Is this a little unfair?

[The Hypno-Toad]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/72707...

Now okay there is no way that she should have been texting on her phone and the whole thing is a tragedy but FOUR years!!

Maybe I'm being insensitive and if I am that I will put my hand up and walk away but the way I'm reading that is he went through a red light & wasn't wearing a helmet. Doesn't that make him responsible in some way for what happened? Or did I wake up one morning & rules of the road which the judge seems to have very forcibly applied to her, not apply to cycists anymore?

I reckon she'll harm herself inside, possibly fatally. From the picture she seems broken up as it is. A very tragic set of circumstances.

[Blue Meanie]

Seemingly motorists bear the responsibility for other folks lack of road sense. She was wrong to be texting, no doubt, but the cyclist surely bears the burden of guilt on this one?

[morebeanz]

Blue Meanie said:

Seemingly motorists bear the responsibility for other folks lack of road sense. She was wrong to be texting, no doubt, but the cyclist surely bears the burden of guilt on this one?

Absolutely. The guy broke the traffic laws!

There's nothing in the article to help understand whether someone not texting would have had exactly the same outcome...

[Kieran XJR]

I think if you kill someone whilst driving you have to face the consequences. There's been too many cases where drivers have just been given a slap on the wrist IMO.

[Davi]

The Hypno-Toad said:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/72707...

Now okay there is no way that she should have been texting on her phone and the whole thing is a tragedy but FOUR years!!

Maybe I'm being insensitive and if I am that I will put my hand up and walk away but the way I'm reading that is he went through a red light & wasn't wearing a helmet. Doesn't that make him responsible in some way for what happened? Or did I wake up one morning & rules of the road which the judge seems to have very forcibly applied to her, not apply to cycists anymore?

I reckon she'll harm herself inside, possibly fatally. From the picture she seems broken up as it is. A very tragic set of circumstances.

Yes, if he went through a red light and didn't have a helmet on he should be held very much responsible for his own death.

On the other hand, there is simply NO excuse for texting while your car is in motion, she should have been tried for dangerous driving. How the fact that the death occurred between them IMO makes it difficult to determine sentencing.

[Marki]

Kieran XJR said:

I think if you kill someone whilst driving you have to face the consequences. There's been too many cases where drivers have just been given a slap on the wrist IMO.

You are right but,,, if as you drove over a junction passing a green light some tt came out of a side road through a red light and into your car and killed himself in the process how would you feel if you were prosecuted

[morebeanz]

Kieran XJR said:

I think if you kill someone whilst driving you have to face the consequences. There's been too many cases where drivers have just been given a slap on the wrist IMO.

You're not wrong, but you have to acknowledge that there MAY have been very little that anyone could have done in this instance, and that IF that were the case then a gaol sentence is a tough call.

[briSk]

Kieran XJR said:

I think if you kill someone whilst driving you have to face the consequences. There's been too many cases where drivers have just been given a slap on the wrist IMO.

and riding a bike dodgily is completely acceptable...???

[dern]

Everyone has the responsibility while they're driving to pay attention and cope with the unexpected. She wasn't paying attention and while she could have simply driven in to the back of someone else or knocked over someone stepping out in to the road the unexpected event that occurred was a cyclist went through a red light and she failed to do anything about it. Sure the cyclist shouldn't have gone through the red light but presumably if they've determined that if she had been paying attention then she would avoided him and therefore she was driving without due care and this resulted in someone's death. If the cyclist had of survived no doubt he would have been bked too but he didn't and the assumption shouldn't be made that she therefore assumes 100% of the guilt because of that.

[Globulator]

Davi said:

Yes, if he went through a red light and didn't have a helmet on he should be held very much responsible for his own death.

On the other hand, there is simply NO excuse for texting while your car is in motion, she should have been tried for dangerous driving. How the fact that the death occurred between them IMO makes it difficult to determine sentencing.

The cyclist was just following Darwins law and selectd himself for expedited removal from the gene pool (lets hope he didn't leave behind any kids), but texting as you go through traffic lights and junctions is stupid enough to warrant the sentence on it's own.

Conclusion: idiot meets idiot, 1 dead plus 1 custodial sentence. QED. Such is life.

[crofty1984]

Both parties broke traffic laws and did something stupid resulting in the death of a person.

So for her fault the texter should be punished, for his part the cyclist should be punished. Though he's dead, so never mind.

(Well, not never mind, you know what I mean.)

[chippy17]

"In this particular incident, it transpired from a phone analysis that there was phone use close to the time of the incident."


The above is what the police said, vague surely. As everyone ahs said the cyclist also ran a red light, I think this is very unfair and they seem to be making this person an example of...

[Blue Meanie]

Kieran XJR said:

I think if you kill someone whilst driving you have to face the consequences. There's been too many cases where drivers have just been given a slap on the wrist IMO.

I agree, but the cyclist wore no helmet, and went through a red light. His dismissal of the road regulations played a huge part in his own death. The burden of guilt is heavily placed on the driver, which in my opinion is wrong in this case. As someone said, would the accident have happened had she not been texting? How fast did he come out of the side street, etc?

[mackie1]

It does seem harsh when you consider the cyclist ran a red. I've witnessed an accident caused by a cyclist doing just that. Fortunately no one was hurt, just some metalwork, but the rider could have been wiped out easily. She was driving without due car and attention but that didn't necessarily cause the accident IMO.

[roboxm3]

She was wrong to be texting yes and certainly deserves some punishment but 4 years and a 5 year ban seems very harsh for a accident that essentially seems to have been someone else's fault.

I think 12 months followed by a further 12 month ban would have been more appropriate but then again I'm not a judge.

[TOENHEEL]

Its terrible that somebody was killed but there probably using the sentence as a means of frightening young drivers or any driver for that matter to concentrate whilst driving and showing the consequences of what will happen if you mess about. Cars are dangerous weapons in the wrong hands, she will probably be released early if she behaves herself.

[kma]

so 4 years, doesn't that mean that it will only be about 18 months or something lol?

biker was an idiot, she shouldn't have been texting.. he died, she gets a few months.. seems fair enough

The Hypno-Toad said:

I reckon she'll harm herself inside, possibly fatally.

lol, if she does then she's even more of a silly bh than she already is for texting while driving

[morebeanz]

So what are folks thoughts if she had not been texting, but same result?

[dern]

chippy17 said:

"In this particular incident, it transpired from a phone analysis that there was phone use close to the time of the incident."


The above is what the police said, vague surely.

You're reading too much into the vagueness of the reporting or the police statement. If it hadn't have been sufficient evidence then she wouldn't have been convicted or there will be a successful appeal.

[kma]

morebeanz said:

So what are folks thoughts if she had not been texting, but same result?

she would have got away with it if she hadn't been texting