A Telford cyclist who was hauled before the courts for riding on a main road instead of a cycle path today cleared his name on appeal at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
Judge Robin Onions, sitting with two magistrates, halted the case against Daniel Cadden and threw out his conviction after hearing police evidence.
He said Mr Cadden had been perfectly entitled to use the road. The case arose out of an incident on September 19, 2005.
Senior IT analyst Mr Cadden, 26, of Sceptre Close, Aqueduct, was stopped by police as he rode home from work at Capgemini along the B5072 West Centre Way from Telford Town Centre towards Lawley.
Police said he was riding at 20mph on the 60mph limit road, holding up following traffic which illegally crossed double white lines to overtake him. They suggested he should have ridden in the gutter or on the footpath/cycleway.
Mr Cadden got into a row with the officers and was threatened with arrest for a public order offence before being reported for inconsiderate cycling. He was found guilty by District Judge Bruce Morgan at Telford Magistrates’ Court and fined £100 with £200 costs.
Allowing the appeal, Judge Onions said there was no requirement in law to force Mr Cadden to use the cycle path. He said a fast-moving cyclist might well decide it would be safer to use the road, rather than come into contact with pedestrians on the cycle path.
Using the narrow strip between the carriageway edging line and the kerb would have been unsafe due to drain covers and road debris and probably illegal because it was not officially part of the carriageway, he added.
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