James Brian Randall to fight negligent driving charges after collision with cyclist Judy Johnstone on Oxley Highway at Westdale

James Brian Randall, 44, has denied three charges against him relating to the crash on August 29, last year, on the Oxley Highway, near Westdale.

Randall, who is based in Willow Tree, is charged with negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and driver of motor vehicle not pass bicycle at safe distance, as well as a second count of negligent driving.

On Monday, magistrate Julie Soars set the case down for hearing in June.

Police will allege in court the truck driver was negligent and did not leave 1.5m when overtaking the female cyclist on Gunnedah Rd, about 1.30pm, near the intersection of Flinders St and the Duck Inn Apartments.

Seventy-three-year-old cyclist, Judy Johnstone, was training for the world masters but fell from her bike during the collision.

She suffered seven broken bones or fractures and a bleed on the brain and was rushed to Tamworth hospital in a critical condition before undergoing surgery in a Newcastle hospital. She has since recovered.

Following detailed investigations by specialist crash police, including mechanical examinations of the prime mover and the bike and statements from witnesses, officers charged the man by way of a future court attendance notice in November.

The stretch of road has a 70km per hour posted speed limit, and under NSW laws, drivers are required to leave 1.5m when passing or overtaking cyclists.

In 2016, new laws made it mandatory for drivers to give cyclists one metre of space when passing, if the speed limit is under 60km per hour. Drivers must leave 1.5m if the speed limit is above 60.