Shocking footage has been released showing the moment a speeding motorcyclist was thrown into the path of a van as the rider attempted a high-risk stunt.
Cameras on board both Lee Oliver’s motorcycle and the oncoming van captured the high-speed smash at Uckfield, near Lewes in East Sussex, last May.
Surrey Police said Oliver and another rider, Lee Cunningham, reached speeds of at least 130mph in the moments leading up to the crash.
Footage from his mounted camera shows Oliver attempting to pull a wheelie on his motorcycle at more than 70mph before losing control and being thrown from his bike.
The motorcyclist is travelling so quickly that while his bike skids off the surface into undergrowth, the rider rolls and bounces along the road until he is struck by the van.
Once hit, police said Oliver continued to slide along the road past the van, which had been forced to brake so suddenly that it was struck from behind by a following car. The motorcyclist escaped with minor injuries.
Cunningham, 39, of Brighton Road, Horsham, and Oliver, 38, of Oakleigh Road, Horsham, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving when they appeared at Lewes Crown Court, police said.
Both were given an 18-month suspended prison sentence, banned from driving for four years and told to do 200 hours’ community service. They were each also ordered to pay a £1,000 fine and £700 costs.
Sergeant Huw Watts, from Surrey and Sussex roads policing unit, said: “When you watch the video, it seems amazing that Oliver escaped with just minor injuries and concussion.
“If he had come off his bike just seconds later he could have gone under the wheels of the van and been seriously injured or even killed.
“Motorcyclists are vulnerable road users who usually come off worst when they are involved in a collision but this case shows how some can put themselves at risk by abusing the fact that their machines can go fast and perform stunts.
“Every road user needs to think whether they are putting themselves in unnecessary danger and what they can do to avoid a trip to hospital.
“The roads are no place for stunts or speeding.”
