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British bike race cancelled after drunk driver smashes into car with family

Upton 200 stopped after 30 km after serious collision

Racers at the Upton 200 Photo by: British Cycle Sport @VeloUK
June 19, 2023
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The Upton 200, a longstanding elite bike race in the UK, was cancelled after three laps due to a drunk driver driving into another car. Normally, the race would have been 200 km, but due to the incident, it was called off after just 30.

The collision resulted in significant damage to the vehicles, which resulted in the immediate intervention of race marshal and emergency personnel. Apparently one of the cars even flipped over during the crash.

Despite the severe damage sustained by the vehicles involved, there were no injuries reported in either car. The vehicle that the drunk driver hit contained a family and children.  Thankfully, cyclists were at a different part of the 10 km lap when the accident occurred and were therefore not directly involved in the incident.

Cameron Jeffers posted about the driver. “The fella was so pissed he couldn’t even stand up. There’s a special place in hell for him. A couple minutes earlier we rode down this road. I hate to think of the outcome if he collided with a peloton of riders at +100mph. The little rat.”

The organizers posted a statement on Twitter expressing their disappointment with the news.

“It is with great sadness that we had to cancel the Upton 200 today. Three laps into the 20-lap race, there was a collision between two public vehicles on the course involving a heavily drunk driver in one vehicle and a family with children in the other. Luckily, nobody involved sustained injuries,” the statement read. “It is deeply upsetting to see the inconsiderate actions of one individual endanger the lives of so many others.”