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news
Drem, East Lothian (Google Maps)Motorist who deliberately slammed on brakes, causing cyclist to smash through car’s rear windscreen, jailed for 14 months
A motorist who pulled in front of a cyclist before deliberately slamming on his brakes, causing the rider to slam head-first into the car’s rear windscreen, has been jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for four years.
Mark Stewart was cycling on a country road near the village of Drem, East Lothian, on 23 July 2020, when he was overtaken on a blind bend by 55-year-old driver William Bowman, who was seen “racing up alongside” the cyclist while blaring his car horn, Edinburgh Live reports.
After sharply pulling in front of the rider, Bowman – who had close passed two female cyclists on a similar corner moments before encountering Mr Stewart – abruptly stopped his car, causing the cyclist to smash into the back of the vehicle.
As Mr Stewart, who initially lost consciousness in the collision and feared that he would be left paralysed by the incident, lay bloodied and injured on the road, Bowman was overheard by witnesses blaming the cyclist for the crash.
However, earlier this year, the motorist pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by driving dangerously, and was sentenced to 14 months in prison at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week.
Bowman also admitted to a separate drink driving charge, after being caught with 35mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath in April this year, and was handed another four-month sentence, which will run concurrently alongside the longer term.
“I was worried I was paralysed”
Speaking previously at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, fiscal depute Ross Price said that witnesses had spotted Bowman close passing two female cyclists on a bend shortly before the collision, a manoeuvre described as “extremely dangerous”.
Price told the court that the motorist then “raced up alongside [Mr Stewart] with the horn blaring” as they both entered Drem.
The fiscal continued: “Mr Stewart then recalls the vehicle pulling in front of him and slamming on the brakes causing him to hit the back of the vehicle and lose consciousness.”
One of the two cyclists who witnessed the crash later stated: “The vehicle had overtaken all of us – I saw the driver of the car do an emergency stop. He came to a complete stop on the left side of the road.
“The cyclist went right into the back of the left-hand side of his car, tilted forwards and his head and face went through the rear window of the car breaking the glass.
“The cyclist fell to the ground to left of the car shouting ‘my neck, my neck’ and there was blood all over his face.”
The fiscal told the court that Mr Stewart said that he was “worried that I was paralysed because the pain in my neck was excruciating, and I couldn’t move my legs and I had pins and needles in my arms.
“I asked one of the people helping me to get some photos because I could hear the driver saying it was my fault.”
The court also heard that, after exiting his vehicle, Bowman “kept asking witnesses for a lighter” and “did not once ask how the complainer was and seemed unphased he was seriously injured”.
Alongside his 14-month jail term, Bowman, from Dirleton, East Lothian, has been banned from driving for four years and told by Sheriff Donald Corke that he must pass an extended test before he is allowed back on the road.
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
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59 comments
People that don't ride find driving like this barely believable. People that do ride know it happens pretty often, in one form or another.
I got brake tested like this with my lad on the back of the bike on a tagalong. Fortunately I had room to jink down the side of wankpanzer. Unfortuantely for its owner doing so left a decent dent and scratch, at the cost of a slightly wonky shifter for me.
I've noticed there seem to be a disproportionately high per-capita number of road rage incidents eminating from Scotland.
Maybe it's just better enforcement?
This is a rarity. Polis Scotland are fairly reticent to progress incidents like this unless the victim has been injured. I've lost track of the number of brake checks etc and nothing has been done. This covers both cycling and driving.
Translation: Even though I'm getting plenty of ridicule for my stupid comments elsewhere, it's still not enough attention to make up for whatever is lacking in my life so now I will just say something pointlessly provocative about the Scots to see if I can get some more.
The Scots on here are just going to ignore him.
Too busy drinking scotch and eating their deep fried Snickers...
This might apply to the driver in this case judging by the breath sample he gave.
Was it nutty?
Fanny
We're self-sufficient in numpties already. No need to import.
I suggested shipping them out to Rockall. Didn't go down too well.
*edited my crap spelling. Though our friend didn't seem to notice.
Good to see a jail sentence for this, I would like to see this being published in the national press, idiotic driving like this has consequences
This is the kind of aggressiveness we don't need on our roads; a four year ban is not nearly enough even though it's longer than typical bans.
I was surprised the motorist actually got an albeit well-deserved prison sentence. Maybe his solicitor failed to use old "the sun was shining in my eyes" line?
Having the witnesses who could describe the manner of driving probably helped significantly with that.
"Maybe his solicitor failed to use old "the sun was shining in my eyes" line?"
Was gonna say ... 'well, this is Scotland and there's a limit to believability' ... but then remembered the lad who was killed less than 3 miles from here. Reason given was the low sun ... community work was the sentence
Don't forget the ol' Rupert Murdoch defense either - "I have no memory of that". Worked to get this lady a "not proven" in Fife...
https://road.cc/content/news/driver-who-cannot-recall-fatal-crash-acquit...
Pedantry moment. This was Renfrewshire. I remember the day it happened.
Looks like my memory's in good legal shape then...
Might take up that defence as well next time I ping a wing mirror
It worked for Sturgeon the betrayer as well.
Fanny
It's not a 4 year ban though is it. He'll be inside for 14 months of it.
Well I doubt that he'll be doing much driving from inside prison, but I get your point.
What snaps my cranks is that his separate DUI offence is being served concurrently - I don't see the logic behind that.
I thought the rules changed a couple of years ago so that bans start upon release from jail. Or was that England only, not all of the UK?
The ban gets exended by half the period of the custodian sentence (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/17/group/THIRD/part/8/chapter/...) or slightly easier to read (https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/explanatory-material/magistrates-co...)
50% remission for good behaviour?
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