{"id":390422,"date":"2026-01-04T05:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T05:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/390422\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T05:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T05:30:18","slug":"teenager-banned-from-driving-for-a-year-after-breaking-cyclists-back-neck-and-shoulder-while-distracted-by-sat-nav","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/390422\/","title":{"rendered":"Teenager banned from driving for a year after breaking cyclist\u2019s back, neck, and shoulder while distracted by sat nav"},"content":{"rendered":"

A cyclist who suffered a broken neck and back after being struck by a motorist at a junction, leaving him unable to work, says he wishes \u201cno ill will\u201d on the 19-year-old student, who was banned from driving for a year in court this week.<\/p>\n

Nottingham Magistrates\u2019 Court heard that teenager David Jeffrey was distracted by his sat nav, leading to what was described in court as a \u201cvery brief moment\u201d of inattention which caused him to turn without looking properly and hit a man riding his bike in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey, a student at the University of Nottingham, had only been driving for three months when the collision took place on 9 March 2025, at the junction of Melton Lane and Landcroft Lane, in Sutton Bonington, a village south of Nottingham, at around 12.30pm.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe turned a corner, having not seen the cyclist, who suffered a number of fractured vertebrae, a fractured shoulder and a broken neck,\u201d prosecutor Neil Howlett told the court.<\/p>\n

The cyclist also suffered an injury to his eye, which has caused him ongoing issues, and he is currently unable to work or drive. Jeffrey remained at the scene following the crash, and was described by witnesses as \u201cdistraught\u201d, Nottinghamshire Live<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Lorry driver \u201cblinded by sun\u201d when he killed cyclist cleared of careless driving<\/a><\/p>\n

The 19-year-old, who is now in his second year studying computer science, while also acting as a mentor to younger students, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving.<\/p>\n

Jessica Skelton, mitigating, also told the court that Jeffrey volunteers to help maintain his local country park, while working on IT-related matters for his parents\u2019 business.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe passed his driving test in December [2024] and has had this hanging over him since March of last year,\u201d the solicitor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe found it quite difficult to get back into a vehicle for a long time and will now only go out with his parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the day he did not know where he was going and there is a suggestion that the road was also closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a very brief moment he was distracted and did not see the cyclist but he remained at the scene and was really concerned about the cyclist.\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Driver who hit group of cyclists on country lane cleared of causing death by careless driving, after defence lawyer argues “position of cyclists” was cause of crash<\/a><\/p>\n

District Judge Katy Rafter handed the teenager a 12-month community order, requiring him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, and disqualified him from driving for a year. He was also ordered to pay \u00a385 in costs, along with a \u00a3154 victim surcharge.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou turned into a junction and you were momentarily distracted trying to follow your satellite navigation system,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat followed left the cyclist with very serious injuries including fractures to his neck, ribs, and an injury to his eye which is still causing him ongoing issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened has left him unable to work or drive but I have read his victim impact statement and he wishes you no ill will and understands that you remained at the scene offering help and were described as distraught by those who saw you.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has affected him significantly. But you have no previous convictions and I am confident you will never trouble the courts again.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are studying at the University of Nottingham and you have a bright future ahead of you. I take all of that into account and that you are clearly remorseful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A cyclist who suffered a broken neck and back after being struck by a motorist at a junction,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-390422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}