19 year old jailed for killing cyclist

[Bad Company]

I still don't understand your point about dual carriageways, 70 limits and time trials. The original gist of the post seemed to me to be a classic piece of victim blaming. You may have reconsidered this but your first post is still striking and reflects, maybe not in a way intended, an attitude that I'd always challenge.

I have to admit to having never done a time trial but to me such activity on a fast dual carriageway sounds dangerous. As appears to have happened here a driver comes along at 70 ish, not concentrating properly and definitely not expecting to come accross a group of cyclists.

 

[GrasB]

I tend to find that cycling on a dual carriage way to be generally safer than cycling on a single carriageway NSL trunk road or an ex-trunk A road. 99% of drivers see you & swap lanes leaving you loads of space on the dual carriageway, on the NSL single carriageway drivers tend to move out just far enough to pass you as long as you don't move more than 6" further to the offside.

 

[Crankarm]

I have to admit to having never done a time trial but to me such activity on a fast dual carriageway sounds dangerous. As appears to have happened here a driver comes along at 70 ish, not concentrating properly and definitely not expecting to come accross a group of cyclists.

BC when you are TTing you tend not to cycle in a group. Anyway she didn't just 'happen' upon Major Evans, she had already closed passed another cyclist .

 

[Bman]

It doesnt matter how easy or hard the driving test is. If you have enough time/money you can take the test as many times as you want.

 

[Crankarm]

I have to admit to having never done a time trial but to me such activity on a fast dual carriageway sounds dangerous. As appears to have happened here a driver comes along at 70 ish, not concentrating properly and definitely not expecting to come accross a group of cyclists.

I must admit I would not wish to ride on such a road for fear of drivers like dangerous killer driver Hart but early on a quiet sunday morning, maybe I might give it a try in a TT. But certainly not now since this tragic case shows some drivers are still clearly not even capable of driving safely on a pretty empty road on a sunday morning .

 

[Bad Company]

I tend to find that cycling on a dual carriage way to be generally safer than cycling on a single carriageway NSL trunk road or an ex-trunk A road. 99% of drivers see you & swap lanes leaving you loads of space on the dual carriageway, on the NSL single carriageway drivers tend to move out just far enough to pass you as long as you don't move more than 6" further to the offside.

I bow to your experience on that point.

 

[Bad Company]

I must admit I would not wish to ride on such a road for fear of drivers like dangerous killer driver Hart but early on a quiet sunday morning, maybe I might give it a try in a TT. But certainly not now since this tragic case shows some drivers are still clearly not even capable of driving safely on a pretty empty road on a sunday morning .

Being passed by fast traffic does not sound like fun cycling to me so I won't be going near dual carriageways.

 

[Origamist]

I have to admit to having never done a time trial but to me such activity on a fast dual carriageway sounds dangerous. As appears to have happened here a driver comes along at 70 ish, not concentrating properly and definitely not expecting to come accross a group of cyclists.

There would have been signs and marshals along the route, usually they are placed at slip roads/junctions/RaBs - she should therefore have expected to see cyclists along the inside lane of the dual carriageway. It appears that not only did she fail to see Gareth Rhys-Evans, she didn't spot the preceding rider, Claire Lee, or seemingly, the marshals en route.

Remember, the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving is 14 years - 21 months is at the bottom end of the scale.

As WC has already pointed out, as far as TTs go, dual carriageways are generally safer than single carriageways. I always preferred TTs on the former, even with cars passing me in the offisde lane at well above 80mph.

 

[StuartG]

A custodial sentence is appropriate to mark it as a very serious crime. The sentencing has to be in line on what was proved and not speculated. That was she was not paying attention, the incident was not intended and there are no other aggravating factors and she is contrite.

The bottom line is should this crash completely wreck another life? I don't think so, many would agree (I worry about those who don't) and a long incarceration is going to benefit who?

The bigger question is whether she should ever be trusted behind a wheel again? A lifetime ban, perhaps appealable in 10/20 years if she can show she has has developed into a reliable careful considerate person. It should certainly be up to her to prove, I don't think an automatic lapse in the ban is appropriate. Community Service, Bicycle Training are all things that could help her repay and become a better person.

Oh and make her film a reconstruction which could be shown to new drivers taking their test ...

 

[BentMikey]

But what is true justice, she's not a violent criminal nor at risk of being a danger to others, is prison the best option? Liberty can be curtailed via electronic tagging and the person employed in seving the community, maybe via a charity.

Not a risk, not a violent criminal? She killed someone violently with a car and is IMO quite likely to do so again given her apparent lack of remorse. Darn right she should be in prison.

 

[GrasB]

Being passed by fast traffic does not sound like fun cycling to me so I won't be going near dual carriageways.

it's certainly no fun but it at least leaves more safety margin on dual carriage ways. I don't use these roads by choice but sometimes I'm looking at a 10mile diversion to avoid travelling 1 mile or so on an (ex-)trunk road

 

[classic33]

Given that there appears to be a number of comments on the speed limit & the close passing, how many on here haven't cycled on a road where the limit is 60mph.

One route taken, once on the main roads, has speed limits of 20-30-60-20-60-30-70 in that order in the space of three miles.

As has been said by others. With the rights to drive/ride on the roads come responsibilties.
However if you don't want the responsibilties then I'd say give up your rights to use the roads.
Here we are talking about the killing of another road user. But can I ask, if the car had mounted a pavement & killed someone on the pavement would we expect the same sort of sentence to be handed out. And some dual carrigeway A-roads have pavements at the sides.

 

[dellzeqq]

A custodial sentence is appropriate to mark it as a very serious crime. The sentencing has to be in line on what was proved and not speculated. That was she was not paying attention, the incident was not intended and there are no other aggravating factors and she is contrite.

The bottom line is should this crash completely wreck another life? I don't think so, many would agree (I worry about those who don't) and a long incarceration is going to benefit who?

The bigger question is whether she should ever be trusted behind a wheel again? A lifetime ban, perhaps appealable in 10/20 years if she can show she has has developed into a reliable careful considerate person. It should certainly be up to her to prove, I don't think an automatic lapse in the ban is appropriate. Community Service, Bicycle Training are all things that could help her repay and become a better person.

Oh and make her film a reconstruction which could be shown to new drivers taking their test ...

absolutely, Stuart. This is a terrible business - but sending someone to jail for a long stretch won't make it better.

 

[Norm]

I've found myself on them a few times and don't feel as safe as on other roads, but I've never had any trouble. Drivers have more space to give you more room, but they don't slow down, and being passed at 80-90 by a car even a lane away isn't very nice, though it's more of a perceived risk than an actual one. On single carriageways drivers are more likely to slow but give you less space, which is dangerous.

And I definitely should not have to expect any driver to pay less attention than on any other road.

I'm afraid, Mr P, that I'm going to have to agree with you on this one.

The only exception, and I haven't figured out why, is the dual cabbageway which links Windsor to Slough. For some reason, cars never change lane to pass a bike on that one. My only theory is that it is built entirely on a causeway over the flood plain, so it is 20 feet above the surrounding land and therefore it feels more spacious than it actually is.

 

[Cab]

Kill someone and damn near kill others en route to doing so and you get a 21 month custodial sentence and a 2 year ban.

Ram another car head on in a non-lethal (and most unlikely to be lethal) way and you get an 8 month sentence and a 2 year ban:
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/displayarticle.asp?id=484885

So... Killing someone is only two and a half times worse than ramming a car and damaging it? And it isn't worthy of a longer driving ban at all?

Fecked up beyond all recognition of 'justice'.