An elderly cyclist flipped in mid-air after a “careless” driver ploughed into her at a junction, leaving the 71-year-old with a bleed on the brain.
29-year-old Thomas Freeman, from Coventry, has been jailed for a year and banned from driving for two years after admitting to causing serious injury by careless driving.
Shocking CCTV footage captured the collision on Wildcroft Road in Coventry in May, where Freeman’s Citroen C3 Flair crashed into the woman, who was a member of her local cycling club.
Freeman can be seen pulling out in front of the cyclist, wearing a hi-vis jacket, sending her spinning through the air before she slams into the ground.
The driver and his passenger then rushed from the car to the woman’s aid as she lay motionless in the street.
The cyclist spent five days in hospital being treated for multiple injuries, which also included a broken shoulder and a broken ankle.
West Midlands Police released the footage, with the agreement of the victim, to “highlight the responsibility drivers have to more vulnerable road users”.
Sgt Jordan Keen, from the force’s Traffic Investigations Unit, said: “This was an appalling piece of careless driving which left the cyclist badly injured.
“She is an experienced cyclist and a member of a local cycling club, but it’s clear from the footage that Freeman’s careless driving when crossing the junction meant she stood no chance.
“I hope that drivers who see this footage know that they have a responsibility to more vulnerable road users out there, such as cyclists and pedestrians.”
More than 1,000 people were injured and 65 killed in the West Midlands area in 2022, according to the force, as it launched an initiative to crack down on dangerous driving earlier this year.
