This is the shocking moment a hit and run driver ploughed into a cyclist, sending him flying off his bike on a roundabout.
Natasha Howes, 40, drove straight onto a roundabout and rammed into Ian Bates as he was trying to turn off, leaving the father-of-three splayed on the tarmac.
The 41-year-old IT worker, who captured the dramatic accident on his helmet camera, managed to escape with cuts and bruises.
Natasha Howes, 40,(pictured) drove straight onto a roundabout and rammed into Ian Bates as he was trying to turn off, leaving the father-of-three splayed on the tarmac
Howes then drove off in her red Fiat hatchback, leaving injured Mr Bates to pick himself up off the road.
She has now been banned from the roads for six months, fined £250 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.
She pleaded guilty to driving without reasonable consideration to other users, failing to report an accident and failing to produce insurance.
Howes, of Waterlooville, Hampshire, previously admitted driving without due care and attention and without insurance in 2012 after knocking a motorcyclist off their bike.
On that occasion she was fined £450 and ordered to pay £50 costs.
Mr Bates, of nearby Purbrook, today said he was lucky not to be killed when she crashed into him on the roundabout between Hambledon Road and Milton Road, in Waterlooville.
He said: ‘I am very lucky I wasn’t more seriously hurt. ‘I bounced off the side of the car; if I had hit the bonnet, that could well have been it.
‘Everything could have been much, much worse.’ Mr Bates, who has an advanced motorist qualification, was left with cuts and grazes, minor neck pain and numbness in his leg after the crash.
The 41-year-old IT worker, who captured the dramatic accident on his helmet camera, managed to escape with cuts and bruises
Recounting the incident, he said: ‘It was a lovely summer evening and I was doing a 12-mile ride.
‘I was just going round the roundabout and she was coming onto it but she didn’t see me, she didn’t stop at all.
‘I let out this yelp and was thrown into the air. When I got up I thought she was going to pull into the bus stop but she just drove off. I couldn’t believe it.’
After the case at Portsmouth Magistrates Court, Howes, who was also given six penalty points on her driving licence, claimed knocking Mr Bates off his bike was just ‘a horrible accident’.
She said: ‘I would just like to say that my husband and I drove back to the scene three times to see if there was anybody there and to help.
Howes then drove off in her red Fiat hatchback, leaving injured Mr Bates to pick himself up off the road
‘There was nobody there, unfortunately, or else I would have exchanged details. It was a horrible accident and I’m sorry.’
Following the ordeal, Mr Bates said he is now worried to cycle – and won’t let his children ride on the roads.
He said: ‘Unfortunately, you’ve got to have the attitude that everybody is out there to kill you. It’s sad.
‘I avoid city traffic as much as possible. Car drivers just don’t give cyclists the time of day.’