What’s wrong with killing cyclists?

In the eyes of the British judicial system, very little.

A MOTORIST has been unable to give a reason for a crash which killed a cyclist on the A491 M5 feeder road at Bell End, Belbroughton, last July. Halesowen father-of-two 61-year-old David Coldicott, of Mendip Road, died from mutliple injuries after being run over by a Nissan Micra driven by 23-year-old Rebecca Key.

The driver had shown a catastrophic lack of care but there was no obvious explanation - Paul Whitfield, prosecuting, told Worcester Crown Court. She was driving well within the 50mph speed limit on a bright Saturday afternoon and there were no faults on her car. Mr Coldicott was on his correct side of the road.

Key, of Bramble Close, Nuneaton, who admitted causing death by careless driving, was given a nine-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months.

Her not guilty plea to causing death by dangerous driving was accepted.

She was also given a community order and required to do 200 hours of unpaid work. She was disqualified for two years and ordered to pay £229 costs.

However, the theft of expensive motor cars, even when involving no violence or personal threats, can you earn you a jail sentence of up to seven years:

An Essex Police operation investigated the theft of up to 70 high-value cars and Walthamstow man Joanas Bondarenko was described in court as the ring leader of the thefts.

The thefts took place in Essex and Greater London and the crimes were discovered after gang members hired an Audi A4, a Mercedes C180 and a Vauxhall Astra from hire companies at Stansted airport in April 2009. All three of these cars were not returned and were later recovered with cloned identities.

Further investigations revealed the gang, all Lithuanians, received stolen cars taken from homes across London and the Home Counties. They specialised in handling stolen BMWs, Mercedes, Audis and top-of-the-range Volkswagens.

Meanwhile

A driver who was distracted by a spider ended up killing a cyclist and badly injuring another when she took her eyes off the road to throw the creature out. Simon Evans, 37, from Derby, was on a charity bike ride when he died in the crash on the A30 in Devon in September.

Georgina Mills, of Okehampton, Devon, admitted causing death by dangerous driving at Exeter Crown Court. The 23-year-old was given a two-year driving ban, a two-year community order and sentenced to 200 hours unpaid work.

The Cycling Lawyer has some interesting comments on this case.

And

A DRIVER who ploughed into the back of a cyclist before fleeing and leaving him dying in the road has walked free from court.

And he’ll be back on the roads in just three years.

Kevin Bratt’s family was told by a judge that he was bound by government guidelines which stated that jail was not appropriate for the case. “This case falls into the lowest bracket of seriousness which the Sentencing Guidelines Council has determined.

The people who neuter the legislative reforms achieved by RoadPeace and who are the killer driver’s biggest friends, are this grisly, obscure committee, whose own motoring convictions, if any, are not available for public scrutiny.