A man who ran into and injured a pedestrian while riding his BMX on a South Dunedin footpath has been banned from driving motor vehicles for six months.
Zane John Storer (22), of Dunedin, admitted causing injury by driving carelessly after he collided with a woman while riding his BMX bike on a King Edward St footpath on November 9.
During sentencing in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, Judge Michael Turner ordered Storer to pay $200 emotional harm reparation and $120 reparation for damage to the woman's glasses.
The woman had just come out of a shop in King Edward St as Storer cycled past on the footpath about 3.45pm. He tried to slow the bike by putting his feet down, but hit the woman, knocking her to the ground.
She suffered a 5cm cut to her forehead, which required four stitches, and a tendon in her right bicep was torn.
Because of the legal requirements, Storer was disqualified from driving or obtaining a licence for six months, despite never having held one.
Storer, who has a mild intellectual disability, told Judge Turner he had no intention of pursuing a driver's licence.
However, the disqualification is mandatory under the Land Transport Act.
The court was told several people came to help the woman after the incident and Storer told them he was sorry. But while talking to a male at the scene, the conversation became heated and the defendant rode away towards the beach.
A witness followed him to a house in Queens Dr, where he was spoken to by police.
He apologised and said he was not expecting anyone to walk out of the shop.
Counsel Steve Turner said the defendant was ‘‘deeply remorseful'' about what had happened.
Despite his intellectual disability, he understood about riding on the footpath. Storer left the scene after the accident because he ‘‘felt threatened'', Mr Turner said.
At a restorative justice meeting with the victim, he had made it clear he was empathetic to her. And she was very understanding of his situation.
A police spokesman said the Act under which Storer was charged covered a multitude of vehicles, including bicycles, hovercraft, skateboards, in-line skates and roller skates.
A vehicle was defined under the Land Transport Act as any ‘‘contrivance equipped with wheels, tracks or revolving runners on which it moves or is moved''.
However, because a licence was not needed to ride a bicycle, Storer could continue to use his BMX, despite accident, the spokesman said.
