For those of you who may have been following the tragic death of Alan Mort (see archived forum post 'RIP Alan Mort'over six months ago) the driver who was responsible for his death was sentenced yesterday to 14 months in jail, banned from driving and has to retake an extended driving test. The judge in his statement stated :-
"The use of the public roads by cyclists was probably now more enthusiastic than ever before, the danger to cyclists had never been under greater scrutiny, they were vulnerable road users."
"Drivers have a high responsibility to be aware of cyclists on the road"
Alan was cycling in a straight line, close to the kerb and wearing all the recommended safety clothing. Two drivers behind the offender both testified that they observed Alan and altered their respective course as appropriate but that the offender took no avoiding action and ploughed straight into him. Alan died instantly.
I wont repeat the eulogy to Alan but he was a mean climber in his day and a seriously accomplished cyclist. I enjoyed our climbing together and it is pleasing that Alan has passed his climbing 'torch' onto his son Chris. He had an 'evil' sense of humour that would have me in stitches even in the most precarious of situations. On one occassion whilst I was incapacitated by the galloping wild 5hites and vomiting bug he managed to get me laughing uncontrollably whilst simultaneously 5hitting and vomiting, No mean feat. It looked liked someone had thrown a 5hit bomb at me and he wouldn't let in the tent!
In reply to pwo: 14 months (probably a lot less time will be served) seems like a lenient sentence for recklessly taking someone's life, and ruining many others.
Agreed it's good to see someon go to jail for this, but also agree the sentance seems a bit light but thsame could be said for most death by dangerous driving convictions.
Interested to know what the conviction was for i.e. manslaughter, death by dangerous driving or death by careless driving?
In reply to pwo: The sentence was for death by dangerous driving. He had pleaded guilty previously to death by careless driving but the CPS pressed for the the more serious charge.
Interesting, and good that they pushed for it, but I can't quite work out why death by dangerous driving and manslaughter are distinguished in law (but then I haven't looked into it in any real detail)
In reply to pwo: From my simple perspective Manslaughter is where someone kills with malice aforethought (vol) or without malice (involuntary). Death by dangerous driving is because the driver was driving in a manner far below the standard of a competent and safe driver and can be recognised as such by a competent and safe driver. Manslaughter charges could be applied to someone who uses their vehicle with malice aforethought. However I'm no legal expert by any stretch of the imagination.
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