Man fined £1,500 for careless driving

Monday 04 March 2019

A 47-year-old man has been fined £1,500 for careless driving after pulling in front of a moped to deliberately bring it to a stop.

Andrew William Mizon maintained throughout the trial in the Magistrate's Court that his driving was not dangerous; he was acquitted of the more serious offence of dangerous driving, but convicted of the lesser offence of careless driving due to the Magistrate ruling that he did not cause “any immediate danger of injury or serious damage to property.”

The trial began in the Magistrate’s Court with Legal Adviser Carla Carvalho opening the case against Mizon, which was heard by Magistrate Bridget Shaw.

The Court heard that the incident took place on 5 August last summer on the Airport road.

Pictured: The incident took place on L'Avenue de la Reine Elizabeth II en route to the Airport last summer (Google Maps).

Peter Robinson was also driving his moped on the same road, when he overtook Mizon’s vehicle, a blue Land Rover Discovery.

Giving evidence before the Court, Mr Robinson said that it was safe for him to overtake Mizon.

Mr Robinson recalled that when he checked his rear-view mirror, he claimed Mizon’s vehicle was very close to the back of his bike.

Mr Robinson told the Court that Mizon, “...then proceeded to undertake me in the bus stop,” and that he had to “mount the kerb” to do so. 

It was alleged that Mr Robinson pulled up alongside Mizon, gestures and words were exchanged and then the scooter driver said he “pushed [the car's] wing mirror in a parting gesture,” adding that “it wasn’t a smart thing to do.”

It was at this point that Mr Robinson said Mizon, “veered across in front of me, forcing me towards the wall." 

Pictured: The case centred on whether Andrew William Mizon's driving was 'dangerous'.

Advocate Pinel opened the defence case by calling her client to give evidence. Answering her questions, Mizon contested Mr Robinson’s version of events, saying that when the moped overtook, he “didn’t see [Mr Robinson] coming” and that the moped driver “tried to pull himself into a non-existent gap.” 

Mizon also denied mounting the kerb and stated that he was merely trying to avoid hitting Mr Robinson by pulling into the lay-by. Mizon alleged that Mr Robinson “proceeded to grab the mirror and push it forwards and backwards” so he “pulled over in front of [Mr Robinson] to remove his exit” in order to confront him about the alleged damage to his car. 

Pictured: The trial took place in the Magistrate's Court. 

Having retired to consider her verdict, Magistrate Shaw addressed Mizon directly, warning that the incident “does not reflect well on either you or Mr Robinson.”

The Magistrate continued: “Understandably, you wanted to have some words with [Mr Robinson]… There was clearly a degree of aggravation between you, but I don’t think you were in any way justified in ‘cutting off his escape’ as you put it." 

“This is not the way to drive, Mr Mizon,” Magistrate Shaw warned, urging him that "you have no business stopping another motorist."

However, as she ruled that there wasn’t “any immediate danger of injury or serious damage to property,” the Magistrate found Mizon ‘not guilty’ of dangerous driving, but convicted him of the alternative, lesser offence of careless driving.

“I do think you drove without consideration of other road users,” Magistrate Shaw explained. 

Sentencing Mizon for the offence, the Magistrate imposed a fine of £1500 and endorsed his driving licence for a period of three years.