Cyclist ‘dragged along road by car’
TWO motorists have gone on trial accused of knocking down and killing a cyclist who was training for a charity bike ride.
Paul James died at the scene of a collision involving two cars and a pedal cycle near Aberystwyth in April last year. The well-known county councillor was 61.
Lowri Ruth Powell and Christopher Allan Jones are accused of causing his death by careless driving – charges they deny.
Swansea Crown Court heard Mr James died on April 11, 2019, as he rode his bike on the A487 between Bow Street and Aberystwyth.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Jim Davis said the victim and the two accused were travelling in the same direction – towards the university town – around 5.30pm on the day in question.
He said the weather was dry and sunny, and Mr James was wearing a yellow sleeveless top
with reflective stripes over a black T-shirt, and a yellow helmet.
It is the prosecution’s case that as Mr James pedalled up a hill on the approach to the Aberystwyth, Powell passed him and the nearside wing mirror of her Ford Galaxy clipped the cyclist with sufficient force to rip the mirror from the car and send Mr James crashing to the ground.
Jones, who was following Powell in his Vauxhall Vectra, then ran over the cyclist as he lay on carriageway, and dragged him a short distance along the road.
Paramedics rushed to the scene but Mr James could not be saved.
The court heard that in her subsequent police interview Powell said she had not seen the cyclist, and had been blinded by the sun which was low in the sky.
She said she had heard a bump, and then seen a flash of fluorescent in her rear-view mirror. In his interview coaccused Jones said he had seen a high-visibility jacket on the road in front of his car but had not been able to avoid it.
Prosecuting counsel Mr Davis told the members of the jury the test they had to apply in the case was whether the standard of driving exhibited by Powell and Jones had fallen below that expected by a careful and competent driver, and whether that driving had been a cause – not the cause – of Mr James’ death.
Powell, 43, of Maes yr Efail, Penrhyncoch, Jones, 40 of Tynycae, Devil’s Bridge, each deny causing death by dangerous driving.
The trial, which is expected to last four days, continues.