London bus driver sentenced to 17 months in jail for intentionally hitting bicyclist (VIDEO)
White jersey of Best Young, Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck, speeds ahead of Yellow jersey of overall leader, Spain’s Alberto Contador, in the descent of the Col du Tourmalet pass during the 16th stage of the 2010 Tour de France.
When a London bus driver hit a bicyclist riding in the street last year, it was no accident, a judge has ruled. Judge Mark Horton sentenced the bus driver to 17 months in jail for using his vehicle as a weapon, The Guardian reported today.
Last April, bus driver Gavin Hill and bicyclist Phillip Mead reportedly rode dangerously close to each other at the St. James Barton roundabout in Bristol, ABC News reported. The two got in a verbal argument at the next traffic light.
More from GlobalPost: South African mountain biker gets T-boned by antelope (VIDEO)
The crash that followed was captured on video. Footage shows bicyclist Mead riding in front of a bus on a three-lane street with no bike lane. The bus at first appears to carefully go around Mead by slowing passing him in the next lane. But it then swings back into Mead's lane, sending him flying to the sidewalk.
Mead spent two weeks in the hospital for operations on his knee and wrist and could not ride his bike for four months. He has since recovered and continues to commute by bicycle, the Daily Mail reported.
Hill pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm, BBC News reported. Hill described the incident as a "moment of madness."
The court ruled that Hill had "used that vehicle as a weapon to bully and intimidate the cyclist who, in the end, was struck by that bus."