was found not guilty at Peterhead Sheriff Court on Friday, the Press and Journal reports. The 41-year-old had been driving on the A90 Peterhead to Aberdeen route, near the turning to Stirlinghill Quarry, on 2 December 2022 when he hit Robert Cowie, who was cycling along the road. The 52-year-old cyclist was knocked from his bike by Mr Morrison, fell into the path of another vehicle and died as a result of the collision.
In court, fiscal depute Neil MacDonald called on the jury to convict Mr Morrison, saying that there is "no dispute" that the driver had hit the cyclist, only whether his driving had fallen "below the standard of a careful and competent driver".
He argued Mr Morrison should have seen Mr Cowie and told the court the low winter sun could not have been a "surprise". However, it was the glare of the sun that became the centre of the driver's defence, legal representation David Nicholson pointing to witness accounts that described the sun as "blinding".
"The sun glare was instantaneous – I heard a bang and saw the wing mirror was off," Mr Morrison told the court. "Just like that it changed – the sun hit my eyes, then there was the bang. There was no cycle in front of me as far as I could see. The road had looked fine and clear up until the bend."
Responding to a question from his defence, the motorist said he "didn't have time" to see the cyclist. Likewise, under cross-examination, Mr Morrison said he "thought I was perfectly safe" and "there was nothing that would affect me drastically".
That answer came to a question from Mr MacDonald asking why he had not altered his speed given the conditions. To a question about how the drivers ahead had managed to see Mr Cowie, Mr Morrison suggested "they had a better chance to see him maybe".
"I didn't see him that day because of the sun. Maybe it was bouncing off his high-vis vest – I don't know," he added before fielding a second question about how the Tesco van driver in front had managed to pass safely.
"He was ahead of me. He got lucky just like everybody else – and it's me who is standing here today," Mr Morrison answered.
The jury also heard from Stuart Blackwood of Arc Investigations, an expert witness called by the defence, who produced a report into the incident and said that he did not believe Mr Morrison's van had struck Mr Cowie due to it being "physically impossible" for his bike to have remained upright, causing the black marks visible on the side of the van.
He did concede however that he had not had full access to dash-cam footage used by the police crash reports. When shown footage from the aforementioned Tesco van, Mr Blackwood was asked whether the sun would have changed position in the short time after when Mr Morrison would have passed.
"Not substantially," he answered. Speaking outside court, Mr Morrison said he was "grateful for the jury's decision".
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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51 comments
They might as well remove that rule from the Highway Code, as it is clear that no jury of drivers will ever convict anyone for breaking it. There but for a radical change in society's notion of personal responsibility go I.
Umm sooooo, wearing hi-viz is now going to count as an aggravating factor when the sun is out cos you're blinding the poor drivist? I'll wear black then......oh hang on
Worse , there was a cyclist killed somewhere in England one Autumn where the defence ( successful) was that the cyclist’s yellow jacket blended in to the yellow Autumn leaves of roadside trees . We’ll have to have multi coloured bright jackets next but not so bright nor so multi coloured as to confuse poor motorists .
So are you saying that I should not wear my bright orange winter jacket in winter then?
Please check out the case of Micheal Mason, whose hi-vis and lights wre disguised by the shop lighting in Regent Street. Micheal was killed and the driver not even charged with an offence I think.
They were charged, a private prosecution I think, but claimed that they thought a sack of potatoes had somehow collided with their car and were acquited.
Because Regent Street is so famous for potato retail... NOT
Not to mention that ambulatory potatoes sacks are literally impossible.
What Magistrate could be so stupid as to fall for such incredible nonsense...
wasn't there a private prosecution? the fact police and CPS did not progress the case likely counted against that case suceeding.
I recommend CUK's write up and some detail by a lawyer involved.
There were a number of troubling (but sadly not surprising to me) failures to act interested - or act at all - by police and courts. Overall reflecting the lack of interest in or even concern about killing on our roads by society - which of course includes those who drive...
That's correct, the police refused even to pass the case to the CPS for a charging decision on the basis that Mr Mason was wearing dark clothing and no helmet and that even though he had fully functioning lights on his bike they could have merged with other traffic. Cycling UK brought a private prosecution but unfortunately the jury accepted the driver's explanation that Mr Mason "came out of nowhere" even though he was riding in a straight line, with lights on, in a very well lit area and she drove up behind him and hit him. An absolute disgrace.
as I recall, the point of impact was directly in front of the driver as well.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/blog/duncandollimore/mason-verdict
Not sure mutton headed drivist juries should be allowed on these cases.
I'd love for all cases to be tried by juries of driving examiners, failing that I'd like to see the direction from judges be "do you think driving of this standard would pass a driving test?" rather than "judge this standard against the benchmark of yourself as a careful and competant driver"
Just remember Ashley Neal would probably qualify as being of driving examiner status.
And I know he is technically an instructor, but to instruct he has to know the same detail as the examiners.
You'd think that instructors should know the same detail as examiners, but I see a lot of dodgy practice from people driving with their instructor. Which is why I specifically said examiner and not instructor.
I have seen some very dodgy driving from driving instructors in liveried driving school vehicles
I have seen some very dodgy driving from driving instructors in liveried driving school vehicles
https://upride.cc/incident/yf70xwu_aadrivingschool_uwlcross/
been close passed more than once by a driving instructor. I give a bit more leeway to drivers under instruction as I know when I learnt to drive I made enough mistakes.
my point was Ashley Neal would be considered equal in terms of skill and knowledge to a driving examiner, certainly among fellow jurors if he was selected for jury service, since he teaches people to pass a test with a driving examiner.
and some of his hot takes on the interactions between cars and cyclists are woefully misguided
He's either qualified as an examiner, or he isn't. It's a matter of public record and any witness would have shared their credentials as part of disclosure.
What goes on in the Jury room is not based on any qualification so other jurors cannot rely on what are opinions not evidence.
Many driving instructors apply to become examiners. The majority either fail the selection process or fail the 4-week residential course, which is rigorous.
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