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Judge commends cyclist for his bravery in clinging onto car door to stop drunk driver

Fabio Veracruz sustained minor injuries after motorist Martin Davis crashed into a post

 

A judge has commended a cyclist for his bravery after he was hurt as he clung onto a car door to try and stop a drunk driver.

Worcester Crown Court heard that Fabio Veracruz sustained minor injuries after he was showered in broken glass after the motorist, Martin Davis, crashed into a post.

The incident happened on City Walls Road in Worcester at around 2am on 5 September, reports Worcester News.

Davis, a chef who had been furloughed by his employers, was more than three times over the drink-driving limit following a night out with colleagues from the hospitality industry.

The 42 year old, who admitted dangerous driving and drink driving, had no recollection of the crash, which happened after Mr Veracruz had spotted him driving the wrong way down the dual carriageway road amd decided to follow him on his bike.

The cyclist knocked on the car’s window and shouted at the driver to try and make Davis stop, and then opened the door and attempted to apply the handbrake.

Alexander Barbour, prosecuting, said that Davis made “no response” and drove off at a speed that Mr Veracruz, clinging to the vehicle, estimated at 20mph, before crashing into the post.

In mitigation, Julia Powell said that the incident was “completely out of character” and that Davis has now given up drinking.

Judge Nicolas Cartwright said: “Mr Veracruz, thankfully, was not more seriously injured having done the public spirited thing and put himself at considerable risk to apprehend a dangerous driver.”

He told Davis: “You were totally incapable. The fact you say you don’t recall anything of this isn’t mitigation – quite the opposite – it’s aggravation.”

Referring to Mr Veracruz, the judge said: “He actually thought you had passed out behind the wheel of the car. In fact you were extremely drunk and probably gave the same outward impression.”

The judge told Davis that after the cyclist had tried to engage the handbrake, “What you did was to put the car in gear and drive off, travelling in the correct direction but with Mr Veracruz standing on the sill of the car with the door open, supporting himself with one hand on the roof and one on the top of the door.

“You drove in such a way that the door on your side of the car struck a pole, closing it on Mr Veracruz who thankfully has not suffered much more serious injuries as a result of the door shutting and the glass in the window breaking.”

After the crash. Mr Veracruz took the car keys and threw them on the ground, telling Davis to get out of the car to await the arrival of police.

Sentencing Davis to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years – a custodial sentence might have been handed down were it not for the impact of coronavirus on the prison system – the judge said his driving was “plainly dangerous” and that he had “disregarded repeated warnings about your driving from Mr Veracruz.”

He added that had he believed Davis had driven into the pole on purpose to try and dislodge Mr Veracruz, the result of the hearing would have been different.

Davis was also ordered to undertake 180 hours of unpaid work and pay £340 costs and a victim surcharge of £900, as well as £500 in compensation to Mr Veracruz.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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13 comments

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OldRidgeback | 3 years ago
2 likes

I hope the driver has given up driving completely, as well as drinking.

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iandusud | 3 years ago
2 likes

In mitigation, Julia Powell said that the incident was “completely out of character”

Well that's reassuring - I don't think!

No mention of loss of licence. I would hope, seeing as he's now given up driving anyway, that his licence has been removed permenantly. 

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NZ Vegan Rider | 3 years ago
2 likes

Fabio Veracruz - brave but incredibly dangerous thing to do!

 

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Hirsute | 3 years ago
1 like

I was very, very drunk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBlU5Mh26ao

 

Hope the cyclist wasn't going the wrong way on the dual !

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freetime101 | 3 years ago
3 likes

Just how much is 3 times over the limit? Can anyone help vizualise that?

My loose understanding is that the limit is roughly 1 pint of beer (not an exact science, I know the amount varies person to person). Working on this, 3 pints would be 3 times the limit?

My reason for asking is that having drunk 3 pints, I would remember sombody clinging to my car door as I hit a lampost... even with 6 pints I'd remember! This gives me the suspicion that hitting the pole may not have been as accidental as the judge implies...

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Hirsute replied to freetime101 | 3 years ago
2 likes

6 pints, 2+ large glasses of wine rough and ready but it all depends on your physiology, food eaten and how fast you drank.

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freetime101 replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
2 likes

Thanks for that! Ok so I guess I underestimated the alcohol amount and hadn't factored that he would be metabolising the first drink as he drank the last....

But still, even at 6 pints in 4 hours I think I'd remember crashing the car with someone stuck in the door! Though either way in no fit state to be anywhere near the drivers seat...

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Jetmans Dad replied to freetime101 | 3 years ago
0 likes

Freetime101 wrote:

Just how much is 3 times over the limit? Can anyone help vizualise that?

My loose understanding is that the limit is roughly 1 pint of beer (not an exact science, I know the amount varies person to person). Working on this, 3 pints would be 3 times the limit?

My reason for asking is that having drunk 3 pints, I would remember sombody clinging to my car door as I hit a lampost... even with 6 pints I'd remember! This gives me the suspicion that hitting the pole may not have been as accidental as the judge implies...

You are correct, it is nowhere nears as exact a science at that. A pint of normal strength beer is typically around 2 units, and around 3.5 units are considered approximately equivalent to the limit (so 2 pints would put you over and 6 pints would therefore be around 3 times over). 

However, an average human will metabolise away around 1 unit per hour, so if he had been drinking for say 4 hours, that would mean he could have drunk 8 pints of beer, having burned off the units from 2 of those pints. As you say, that will vary widely from one person to another though. 

He could also be an occasional drinker like me who would be incapable of even finding his car, let alone getting in it and starting the engine, after much more than a couple of pints. 

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mdavidford replied to Jetmans Dad | 3 years ago
0 likes

If you're taking the limit as being about 3.5 units, then to be 3 times over it you would have to have drunk around 14 units (before accounting for metabolism). That would be 7 pints @ 2 units per pint.

However, 2 units per pint would be on the weaker side these days - about 3.5%. 'Normal' strength (more like 4%) would be about 2.3 units per pint. 14 units of that would be... about 6 pints. So, er, as you were...

[edit]

Just read the original story. He had a reading of 118mcg/100ml; the limit is 35mcg. So both the original report and road.cc's copy/paste are wrong - he wasn't 'more than three times over the limit' - he was not quite 2.5 times over the limit.

If the limit equates to ~3.5 units, then that reading would suggest ~12 units, or something around 5 pints @ 4%. If the limit is more like ~4 pints (as chrisos says below) then it would be closer to 7 pints @ 4%.

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OnYerBike replied to freetime101 | 3 years ago
5 likes

Another thing to bear in mind is that the evidential alcohol test is done back at the police station, which may be some time later.

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chrisos replied to freetime101 | 3 years ago
0 likes

According to Google the limit allows the average height/weight adult male to drink 4 units of alcohol and units are calculated by (ABV% x Volume in ml) / 1000 so if 3 times the limit is 12 units then an "average" guy drinking 5% beer would need to consume 2.4 litres or just over 4 pints. Or a 4% beer would be 3 litres or a bit over 5 pints.

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orangecannonim | 3 years ago
6 likes

'Davis has now given up drinking'. I wonder if he has given up driving too?

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nniff replied to orangecannonim | 3 years ago
4 likes

orangecannonim wrote:

'Davis has now given up drinking'. I wonder if he has given up driving too?

 

Fair point - plainly crap at both

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