Elderly driver who crashed into cyclist for “unknown reasons”, leaving rider with broken back, handed suspended sentence

A 70-year-old motorist who left a cyclist with a fractured spine after crashing into him from behind on a rural road has avoided prison after being handed a suspended sentence and a driving ban.

Michael Fowers, of Ferrers Avenue in Tutbury, crashed into the rider on Derby Road in Hilton shortly after midday on 6 April, 2024. The cyclist, who had been riding in a group following a café stop at the former Salt Box Café in nearby Hatton, was thrown from his bike in the impact and required hospital treatment for serious injuries.

Derby Crown Court heard that the victim, described as a keen cyclist, spent two days in hospital and had to wear a back brace for several months following the incident, which saw his high-value bicycle written off.

Judge Jonathan Bennett, sentencing, told Fowers: “On this particular day the complainant who I understand was a keen cyclist, on a Saturday lunchtime, was out with others enjoying a ride in the Hilton area when you hit him from behind. There is no suggestion you were speeding but for some reason, completely unknown to us, you did not see him.

“Admittedly there was a whole lane of tractors coming towards you in the other direction and why you did not see him I don’t know. Maybe you were distracted by the tractors – I don’t know.

“The consequences for him were that he was hospitalised with a fractured vertebra and was in a back brace for a long time. His bicycle, which I understand was an expensive one, was also written off.

“You just did not see him. You were just not concentrating on the road ahead.”

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Prosecuting, Sarah Allen told the court that the rider had been part of a group split into two clusters when the collision occurred. She said Fowers, managed to safely overtake the first group of cyclists despite oncoming tractors. However, he then failed to notice the second group and struck the victim directly from behind.

“The defendant, who was driving a Jaguar S-Type, negotiated overtaking the first group successfully and a lane of tractors were coming towards them in the opposite direction,” said Allen. “For whatever reason, he just failed to see [the victim] and drove straight into the back of him. [The victim] has no recollection of the collision and was taken to hospital where it was discovered he had a fractured vertebra.”

DerbyshireLive reports the court heard that the cyclist, who was discharged from hospital two days later, had to rely heavily on support from his wife and sister in the weeks following the crash.

“He had to get up at 5.30am most mornings as he needed to be dressed by his wife, who works as a nurse and needed to leave early for her shifts,” said Allen. She added that the cyclist is the co-carer for his 93-year-old mother but his injuries meant he had to rely on his sister to carry out some of the tasks he would have done ordinarily.”

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Fowers, who pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving, had no previous convictions. His barrister, Emma Coverley, said he is retired and living on a modest pension.

“He lives with his wife and son and has a monthly income of around £1,000 and so could pay some compensation,” she said.

Judge Bennett sentenced Fowers to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified him from driving for 15 months. He was also ordered to pay £750 in compensation to the victim.

Currently, motorists aged 70 or over are required to reapply for their driving licence every three years, but there is no requirement for them to retake their driving test.

A 2022 poll found that almost three in four (74 per cent) Brits agreed that older drivers should be required to retake their driving test, with two-thirds saying that should happen before the driver’s 80th birthday.

By contrast, only 18 per cent of respondents believed that current regulations should remain in force.

> Do we need mandatory retesting for older drivers?

In a statement released after an 80-year-old driver was handed a suspended jail sentence and banned from driving for life after causing the death of a cyclist by careless driving in 2016, the charity Cycling UK called for a review of the licensing system for older drivers.

“Cycling UK recognises that sentencing elderly and otherwise law-abiding citizens for driving offences, when they have a long and largely unblemished driving record, is an unenviable task for judges more accustomed to punishing offenders they perceive the prisons were designed for,” the organisation said.

“This case however, not for the first time, raises the increasingly important issue of how, with an ageing population where people want to maintain independence and continue driving as long as possible, the DVLA regulates and tests the fitness to drive of those whose reactions, sight and road confidence are declining,” it added.