Yoga teacher on phone in cycle crash to get payout

A PEDESTRIAN knocked unconscious when she stepped in front of a cyclist while staring at her phone is set to win compensation.

Yoga teacher Gemma Brushett was hit by Robert Hazeldean when she stepped into the road near London Bridge, a court heard yesterday.

Both were knocked out in the collision — with Ms Brushett, 28, suffering a minor head injury and the cyclist receiving cuts.

The pedestrian launched a bid for damages despite three witnesses telling police she was ‘not looking where she was going’ and that ‘the cyclist was not at fault’.

Now garden designer Mr Hazeldean is liable to pay out because ‘cyclists must be prepared at all times for people to behave in unexpected ways’, said Judge Shanti Mauger.

She added: ‘Mr Hazeldean did fall below the level to be expected of a reasonably competent cyclist in that he did proceed when the road was not completely clear.’

Central London county court heard Mr Hazeldean, of Kent, had come through a green traffic light, sounding an air-horn attached to his bike, while also shouting as he swerved and applied his brakes.

But he still hit Ms Brushett, who works for a finance firm, at up to 15mph as she suddenly walked into the road. She ‘panicked’ and tried to get back on a traffic island but the cyclist swerved in the same direction.

She could not remember anything about the crash due to ‘post traumatic amnesia’ but relied on the evidence from another cyclist who accused Mr Hazeldean of ‘aggressive riding’.

Judge Mauger accepted Mr Hazeldean was a ‘calm, reasonable road user’ and that Ms Brushett, who now lives in France, was ‘looking at her phone’ as she crossed the road.

But she added: ‘When I ask how did the accident happen, it seems to me Mr Hazeldean owed a duty to other road users to drive with reasonable care and skill. Both parties were equally responsible and I make a finding of liability at 50/50.’

The case will return to court at a later date for costs and damages to be fixed.

Source – https://www.metro.news/yoga-teacher-on-phone-in-cycle-crash-to-get-payout/1603732/