Close to Home, Notts cyclist killed, driver convicted

[Starchivore]

Christ, if I killed someone on the road, even if it weren't my fault, I'd never want to drive again.

Yeah, this is what I think whenever I see these stories. If you were the driver and something like that happened, surely you'd never want to drive again? I don't understand.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Yeah, this is what I think whenever I see these stories. If you were the driver and something like that happened, surely you'd never want to drive again? I don't understand.

Many years ago on a road near where I live a bus driver was driving along when a motorbike came around the corner on the wrong side of the road & hit his bus head-on. Both the rider & is girlfriend pillion rider were killed instantly, the rider I believe was decapitated, that driver never drove or worked again, he was completely devastated & that was not his fault in anyway.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

[QUOTE 4489346, member: 9609"]The current lack of enforcement .[/QUOTE]
What enforcement?

 

[jarlrmai]

It's not a defence, it's mitigation.

The veracity of it may be supported by the mother of the victim's statement about not wanting to see him go to prison.

People's reactions like not wanting to see the guy go to jail are common psychological coping mechanisms and in my view should have nothing to do with sentencing.
Often they'll see the perpetrator break down emotionally in court and the need for the victim to see the perpetrator "understand" what they did wrong is satisfied as well as the need to just "move on" form the ordeal. The problem is this doesn't provide any deterrence for anyone else. No other truck driver is going to read through the court proceedings etc but a local headline of "Truck driver given 10 years in jail for killing cyclist" might turn a few heads.