Cyclist awarded £55k after being knocked off bike

DAMAGES: Man was taking part in time trial in Kinross-shire

A cyclist, taking part in a team time trial, has been awarded damages of £55,000 after being knocked off his bike by a trailer being towed by a car.

Graeme Daly was taking part in the 10-mile event organised by Kinross Cycling Club in August 2015. He and two other riders, David Barclay and Gordon Dick, were cycling in single file along an unclassified road. The road was narrow with a rough surface and pot-holes.

Coming in the opposite direction was David Heeps. Mr Heeps was driving a left-hand drive Ford Explorer, pulling a trailer with a boat on.

David Barclay, the lead cyclist, saw the approaching car about 200 yards away and shouted a single warning, but when he saw the trailer at 75 yards away, he did not repeat the warning. Gordon Dick, the second rider, and Mr Daly, in third place, passed the car, but Mr Daly had not seen the trailer. His right arm hit the trailer and he fell off his bicycle.

In his judgment, Sheriff Peter Braid said the parties had agreed a sum of £110,000, but found that both were to blame. “A striking feature of the case is that substantially the same criticisms can be levelled at each party,” he said.

Mr Heeps was not concentrating on the road, but on the verge and Mr Daly was not looking at the road, but at the rear wheel of the bicycle in front of him.

Sheriff Braid said: “The accident occurred because they approached each other at approximately the same speed, neither hard-up against the verge, leaving a very small gap to be negotiated by each of them at a closing speed of 50mph”.

He found the accident had been caused 50-50 by the parties.