Maserati driver who put biker at risk loses appeal Dashcam caught moment overtaking car almost hit rider
ADRIVER who pulled out to overtake and narrowly missed an oncoming motorcyclist in Snowdonia has failed to get a dangerous driving conviction overturned.
A court heard that if it had been anything but a motorbike approaching then there would have been a catastrophic headon collision. But the rider, who had never been traced, had been able to squeeze through.
Dashcam footage of the incident on the A4212 Trawsfynydd to Bala Road was sent to police, who launched an investigation which led to the prosecution.
Michael William Roberts, 69, had denied driving the Maserati Gran Turismo dangerously as he made his way from Porthma- dog to Shrewsbury on October 15, 2017, but was convicted by Caernarfon magistrates in May of last year.
Roberts, of Aldersgate Street, London, was ordered by magistrates to pay fines and costs totalling £2,425. He was banned from driving for a year and ordered to take an extended driving test.
Mr Recorder John Philpotts, sitting with two magistrates, dismissed his appeal.
He said the penalties would stand and that Roberts would have to pay an additional £620 towards the costs of the appeal.
The Recorder told how Roberts had overtaken a Honda on the approach to a blind right hand bend.
A motorcycle appeared, which was not being ridden at an excessive speed.
He said that having pulled out to overtake, Roberts had been unable to regain the correct side of the carriageway.
“His vehicle and the motorcycle were approaching each other at a high closing speed,” he said.
Fortunately, the motorcyclist was able to ride through a very narrow gap between the Maserati and the verge, avoiding “a catastrophic collision.” But Mr Philpotts said that if the on-coming vehicle had been a car, van or lorry rather than a motorcycle then a head-on collision would have been inevitable. No attempt had been made by Roberts to brake or to try and avoid a potential collision.
He then proceeded to overtake three vehicles ahead of him on the approach to a bend. It was Roberts’ case that the manoeuvre was safe and that he could have returned to the correct side of the carriageway had the vehicle he overtook not accelerated and if another vehicle in front had not braked or slowed – which meant the gap he intended to drive to had been reduced.
But the evidence showed that the driver who was overtaken had already started to accelerate before Roberts’ overtaking manoeuvre commenced.
He had abandoned the idea of overtaking himself because of the approaching motorcycle.
Roberts should have allowed for all eventualities before embarking upon the overtaking manoeuvre, the Recorder said. “In our judgement his driving was clearly dangerous at the relevant time”, he added.
In evidence, Roberts, who said he had been driving for 50 years and had a clean driving licence, knew the capability of the car and decided it was safe to overtake.
Defending barrister Benjamin Waidhofer initially made a submission that there was no case to answer and claimed the only possible criticism of his client was that he should have had the telepathic ability to look through trees and see the motorcycle approach before the bend in the road. But that application was rejected.
Mr Scholz said it was the prosecution case that the defendant simply should not have overtaken in the circumstances.