This is the gut-wrenching moment a 71-year-old cyclist was tossed in the air like a rag doll after she was smashed into by a jailed driver.
In footage released by West Midlands Police the woman on the bicycle can be seen wearing bright reflective clothing and a helmet as she cycles along a road in Coventry, West Mids, on May 6.
But just seconds later a camera mounted on a nearby property captures the moment a red car driven by Thomas Freeman, 29, pulls straight out into her path with catastrophic results.
The video, released with the consent of the cyclist to highlight vulnerable road users, shows the bone-crunching impact of the car as it sends her cartwheeling through the air before she lands on the concrete.
The woman was left with a bleed on the brain, broken shoulder, broken ankle and spent five days in hospital.
Freeman, the driver of the Citroen C3 Flair, has now been jailed for a year following the collision, which happened on Wildcroft Road at its junction with Brookside Avenue in Coventry.
Freeman, of Torrington Avenue, Coventry, admitted causing serious injury by careless driving.
He was also banned from driving for two years when he appeared at Warwick Crown Court on December 21, following a probe by the West Midlands Police Traffic Investigations Unit (TIU).
Temporary Sergeant Jordan Keen, from the TIU, said: “This was an appalling piece of careless driving which left the cyclist badly injured.
“She is an experienced cyclist and a member of a local cycling club, but it’s clear from the footage that Freeman’s careless driving when crossing the junction meant she stood no chance.
“I hope that drivers who see this footage know that they have a responsibility to more vulnerable road users out there, such as cyclists and pedestrians.”
