‘He didn’t even stop to check if I was alive’ – cyclist’s fury at driver who sped off from accident scene
A motorist who mowed down a cyclist but failed to stop, and then drove by the scene of the accident just minutes later, has been put off the road for two years.
Kevin Kennedy left Hugh McLaughlin in agonising pain from his injuries when he struck him from behind in his Citroen Berlingo van in Co Donegal in September 2018.
Father-of-three and keen cyclist Mr McLaughlin had been out for a ride between Dochary and Dungloe around 8pm on a bright evening.
In a victim impact statement to Dungloe District Court, where Kennedy appeared on dangerous driving charges, Mr McLaughlin told how he thought he would never see his family again.
But he said the most frightening part of the crash was how Kennedy casually drove by him minutes after knocking him down, instead of calling for the emergency services.
Mr McLaughlin, from Dungloe, said: “It was a nice bright evening and I was wearing my hi-viz fluorescent cycling top.
“I had rounded a corner and was cycling downhill on a straight stretch of road, probably at a speed between 30 and 35kmh, when I was struck from behind and sent flying into the air and ended up landing face-down in the ditch.
“I looked ahead of me and in disbelief and I could see the grey Citroen Berlingo van which had struck me about 100m farther in the road and then it disappeared out of sight. I have a great interest in cars and knew immediately who the van belonged to.”
Mr McLaughlin said he was quite badly cut on his right side and was bleeding from a gash on his arm. A passing motorist called an ambulance.
He said gardaí arrived and while giving them his details, he saw the same van “with its distinctive chrome bullbar” coming down the road.
“I actually walked out in front of it with my hands out in front of me in an attempt to stop it, but it just passed on by,” he said. “The guards realised it was the van also and took off after it with the blue lights and siren on, and stopped it a few miles out the road.”
Kennedy (51), of Meenderryherk, Dungloe, faced a number of charges including dangerous driving, leaving the scene of an accident and not reporting an accident.
Mr McLaughlin said it was a “despicable act” to drive by someone after knocking them down and then to drive by them and not to check if they were alive or dead.
Passing sentence, Judge Paul Kelly banned Kennedy from driving for two years and also ordered him to do 100 hours of community service in lieu of four months in prison.