Woman jailed for killing teenage cyclist

[Lonnie]

Sad that the boy died, and admittedly the female driver was in the wrong, but in this case, I feel that the sentence was too harsh, because he contributed to it by cycling through a red stop light, so I think he was 50% to blame,

Agreed, she should have been severely punished, but because of the circumstances, I feel that her punishment should have been ligher than it was,

Would anone agree with that?.

[stokemaveric]

if you look at it another way lonnie and the driver had swerved to avoid the cyclist and wrapped her car round a tree and was killed,would the cyclist have been prosecuted for death by dangerous cycling?i doubt it........SOME cyclists are a menace because they flout the basic rules of the road as this unfortunate cyclist did and paid with his life.

[bundleone]

I dont know the road layout in question, but it must have been studied, surely if she was watching the road she would have seen him, still a harsh sentence for a foolish action on her part.

[persianlady]

a relative of mine was knocked down and has been left disabled by a well known boxer. the boxer went through a red light, over the speed limit in the wrong lane. My relative was on a pedestrian crossing at the time. The CPS charged the boxer with dangerous driving, but the jury found him guilty of a lesser charge of careless driving. ??????
Common sense seems to fly out of the windoe when it comes to court cases. I agree that the punishment for this woman does seem harsh. Unless the court did make allowances for the fact that the cyclist did ignore a red light and she would have got a longer sentence had this not been the case.

[TheDr-UK]

I have a friend who regularly phones, and texts, when driving, she not the greatest of drivers at the best of times and when she does this I just tell her that if she carries on I'm getting out at the next junction.
The courts KNOW people use their phones, the courts KNOW people text, and they know that the message isn't getting over, now someone has died, so there is huge publicity that even with the mitigation (despite the fact she tried to deny the fact she was on the phone or had been texting) she got 4 years, so could have got more, if it makes people think maybe the sentence has done what it was intended to do, to act as a deterent to others.

[annie0000]

Pesonally, I think that the sentence was very lenient. She was sending a text whilst driving and killed someone.

Okay, her light was green and his was red, but if she had been watching the road as she should have been, she may not have killed him. Even though the light is green, it is still up to the driver to show due care in determining that the junction is clear. How can she say that she did that when she was busy sending a text message? When will people get it into their heads that driving a car is not the same as sitting on your sofa? You should not be eating, drinking, watching tv, sending texts or otherwise distracting yourself. Yes, he put himself in danger by running a red light, but she owed it to other road users to operate with due care.

What if a child had ran onto the road and she killed it, would you be saying the same?

You talk about a share of the blame - well, he paid his share with his life - she will probably be out in less than 18 months.

Some accidents are unavoidable, even if she had been paying attention, she may have still hit him as it may have been unavoidable, and that would have been a tragic accident. However, we will never know, because she saw fit to be using her mobile to send a text while in charge of a lethal weapon.

[kempie]

The CPS has recently implemented a tougher stance on death by dangerous driving which should herald an increase of cases where conviction will result in stronger penalties.

Bear in mind that this wasn't a momentary lapse in concentration by the driver - she chose to continue driving at around 45 mph whilst simultaneously reading a received SMS and then composing her own to send. Sustained disregard such as this is 'textbook' Dangerous Driving.

The maximum custodial sentence for death by dangerous driving is 14 years. Simplistically, if the cyclist is 50% blameworthy shouldn't this bring the sentence down to 7 years?

Remorse or sorrow is seen as further mitigation and seems to have been sufficient to reduce the sentence by another 40%.

[vehelpfulguy]

I get really annoyed at the arrogance of people who use their phones while driving.

Basically they are saying, here I am in control of this lump of metal weighing over a ton, and travelling at 30-miles an hour (or whatever speed).

But while doing that I will use my phone, and if I happen to kill or injure someone who happens to be crossing the road or riding their bike so be it.

I think she deserved all her 4 years, and I hope we see more people put in prison for using their phone while driving.

[Genesis]

Anyone who thinks they are above the law deserves all they get. Only last week I was aware of a large 4x4 coming up very quickly behind me and driving a bit too close for comfort. On looking in my mirrors I could see it was a young woman with 2 small children. On looking again, I could see she was having a rather animated conversation on her mobile phone. We proceeded into a 50 mph zone and she kept up her speed and kept close behind me. We then had to slow down for a queue of traffic. She was aware that I was watching her in my mirrors, and offered an abusive finger gesture. We then approached a roundabout but she couldn't wait her turn behind me, and decided to undertake me and dart across the roundabout at speed.

She obviously had money to burn, with her flash car and her personalised number plate and her flash mobile phone. Pity she didn't consider spending �20 on a hands free kit so that if she had to make that oh so important call at least she could have had 2 hands on her steering wheel at the same time. Even better would have been if she'd bought a couple of car seats for her toddler children who were unrestrained in the car, the little girl on the back seat frequently moving back and forth and standing and leaning between the 2 front seats, and the little boy on the front seat equally free to move about as he liked.

Would she have been so cocky had her kids been flung through the windscreen because she wasn't paying attention? There's no defence for her actions. No defence for using a mobile phone.

Maybe as well as a custodial sentence, people should be banned from driving for life as they obviously have no regard for anyone's safety.

[bensmum]

I know the road where this happened very well. It is a 30 mph limit but it was fairly early in the morning and reasonably quiet so cars tend to travel faster than they should. The driver had already had two fines for speeding on that piece of road so should have been aware of the limits.
True the cyclist jumped the lights but had the car not been doing 45mph and had she been in full control then she might have avoided him or caused less harm. He was at fault but trying to text while driving means that she could not have been looking - she probably saw that the road was clear and went for it and was not prepared for anything to come out in front of her.
I think that the sentence is fair under the circumstances.

[cruella]

Hi Lonnie
I agree with what you are saying in principal.
The lad jumped the light so yes, it was 50% his fault.
He paid the rpice of jumping the lights with his life. Unfair I know.
I think anyone who attempts to drive and text should be facing a custodial sentence.
I have no time for mobile phones anyway. I am in the minority I know, but lets not forget she will not serve that time in prison.
I think the sentence given out was about right.
Laws are there to be adhered to. Break them and pay the price.

[Lonnie]

Thanks everyone for your replies, and while I appreciate and understand them, I do feel, as a motorist and cyclist, more emphasis should have been put on the fact that this young man jumped a red light.

I see it all the time, and tonight, walking home from the station, was almost knocked over by an adult cyclist on the pavement, coming from behind, and I still feel the same as in the post.

Thanks again.