This shocking footage shows the moment a cyclist was flung over the top of a car – leaving him with life-changing injuries.
Driver Clive Williams had smoked a cannabis joint the night before he swerved into the path of Les Norris, who was riding his bike in Hawkinge, near Folkestone, Kent.
Norris suffered a horrific injury to his pelvis in the head-on collision – and doctors told him he was lucky he had not been killed.
However, when Williams, 41, appeared in court last week he was spared jail.
Folkestone Magistrates’ Court was shown two video clips of the crash.
The first, from a nearby property, captures the bike flying through the air. Separate dashcam footage shows Williams’ Ford Focus being driven onto the pavement on Canterbury Road near the roundabout linking Densole and Hawkinge.
The court heard that the car in front of Williams had braked hard, so he swerved onto the path.
The force of the smash saw Norris’ body slam into the handlebars of his bike, shattering his pelvis, before he bounced off the Ford Focus’ windscreen, flew over the top of the vehicle and hit the ground.
He also fractured several ribs and his left wrist. He had to undergo emergency surgery and was in hospital for six weeks after the smash on April 30 last year.
Williams, of St Andrews Close, Folkestone, was later charged with causing serious injury by careless driving and pleaded guilty in August.
A pre-sentencing report was ordered and he returned to Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on October 9.
The court heard after the crash he had been tested for drugs and was found to be twice the legal limit for cannabis – but was never charged with the offense.
Terry Knox, prosecuting, said this was still an “aggravating factor” that should be taken into account.
The court heard Norris had taken a longer route home on his bike that day because it was sunny.
The line of traffic next to him slowed and the next thing he knew there was a silver car coming towards him.
The prosecutor read some of the statement Norris had given to police, which said he could remember hitting the windscreen of the vehicle, going over the top and then lying with blood dripping from his head.
The statement said: “I remember the air ambulance paramedics putting me on a stretcher and I was in pain and total shock. I was wheeled to the ambulance and had ketamine to sedate me because of my injuries.”
Magistrates were told he now has metal plates in his pelvis and wrist which will never be removed.
The court heard the 64-year-old felt cheated as he had always been fit and healthy and that had now been ripped away from him.
A more recent victim impact statement from Norris said: “When I saw the CT scan of my pelvis there were bits of bone everywhere and it was like it had exploded – I couldn’t believe the mess.
“The doctors said it was life-threatening and I was lucky the impact had not killed me.”
The court heard Norris has to give up hobbies such as skiing and paddleboarding – while swimming has also become very difficult.
The statement added: “This is the hardest most traumatic time of my life. I was in the Navy on submarines for three months [at a time] and that seems like a walk in the park [compared to this].
“My surgeon said it was the most complex operation he’d ever done before and I now have a titanium cage [in my pelvis] for the rest of my life which I can feel and even turning over in bed causes me pain.”
Magistrates heard Norris has to sleep in an adjustable bed without his wife and still suffers from a frozen shoulder and pain in his wrist.
They were told he now suffers from mild PTSD, had to have cognitive therapy and sometimes just bursts into tears.
It will be some time before he can cycle again and he is still taking painkillers.
Norris’ wife also wrote a victim impact statement which said on the day of the smash she had taken the “worst call of her life” and her “world had been turned upside down”.
Her statement added: “Seeing him on a ventilator in the hospital broke me.”
She said she too often felt low and depressed.
“Les was the main victim, but I feel like a victim too,” she added.
The court also heard that when interviewed Williams, who had no previous convictions, had denied driving dangerously or speeding. He said he recalled the car in front of him slamming on its brakes and he carried out an emergency maneuver to avoid a collision.
Knox said the standard of driving was just below the threshold for dangerous driving and sentencing guidelines said the starting point for punishment was a year’s custody.
Olivia Rawlings, defending, said Williams had admitted his guilt at the outset – but there had been no malice in his actions.
She said: “He was facing an impossible choice – to hit the car in front or swerve – and [with] the timescale he faced, he swerved away from the car and even Norris said [in his statements] he must have been trying to avoid the car.
“There was no evidence of speeding. He was too close to the car in front.
“He was not charged over the cannabis, but that should be taken into consideration he smoked a small amount the night before.
“He’s of previous good character and has genuine remorse. He’s not driven since the incident and has some health problems.”
Magistrates said Norris’ personal account was very distressing and there had been an emotional impact on both him and his wife.
The chairman of the bench said they accepted there was a low risk of Williams reoffending and, as a result, they would jail him for 24 weeks but suspend the term for 18 months.
They also ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and disqualified him from driving for 24 months.
Williams was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of $154 and $85 court costs.
