Tragedy - family friend death

[Wobblers]

Terrible, terrible news. My thoughts go out to his friends and family as well as yourself, MJ.

 

[BrumJim]

Not a great result:
http://www.solihullnews.net/news/so...er-cyclist-dies-in-collision-105074-32622442/

 

[sabian92]

Not a great result:
http://www.solihullnews.net/news/so...er-cyclist-dies-in-collision-105074-32622442/

THIRTY FIVE QUID?

Is that the price of a human life?

What a f**king ridiculous penalty to hand out.

 

[Hip Priest]

Given the description of the incident in the above article, he seems to have got off astonishingly lightly. Injustice piled upon tragedy. My sympathies to Mr Ridgway's family & friends.

 

[GetAGrip]

Deleted

 

[glenn forger]

The victim’s aunt Debbie Sarjant broke down in tears at Solihull Magistrates Court as Malcolm Stoddart, prosecuting, described how her nephew’s body was flung onto the bonnet of driver Ichhapal Bhamra’s car.
But the 54-year-old, of Oak Hill Crescent, Acocks Green, had carried on driving a further 90 metres, with the cyclist on his Toyota Previa, hitting traffic signs along the way until finally colliding with a tree.

WTF?

 

[Herzog]

35 quid, better if it was nothing, that's an insulting amount. Especially after:

"...

the 54-year-old, of Oak Hill Crescent, Acocks Green, had carried on driving a further 90 metres, with the cyclist on his Toyota Previa, hitting traffic signs along the way until finally colliding with a tree."​

"...the Crown Prosecution Service were unable to determine the cause of the crash and whether that, or the subsequent journey, had caused Tom’s death."​

I'm not sure I fully understand the CPS judgement...

 

[glenn forger]

Baffling. What the hell is going on at the CPS? £35, I mean, you may as well fine the driver a ham sandwich, not being flippant but how the xxxx did they arrive at that figure? If the driver had been seen using a mobile phone he would have been fined more, yet he carried the lad on his vehicle for nearly 300 feet.

 

[fossyant]

And just 3 points FFS. The guy that knocked a cyclist off that I saw got more than that - 3 points and £120 and that was for bumps and bruises. Grrrr

 

[MisterStan]

Words fail me.

 

[Beebo]

Not an easy one to understand. He was a professional driver, the expected standard of driving should have been higher than average, and the duty of care should have been higher too.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

This is absolutely appalling! How can driving so badly it costs a life result in a fine smaller than you'd get for littering??

 

[CopperBrompton]

I think this is one of those awful situations where it's blindingly obvious what happened - the driver wasn't paying attention immediately after the collision so we can be pretty confident the same was true immediately before it - but the evidence just isn't there for a conviction. :-(

The driver hasn't been prosecuted for the collision, hence the crazily low fine.

The only positive is him handing back his taxi licence.

 

[Saluki]

That is appalling, absolutely appalling. Is there no appeal or anything about the sentence? I am totally shocked.
One of my customers got fined £200 and had to pay compensation and had 6 points on his licence (taking him over the 12 and thus getting a 6 month ban) after running over a dog.
£35 fine for a human life is beyond belief.

 

[jiggerypokery]

£35....that's what a Young boy's life is worth in Solihull in 2013.

http://www.solihullnews.net/news/so...er-cyclist-dies-in-collision-105074-32622442/

I ride this route most days, bit of a rat-run but nowhere near as dangerous as many other roads can be in the area and Solihull is for the most part very bike friendly so this..... Sickens me as it was obviously to my mind (and yes I'm making assumptions) one of those lack of concentration SMIDSY encounters that we all fear.

I missed the OP when it was first made but this is so close to home - RIP young man.