A MOTORIST will spend a year commuting to work by bike, because he drove badly when he encountered a cyclist on a country road.

Michael Brian Jary, 36, realised there was a bicycle ahead of him as he overtook a car on High Moor Lane near Shipton by Beningbrough, York magistrates heard.

His response made at least three vehicles take evasive action as he drove on the wrong side of the road and narrowly avoided causing a collision.

University technician Jary, of Hambleton View, Tollerton, denied dangerous driving on the grounds that his actions were careless rather than dangerous.

But magistrates saw a video of his driving taken from a dashboard camera of the one of the other vehicles involved and convicted him.

York Press:

They banned him from the roads for 12 months, ordered him to take an extended driving test and do 150 hours’ unpaid work. He must also pay £625 towards the prosecution costs, plus an £85 statutory surcharge.

His solicitor Kristian Cavanagh said the ban meant he would have to cycle to his work at the University of York after catching a bus.

He appreciated what he had done and would not be appealing the verdict.

Magistrates told him he was very lucky no-one had been injured. In a probation report, they heard that he was remorseful for his actions on April 8. High Moor Lane is a generally straight road between Tollerton and Shipton-by-Beningbrough.