Another maniac driver

A CYCLIST is 'lucky to be alive' after being hit by a van. The 19-year-old was driving along a narrow stretch of road on the Mendip Hills near Velvet Bottom when he hit Bristol resident Kenneth Haddow. Rebecca Gardner, prosecuting, said: "Mr Haddow broke both bones in his lower right leg, punctured both lungs, sustained nerve damage to his spine, bruising on his brain and had numbness in his arm and hand. This man is lucky to be alive. "

In his first interview Staddon said he was travelling at about 40mph when he came to a bend and skidded. In a second interview he admitted he was probably travelling at about 50 or 60mph. The three passengers were shouting at him to slow down and music was playing loudly in the vehicle."

Staddon was disqualified from driving for 18 months