"Careless" driver banned for a year after breaking cyclist's leg in bike lane crash

A driver who hit a cyclist as they cycled along a painted bike lane in Warrington, breaking the rider's left leg in two places, has been banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.

The victim, a 35-year-old woman, suffered a broken tibia and fibula in the incident which happened at around 10.25pm on Thursday 2 November 2023 as the cyclist travelled along Hawleys Lane away from the A49.

At the junction with Longshaw Lane the rider was using the painted cycle lane [pictured in the photo illustrating this article] which was not protected from traffic and consisted of painted lines and a blue strip marking the infrastructure.

A reporter from the Chester Standard was at Warrington Magistrates' Court to hear how Laya Koussa pulled out in front of the cyclist, causing the victim to collide with the side of the Nissan Qashqai the 30-year-old was driving. The victim suffered a broken tibia and fibula in her left leg and was treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to Warrington Hospital for further treatment.

Koussa denied she had caused serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving. She was ultimately deemed to have been driving without due care and attention, the driver sentenced to a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. 

She has been banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay court costs of £650 and a victim surcharge of £114. An application was approved for the funds to be deducted from her benefits.

The case serves as a further example of why many cyclists do not feel safe using painted bike lanes, the infrastructure offering no physical protection from traffic.

A 2020 study found that painted advisory cycle lanes actually increase the risk of cyclist casualties, with the authors urging highways authorities to cease installing lanes of that type and to convert existing ones into protected cycle lanes.

Another common complaint is that painted cycle lanes can encourage close passes from other road users, that because people see the infrastructure as permission to overtake regardless of if they have sufficient space.

A 2019 study supported this, finding that painted cycle lanes are likely to result in closer passes from motorists.

The researchers from Melbourne concluded that when a cyclist is in a bike lane, a passing motorist has a clear lane ahead and is therefore less likely to carry out a proper overtaking manoeuvre. Passing events that occurred on a road with a painted bike lane and a parked car had an average passing distance that was 40cm less than on a road without a bike lane or parked car.