Rear-ended cyclist fined for veering off path

A 32-year-old cyclist who suffered minor injuries when hit by a car last autumn has been fined for cycling on the road.

• Rear-ended cyclist charged for veering off path (12 Jun 10)

Andreas Grass, a competitive cyclist, faced charges of “travelling on a prohibited carriageway” after refusing to stick to a bicycle path in Lund in southern Sweden.

Grass has now been fined 500 kronor for his indiscretion, reported the local Sydsvenskan daily, while the court has meanwhile cleared a motorist who faced charges for having driving into him from behind.

Grass was taken to task in October 2009 by a motorist who waved instructions at him to move to the cycle path. But the 32-year-old stayed on the road and cycled through a roundabout. He then moved out into the middle of the roadway to avoid being overtaken on a narrow stretch of road immediately after the roundabout.

“That seemed to provoke him because he honked his horn again. In the end he chose to drive into me from behind,” he told the Expressen newspaper when charges were brought in June.

Grass fell to the ground and suffered grazing to his shoulder and knee. He reported the motorist to the police for negligence and fleeing the scene. But the driver also filed a report, complaining that Grass had cycled on the road despite the fact that there was a designated path for cyclists.

When he was hit by the vehicle, Grass was just about to make a left turn on a stretch of road where the cycle track was partly closed.

Grass has furthermore explained that as he regularly travels at speeds of around 40 kilometres per hour, he believes it is often safest to avoid cycle tracks, which he claims are often populated by careless pedestrians and slow-moving cyclists who forget to signal.