Driving Instructor Runs into Grandmother on a Bicycle

A grandmother was left with devastating, life-changing injuries after a driving instructor slammed into the back of her bicycle at 55 mph and sent her flying through the air.

Rebecca Tanton, who was in her late 50s at the time, was cycling along Manby Road in Lincolnshire, England, on Oct. 7, 2024, when Jon Dick plowed into her from behind in his Ford Puma, which was clearly marked as a driving instruction vehicle.

Shocking dashcam footage captured the terrifying moment Tanton was thrown from her bike and crashed onto the pavement. Another vehicle was then forced to swerve to avoid running her over.

Tanton said her helmet likely saved her life.

“My helmet saved my life, there is absolutely no doubt about that,” she told the Daily Mail.

But nearly two years later, she says her life has been completely transformed by the crash.

“I am simply existing in constant pain,” she said, adding that Dick has never apologized or shown remorse.

Before the collision, Tanton was extremely active. She regularly rode horses, swam and cycled as many as 40 miles a day.

That all changed in seconds.

Dashcam footage showed Dick driving alone with the radio playing as he accelerated up a hill. Tanton eventually appeared ahead of him, but prosecutors said he failed to spot her before striking her from behind.

The impact shattered her pelvis and broke multiple bones along the right side of her body.

She also suffered a deep facial wound over a fractured eye socket that was bleeding so severely she needed plastic surgery that same night.

Tanton recalled hearing someone at the scene say she might not survive being transported by air ambulance.

Paramedics ultimately took her by road to a hospital so she could first be stabilized. She needed an emergency blood transfusion because of severe blood loss.

Weeks in intensive care followed.

Doctors placed five metal plates in her pelvis, another in her hip and one in her shoulder.

“From the moment Jon Dick carelessly drove his car into me, he took away my freedom, independence and love of life,” Tanton later said.

Her nightmare was far from over.

In March 2025, as she was beginning to recover, Tanton developed sepsis after an infection formed around the metal plates in her body.

Doctors were forced to reopen her wounds, remove an abscess, flush out the infection and insert antibiotic beads.

During that surgery, her bladder was accidentally torn, leaving her dependent on a catheter for three months.

Then came another crushing blow.

As Tanton emerged from one of her surgeries, she learned that her 33-year-old son, Josh, had died from a rare brain tumor.

Josh worked as a marine pilot, helping guide large commercial ships along the River Thames.

Tanton was still so badly injured that her son’s funeral had to be postponed until she was medically stable enough to attend.

“I did with a catheter, and barely able to walk, because of the injuries caused in this collision,” she said.

Doctors eventually cleared the sepsis, but they discovered infection remained attached to the metal plates.

The plates could not yet be removed because her bones had not fully fused.

Tanton says doctors have warned her that another bout of sepsis could prove deadly. She described the lingering infection risk as a “ticking timebomb.”

Dick was charged after the crash and appeared in court in July 2025.

He was ultimately found guilty of causing serious injury by careless driving.

In December 2025, he was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, and banned from driving for two years — effectively ending his ability to work as a driving instructor during that period.

Tanton told the court that the crash had devastated not only her life, but her entire family.

“It’s all a living nightmare for all of us,” she said in her victim impact statement.

Her eldest son, Jason, said the family had been forced to live with constant fear and stress.

“Every time I see my mum struggle, I’m reminded how close we came to losing her,” he told the court.

Tanton has still been unable to return to cycling, an activity she once described as her life.

Dick remained at the scene after the crash and was approached by the Daily Mail for comment.