A man has been arrested in connection with a collision that left a cyclist dead and a van driver seriously injured in Walton-on-Thames.
As we reported this week, the female cyclist, in her 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene after being trapped under one of the vehicles, and the van driver was taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting.
A 34-year-old man from Walton-on-Thames has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and driving with no insurance.
GetSurrey reports police as confirming he was the driver of the van.
He has been released on bail until 26 June whilst enquiries continue.
The crash happened at 6.40am on Thursday on Molesey Road.
Police are appealing for witnesses to the collision to contact Surrey Police on 101, quoting reference P15136173.
16 thoughts on “Updated: Arrest made after female cyclist in her 50s killed in tanker pile-up in Surrey”
Firstly condolences to the
Firstly condolences to the f&f of the poor woman…
What company was he driving for, or more importantly what sort of firm would allow somebody behind the wheel of a tanker whilst disqualified are they going to get prosecuted for such a blatant lack of safety.
This is crazy! What sort of
This is crazy! What sort of due diligence checks were made by the tanker company on this driver? This is surely justification for a corporate manslaughter charge against the haulage company?
Oh no, that’s a twelve-month
Oh no, that’s a twelve-month suspended sentence and a two-year driving ban. How on earth will he continue to drive without the licence he doesn’t already have?
Firstly condolences to family
Firstly condolences to family of the victim.
A friend who owned a haulage company told me that it’s common within the industry for drivers about to face loss of license due to points etc to report that they have physically lost the paper/photocard license and obtain a duplicate license from DVLA. The replacement license is then presented at court when and returned to DVLA for disqualification. The driver then applies for jobs producing the original “lost” license and the company had no way of confirming if the license produced was valid. I don’t know if haulage companies can verify licenses with DVLA now but they aren’t always at fault. Having said that the default sentence for driving whilst banned should be a prison sentence as the ban obviously doesn’t work.
Gus T wrote: I don’t know if
I believe that now? the paper licence is worthless and ALL records are held centrally by the DVLA, employers won’t have that excuse anymore.
http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/2015/3/9/employers-get-early-access-to-dvla-licence-checking-service/55062/
“… and the company had no
“… and the company had no way of confirming if the license produced was valid.” Ok, so change the rules and make the haulage company responsible whatever happens; it’s too easy. Then, promptly, and easily with Internet, haulage companies will double check the driver’s license … problem solved.
Gus T wrote:Firstly
Good grief.
hard to put into words – same
hard to put into words – same age as me and mrs antigee done a lot but still looking forward to doing more
a couple of points:
why oh why do we narrow lanes with chevrons that discourage drivers from giving space – the right turn lane only benefits traffic flow AKA speed and lack of care for vulnerable road users
as to the licence issue…how far along the supply chain to go? my impression is a lot of smallish operators and self employed drivers are contracted to large, national companies who should be checking that these small operators have effective systems in place…suspect that cost and not social responsibility is used as selection criteria – time the HSE which is an “Executive” and can in effect decide its area’s of operation stopped kneeling at the political altar of “must cut red tape” and stands up and says road deaths caused through commercial operations are part of its remit and that the investigation shouldn’t be specific to road rules and drivers but to the nature of the commercial contracts
antigee wrote:
why oh why do
I think the intention is to discourage *overtaking* – there’s nothing to stop someone waiting for – or indeed overtaking – a cyclist, the other option would be a central reservation which is no better One spot like that nearby – on the way from weybridge to hersham – you have to actively take the lane to stop overtakes as it narrows, which less experienced cyclists (or some roadies I can think of) may not do. There’s been a few incidents on/around Rydens, there’s no excuse, mostly straight and wide/good visibility, but some idiots speed into the bargain.
How far up the supply chain?
How far up the supply chain? As far as you like.
If we can fine a minimum wage barman for serving an underage customer we could put a whole lot of responsibility on someone employing a truck driver.
And yes, driving while disqualified should be mandatory jail sentence. It’s not like there’s any “I didn’t know” excuse that could be believable on a no insurance charge (we’ve had insurance policies fail to auto renew before ).
Surely not having a licences
Surely not having a licences and no insurance and driving a tanker, this can’t be anything less that dangerous driving the second you get behind the wheel. regardless of the what he did to cause the death of one persons and injuring another.
But whats the likely hood that the cps with just go with careless driving because the chances of getting a conviction out of a jury of other motorist who consider a driving license a right, up there with your right to breath.
The company that has allowed this to be happen (regardless of the circumstances) needs to be named and shamed, and hopefully driven out of business. The road haulage association will happily allow this sort of thing to continue unless it members are being hit in there pockets.
The local press have reported
The local press have reported that the 34 year old male arrested, was the driver of the van not the tanker. The official Police statement doesn’t say, presumably to avoid any prejudice towards witness statements.
I was riding on that road last weekend, haven’t been down to Walton for months. Lots of leisure cyclists and clubs riding through it of a weekend. I wouldn’t imagine there’s much everyday utility cycling during the week, fast roads and a council that still thinks cycling infrastructure is paint and shared use paths.
Link – http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/walton-crash-van-driver-arrested-9355214
I know that road well. It’s a
I know that road well. It’s a bloody nightmare at the best of times. Let’s hope we find out exactly what happened, and that the appropriate actions are taken.
As a truck driver myself I
As a truck driver myself I can tell you that transport companies have been able to ring dvla direct for quite a while. They do it front of you, pass you the phone so dvla can check your details, then confirm what categories you can drive, when it runs out & crucially, is it clean.
Unfortunately this doesn’t stop cowboy companies taking on anyone who walks in the yard. Whatever happens to the driver they should come down extra hard on the company employing him.
Prosecute the employer and
Prosecute the employer and directors of the company under corporate manslaughter legislation for unlawful killing. The guy shouldn’t have been driving and they shouldn’t have allowed him to. They are all guilty and need to go to prison for a long long time. I bet they are not even prosecuted because the CPS is body useless and even if they are with some pathetic offence they get off or are given a derisory penalty.
The tanker driver needs to be
The tanker driver needs to be executed like this cyclist was. This carnage has to end. Time and time again we are failed by the authorities. How the fuck was this guy ever be allowed behind the steering wheel of a tanker!!!! People responsible for checking this driver’s history need to lose their jobs and go to prison as well.