Hallow Near Miss for Cyclist Leads to Driver’s Court Conviction
A driver was found guilty of careless driving after nearly hitting a cyclist in Hallow, raising concerns about road safety.
Hallow, Worcester, Cyclist, Careless Driving, West Mercia Police
Worcester: So, there was this incident in Hallow where a cyclist had a really close call with a car. David Merritt, the driver, ended up in court for careless driving after the whole thing went down on the A443.
He was found guilty at Worcester Magistrates Court this month. The 73-year-old was driving a Skoda Octavia and zoomed past cyclist Dan Brothwell, who had to swerve to avoid a nasty accident.
It was pretty shocking. The footage shows just how close the car came to Dan’s bike. Merritt’s car had a ‘dog handler’ and ‘response unit’ marking, but it turns out he’s not a police officer, which is a bit misleading.
Dan, who’s involved with Bike Worcester, said he saw the car coming and thought it would slow down. But when it didn’t, he had to quickly move to the left to avoid being hit.
He mentioned that if he hadn’t swerved, the car would have been way too close—like within a foot! Dan called out the driving as dangerous and illegal, and he’s thankful that the police are taking these incidents seriously.
He also pointed out that while there are efforts to encourage cycling, dangerous driving is a huge barrier. It’s all about making the roads safer for everyone.
Merritt decided to defend himself in court instead of taking an education course. He got fined £103 and picked up three penalty points on his license. Plus, he has to pay £400 in costs and a surcharge of £41.
He’s got until February 3 to settle up. The West Mercia Police Road Safety Team highlighted that there have been a lot of serious accidents in Worcestershire, including ones involving cyclists.
They’re running this initiative called Operation Snap, where people can send in video evidence of bad driving. It’s been around since 2018 and has led to a lot of positive actions, which is great to see.