This beggars belief! £35 fine.

[EltonFrog]

Taxi driver fined £35 with 3 points on his licence after cyclist killed in collision.

http://road.cc/content/news/73826-t...s-his-licence-after-cyclist-killed-collission

I'm speechless.

 

[derrick]

Now we know how much we are worth, unbeleivable.

 

[Boris Bajic]

Now we know how much we are worth, unbeleivable.

This certainly seems an ill-judged penalty at first reading, although I do not know the full circumstances.

It is a tragedy for all who knew the victim and will be worse still for those who loved him.

Nonetheless, there is no sense of a collective 'this is what we are worth' in the judgement or in the overall handling of the case.

This was a judgement made about one set of circumstances and one specific outcome, not a general assessment of the monetary value of the life of cyclists.

Whilst it can be cathartic to let off steam in indignation about such judgements, I do not believe it is helpful to divide any more than is necessary the various groups of road users.

In many respects the judgement does appear unbelievable, but it cannot help to see it in terms of a broad devaluing of cyclists within society.

 

[glenn forger]

That's a typical sentence for killing a cyclist. The one killed at the end of my road, by a speeding driver, had his death marked by a fine of just £500, less than the bike was worth. One in three killer drivers don't even go to jail. That's what a cyclist's life is worth, a derisory fine or.. nothing. Nothing at all.

 

[derrick]

This certainly seems an ill-judged penalty at first reading, although I do not know the full circumstances.

It is a tragedy for all who knew the victim and will be worse still for those who loved him.

Nonetheless, there is no sense of a collective 'this is what we are worth' in the judgement or in the overall handling of the case.

This was a judgement made about one set of circumstances and one specific outcome, not a general assessment of the monetary value of the life of cyclists.

Whilst it can be cathartic to let of steam in indignation about such judgements, I do not believe it is helpful to divide any more that is necessary the various groups of road users.

In many respects the judgement does appear unbelievable, but it cannot help to see it in terms of a broad devaluing of cyclists within society.

Did you actually read it.
for an incident last year which he collided with a cyclist and then carried him for a further 90 metres on the bonnet of his car colliding with traffic signs and eventually hitting a tree.

 

[glenn forger]

Lorry driver who killed cyclist walks free from court with 'ludicrous' £275 fine

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1033754/Lorry-driver-killed-cyclist-walks-free-court-ludicrous-275-fine.html#ixzz2IGZB5gtX
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Fifty-three per cent of those convicted of causing death or bodily harm through driving offences were sentenced to immediate custody (260 people) in 2011. This has dropped from the 83 per cent sentenced to immediate custody in 2001.
Fines for drink driving are also lower in real terms than they were ten years ago. In 2001 the average fine for drink driving was £203 - the average £240 fine in 2011 was equivalent to just £178 in 2001 prices - a 12.3 per cent decrease.
The average fine for careless driving is £138, 27 per cent less in real terms than it was in 2001. Dangerous driving is the only area with tougher fines. The average fine is £518 - 30 per cent more in real terms than in 2001.

The IAM has also noted that the number of prosecutions for motoring offences have fallen! Doesn't sound like the much publicised "war on the motorist"?

A lorry driver who ran over and killed a cyclist who was a writer and jewellery designer was today fined £300 after admitting careless driving.
Emma Foa, 56 died as she cycled from her home in Hampstead Heath to work in Clerkenwell in December. She was killed instantly after being crushed between the cement mixer’s rear wheels and roadside railings.
At Westminster Magistrates Court today Michael Thorn, 52 of Headley Down, Surrey was allowed to keep his driver’s licence and was ordered to pay £100 costs.

Cycle on a pavement, get a £30 fine. Collide with a cyclist and carry him nearly 300 feet, smashing into road signs and a tree, killing the cyclist, get a £35 fine.

The lorry driver who killed cyclist Vera Chaplin, 89, by "careless ..."careless driving" while fiddling with his radio, received a £350 fine.

Now we know how much we are worth, unbeleivable.

Exactly. We are not protected by the cops, the CPS and the entire legal system.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I'm not a vigilante by nature but when the legal system doesn't protect cyclists....

 

[Drago]

£35, eh? He won't do that again!

 

[EltonFrog]

£35, eh? He won't do that again!

I bet he can't beleive his luck!

 

[Boris Bajic]

Did you actually read it.
for an incident last year which he collided with a cyclist and then carried him for a further 90 metres on the bonnet of his car colliding with traffic signs and eventually hitting a tree.

Yes, I read it. I thought that was implicit in my recognition of the meagre penalty imposed.

Where I differ (and it is a small point) is that I do not read that as some sort of general statement about what 'we' (presumably cyclists) are worth.

On the tragedy of the loss and on the most unusual (and strikingly small) penalty I am at one with you.

On your judgement '..we know how much we are worth..' I disagree. Many won't.

 

[EltonFrog]

Yes, I read it. I thought that was implicit in my recognition of the meagre penalty imposed.

Where I differ (and it is a small point) is that I do not read that as some sort of general statement about what 'we' (presumably cyclists) are worth.

On the tragedy of the loss and on the most unusual (and strikingly small) penalty I am at one with you.

On your judgement '..we know how much we are worth..' I disagree. Many won't.

BB, are you a lawyer by any chance? I aske merely out of curiosity.

 

[400bhp]

This certainly seems an ill-judged penalty at first reading, although I do not know the full circumstances.

It is a tragedy for all who knew the victim and will be worse still for those who loved him.

Nonetheless, there is no sense of a collective 'this is what we are worth' in the judgement or in the overall handling of the case.

This was a judgement made about one set of circumstances and one specific outcome, not a general assessment of the monetary value of the life of cyclists.

Whilst it can be cathartic to let of steam in indignation about such judgements, I do not believe it is helpful to divide any more that is necessary the various groups of road users.

In many respects the judgement does appear unbelievable, but it cannot help to see it in terms of a broad devaluing of cyclists within society.

Agree

It's a horrible story and it's so easy for us to judge at a distance.

 

[glenn forger]

On the tragedy of the loss and on the most unusual (and strikingly small) penalty I am at one with you.

.

It's not unusual, as the other examples posted, that you've completely ignored, demonstrate. You simply ignore any evidence that refutes your tedious trolling.

 

[glenn forger]

BB, are you a lawyer by any chance? I aske merely out of curiosity.

No. He's a troll.

 

[glenn forger]

Given that the CPS determined that Bhamra's was driving without due care and attention some will undoubtedly question why they then did not pursue a charge of causing death by careless driving given that the CPS guidelines say it is merited for:
"A person who causes the death of another person by driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place, is guilty of an offence".
While the level of charge brought was a disappointment to Mr Ridgway's family it is also worth noting that Solihull magistrates did not impose the maximum sentence available to them for the offence. According to the sentencing guidelines those found guilty of careless drive can be given 9 penalty points on their licence and a fine usually amounting to 150 per cent of the defendant's weekly income.