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Police investigating collision involving caravan-towing motorist and cyclist after close pass dispute

The cyclist suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment

Dorset Police confirmed it is investigating a collision involving a motorist towing a caravan and a cyclist near Bournemouth Airport last weekend, footage of which has since gone viral and been viewed thousands of times on social media.

On Friday's road.cc live blog we shared the footage, posted on Facebook via Car Anything, with the reaction prompting us to get in touch with the relevant police authority for an update.

Dorset Police confirmed officers attended a report at 10.43am on Saturday 9 July 2022 of a collision involving the driver of a car towing a caravan and a cyclist on Parley Lane in Christchurch.

The collision came at the end of the footage, moments after one of the other cyclists in the group's rear-facing camera had recorded the driver apparently sounding their horn as they overtook the group, who were travelling at close to 40km/h.

As the group filtered to the front of the queue at the traffic lights, and past the motorist, one rider can be heard saying "I got him on video", while someone else is heard saying: "F****** idiot".

Then, as the group rolls away from the stop, the driver continues forward closely behind the penultimate rider, hitting their back wheel. Dorset Police confirmed the cyclist suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment.

In the footage, after colliding with the cyclist, the caravan-towing motorist is seen driving over the rider's bike and out of shot. It is not clear if the motorist stopped at the scene of the incident.

Dorset Police's statement read:

Dorset Police received a report at 10.43am on Saturday 9 July 2022 of a collision involving a car that was towing a caravan and a cyclist on Parley Lane in Christchurch. Officers attended the scene.

The cyclist sustained minor injuries that did not require hospital treatment. An investigation is underway to establish the full circumstances of the collision and enquiries are continuing.

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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26 comments

Avatar
Eton Rifle | 2 years ago
4 likes

Fucking appalling driving. The previous close pass and horn blaring should be enough to argue intent (or at least negligence) for the subsequent collision.

I certainly hope this one goes all the way to court.
This twat should not be in charge of a car.

BTW, if anyone wants to see unprecedented levels of Gammon bigotry, ignorance and hatred, the comments under this one on fakebook is the place to be.

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marmiter | 2 years ago
5 likes

The car obviously didn't stop later, as he didn't care that he'd just run over a rider and his bike, potentially leaving him for dead. That's hit-and-run. Lock him up

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JimM777 replied to marmiter | 2 years ago
5 likes

The crucial fact here is that any driver who collides with a cyclist should stop immediately -  which he didn't. It is particularly appalling since he was towing a caravan which could have run over the fallen cyclist. He should get a long jail sentence and be banned from driving for life.

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IanMSpencer | 2 years ago
7 likes

#cyclelikeyoudrive

(The James Corden article would seem to be confirmation of the success of the campaign). 

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mctrials23 | 2 years ago
13 likes

Still think that any serious road incident like this should come with a mandatory time spent on a bike. Wonder how much of a prick these sort of people would be if they spent a dozen hours on our roads being overtaken by their kind. 

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joe9090 replied to mctrials23 | 2 years ago
1 like

dream on, these gammons often cannot even ride a bike let alone see their own tackle without the help of a mirror. 

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Daveyraveygravey | 2 years ago
16 likes

I hope they throw the book at this bastard and it becomes part of a national campaign to educate drivers.  Travel Like You Know Them...

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BalladOfStruth replied to Daveyraveygravey | 2 years ago
12 likes

100% agree on the need for a national campaign to educate drivers.

The problem with the “travel like you know them” thing is that I honestly think that a lot of driver behaviour is ineptitude and ignorance rather than intentional malice.

To give a quick example, one of the worst repeat offenders of shite driving I encounter regularly is one of the designers I work with. His office is next to mine, we work reasonably close together, he knows my Mum, goes drinking with my Mum’s cousin, ect. He knows me, and you’d think he wouldn’t go out of his way to endanger my life. However, he’s pulled off some of the nastiest close-passes, left-hooks, and MGIFs I’ve ever experienced, to the point where I now hang around for a bit after work to make sure he’s long gone before I get on the bike. I did have a word, but it hasn’t really improved things.

If these people genuinely don’t understand that the way they drive around cyclists is dangerous, then saying “that might be your friend/neighbour” isn’t going to change that behaviour.

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Muddy Ford replied to BalladOfStruth | 2 years ago
1 like

I'd buy a cheap bottle of squirty honey and put it all over his windscreen and door handles etc. When he engages the wipers it will finish the job for you, and you won't have to wait until he leaves because he'll be there a long time after you trying to clean his windscreen. Honey is a bastard to clean off. 

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hawkinspeter replied to Muddy Ford | 2 years ago
4 likes

Muddy Ford wrote:

I'd buy a cheap bottle of squirty honey and put it all over his windscreen and door handles etc. When he engages the wipers it will finish the job for you, and you won't have to wait until he leaves because he'll be there a long time after you trying to clean his windscreen. Honey is a bastard to clean off. 

 

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mark1a replied to Muddy Ford | 2 years ago
4 likes

"Tell them about the honey, Muddy"

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HoarseMann | 2 years ago
5 likes

Something appears to come out of the passenger window during the first overtake...

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hawkinspeter replied to HoarseMann | 2 years ago
9 likes

HoarseMann wrote:

Something appears to come out of the passenger window during the first overtake...

Hangin' out the passenger side of his best friend's ride
Trying to holla at me

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Sanshelmut replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
5 likes

What a scrub.

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OldRidgeback | 2 years ago
15 likes

I'm glad that the cops are taking action. The driver comes across as a nutter, someone not to be trusted with a skateboard, let alone a car.

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Global Nomad | 2 years ago
13 likes

wow...glad the cyclist was ok...but the driver clearly has no care for other people, nor anything that gets in the way of his progress - including other vehicles either as oncoming traffic or in the adjacent lane. not fit to drive let alone tow a caravan.

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Pyro Tim | 2 years ago
2 likes

Looks like the Bournemouth jubilee wheelers chaingang, at the end of their ride

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IanGlasgow | 2 years ago
8 likes

"It is not clear if the motorist stopped at the scene of the incident."

Comments on social media claim he attempted to leave but was boxed in by other drivers.

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S13SFC replied to IanGlasgow | 2 years ago
8 likes

IanGlasgow wrote:

"It is not clear if the motorist stopped at the scene of the incident."

Comments on socila media claim he attempted to leave but was boxed in by other drivers.

 

I missed that.

Fair play if that was the case.

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brooksby | 2 years ago
0 likes

But isn't it a non UK numberplate?  In which case, it seems fair to assume that they were tourists and will have now gone back overseas...

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IanGlasgow replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
9 likes

It's a UK plate, just a personalised one.

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brooksby replied to IanGlasgow | 2 years ago
2 likes

Oh, OK - my mistake.

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Eton Rifle replied to IanGlasgow | 2 years ago
4 likes
IanGlasgow wrote:

It's a UK plate, just a personalised one.

Just when you thought he couldn't be even more of a cunt...

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Hirsute | 2 years ago
5 likes

But what about the bike ?!

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Car Delenda Est replied to Hirsute | 2 years ago
0 likes

Cyclist

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Hirsute replied to Car Delenda Est | 2 years ago
1 like

"Dorset Police confirmed the cyclist suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment."

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