Everyone’s saying that the sentence is terrible, but may I ask what he should have had?
Life ban from driving?
Life in prison?
Death sentence?
It seems to me that this person unfortunately had a collision with a cyclist nearly 30 years ago and went to prison for 2 years for it, as it was deemed by the courts to be reckless driving.
30 years later, unfortunately again, he has another collision. All it says in that article is that he clipped her wheel. We can’t see exactly what happened, and the courts have only deemed it careless driving, and have given the punishment that they see fit.
Everyone here seems to be talking as though this guy is careering round the streets, knocking down cyclists left right and centre! I don’t see any sign that he was intending to cause any accidents, and guess what, accidents happen. Referring to this as “murder” seems a bit strong.
I’m not in favour of light sentences if the driver has been genuinely reckless, and maybe in both of these cases they could have been stronger, but I don’t see that people should be locked up and the key thrown away just because of an accident.
Cycling is a dangerous activity, especially in a city. There are accidents on the roads everyday, and not always because someone was being reckless. We don’t know anything about what the cyclists where doing at the time. I’m not blaming the cyclist in any way, just saying we don’t have the information.
And everyone’s getting upset about the helmet comment. If you choose to ride your bike with cars you’re taking a risk. They’re much bigger than you, and if you hit one/one hits you, you’re going to lose. If you choose to ride your bike with cars and not wear a helmet (it’s your choice), you just increase your risk.
Hyperthetical question:
If a driver had two collisions with cyclists over his lifetime and they both got up and road away because they were wearing helmets, or they both died because they weren’t and suffered serious head injuries, should the driver receive the same or different punishments?