A driver has been found guilty of driving without due care and attention after video footage emerged which captured her nail-biting near-miss with a cyclist on a busy roundabout in Northampton.
Lucy World, 32, of Far End in Northampton, was recorded on a mobile phone fixed to the bicycle’s handlebars whilst driving without due care and attention on January 7 last year.
In December she was ordered to pay more than £1,100 in fines and costs and given five points on her licence.
The footage shows her Ford Fiesta emerging out of nowhere and speeding past the cyclist, forcing him to swerve out of her way. The vehicle passed within centimetres of the bike as she overtook it on the outside of the roundabout.
Lucy World, 32, from Northampton, appeared to cut across the cyclist and then drove off with no acknowledgement of the incident
Shortly before 8.50am on the day of the incident, the cyclist entered the roundabout junction from Wooldale Road in Northampton.
Suddenly a black Ford Fiesta cut across him as he went to exit the junction with Newport Pagnell Road.
World appeared to cut across the front of the cyclist, almost colliding with him, forcing him to swerve and break.
Fortunately a collision was avoided and the cyclist was unhurt. World then drove off without acknowledging the incident.
The footage was submitted to Northamptonshire Police’s Operation Snap, which has been set up to enable members of the public to submit evidence and reports of driving offences easily.
The force can investigate a range of possible offences through the operation, including dangerous or careless driving, using a mobile phone whilst driving, not wearing a seatbelt, failing to stop at a red light, crossing solid white lines and offences where a driver is not in proper control of a vehicle.
The footage was uploaded to the Force’s online portal and when reviewed by police officers, the video proved beyond doubt that World had shown no consideration for the other road user.
World was issued with a fixed penalty notice but opted to plead not guilty, and then failed to show up to court.
On December 14 at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday she was found guilty in her absence of one count of driving without due care and attention.
Driver Lucy World was ordered to pay a total of more than £1,100 in fines and court costs
The cyclist entered the roundabout (pictured) from Wooldale Road and was heading towards his exit when the incident occurred
The cyclist used a mobile phone attached to his handlebars to film his journeys, during which time he captured the careless driver
The driver’s dangerous lunge down the outside of the cyclist was submitted to Northamptonshire Police’s Operation Snap
Following the court’s guilty verdict, World was handed five points on her driving licence, fined £440 and order to pay £625 costs and a £44 victim surcharge.
PC Mo Allsopp-Clarke of Northamptonshire Police’s Safer Roads Team said: ‘The video evidence clearly showed that World had no consideration for the cyclist on that day, who had right of way on the roundabout.
‘Her driving fell below the standard of a competent and careful driver, which could have very easily ended in tragic consequences, and I’m pleased the courts have dealt with the driver positively.
‘Hopefully this case demonstrates that we take all instances of poor driving very seriously and we will prosecute offenders accordingly, which can only be a good thing to help keep our roads safer.’
People can report driving offences by uploading video evidence via a simple online portal on the Force website and completing a form, which automatically creates a witness statement to provide a full account of the incident.
Reports are then triaged by trained police staff, who check the footage to ensure it falls within the scheme’s remit and contains clear views of an offender’s number plates so they can be identified.
If it matches the Operation Snap criteria, police officers in the Safer Roads Team then examine the footage. If a driving offence is identified, legal proceedings will begin where required.
The team only has 14 days to investigate any offences and members of the public are asked to submit their videos as soon after the incident as possible to allow the maximum time for the footage to be reviewed.
They are told that they must be willing to testify at court should this be necessary, and the footage cannot be uploaded to social media.
Anyone who submits footage via Operation Snap can find out the outcome of their submission by following the link on their confirmation email which will take them to a monthly update.
