Driver ‘in near miss with race cyclists’

A CYCLING champion yesterday claimed in court that competitors could have been killed by a motorist who missed race leaders by inches.

Andrew Bruce, 45, who won a 2016 Veterans title, said he was ‘amazed’ that none of the riders were knocked off as William Peebles sped past in a Land Rover Discovery.

Mr Bruce told Perth Sheriff Court he was taking part in the Dundee Thistle Cycling Club event when the incident happened near Newtyle, Angus, on May 16 last year.

He said: ‘It was a very dangerous situation. There was a small number of inches between riders’ elbows and the wing mirror.

‘The driver made no effort to slow down. In fact he seemed to speed up and did not seem to care for the cyclists going in the

‘He seemed to speed up’

opposite direction.’ He added: ‘The vehicle passed at high speed – sufficiently close to give me cause for concern. We could have had death on the road.’

Off-duty police constable Christopher Williamson, 28, was also taking part in the event and said he thought he was going to die as Peebles’s vehicle veered towards him.

He said he was in the main peloton with around 35 riders when Peebles came over the crest of a hill, sounding his horn and flashing his lights.

‘I would give a conservative estimate he was doing 55 to 60 miles per hour.

‘Because of the speed it was coming at us I had to brake sharply,’ Mr Williamson said.

Peebles, 57, from Coupar Angus, denies driving dangerously and failing to adjust his speed while a cycle race was taking place before losing control and veering towards participants.

The trial, before Sheriff William Wood, continues.