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Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)Taxi driver fined £35 with 3 points on his licence after cyclist killed in collision
Magistrates in Solihull have fined a taxi driver £35 and given him three penally points for an incident last year which he collided with a cyclist and then carried him for a further 90 metres on the bonnet of his car colliding with traffic signs and eventually hitting a tree. 20 year old animation student Tom Ridgway died of his injuries shortly afterwards.
At the conclusion of the case Mr Ridgway's family called for tougher punishments for drivers who kill. The incident will be seen as further evidence of the need for change by those calling on the Government to undertake a review of the lenient sentences given to drivers who kill or injure cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
In this case 54-year-old taxi driver Ichhapal Bhamra was charged with the much lesser offence of driving without due care and attention rather than facing the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving - which usually carries a custodial sentence, or causing death by careless driving which results in a long ban, heavy fine and community service.
The Crown Prosecution Service opted for the lesser charge because it could not determine the cause of the initial collision nor whether Mr Ridgeway had been killed as a result of that impact or from being carried on the bonnet of the car until it collided with the tree.
In mitigation the court was told that Mr Bhamra has since voluntarily given up his taxi licence and that he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and no longer felt able to drive.
Given that the CPS determined that Bhamra's was driving without due care and attention some will undoubtedly question why they then did not pursue a charge of causing death by careless driving given that the CPS guidelines say it is merited for:
"A person who causes the death of another person by driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place, is guilty of an offence".
While the level of charge brought was a disappointment to Mr Ridgway's family it is also worth noting that Solihull magistrates did not impose the maximum sentence available to them for the offence. According to the sentencing guidelines those found guilty of careless drive can be given 9 penalty points on their licence and a fine usually amounting to 150 per cent of the defendant's weekly income.
The magistrates based their sentence on all the evidence presented to them - while our impressions of the case come from the report in The Solihull News, but even so both the charge and the sentence handed down will be seen as troubling by cycle safety campaigners and many in the wider cycling community..
Commenting on the charge, the sentence and the effect Tom's death had had on his family his mother, Liz Ridgway told the Solihull New that:
“Neither the charge not the sentence reflect the enormous tragedy of a young man’s death when he was simply cycling along next to the pavement,” she said.
“It’s devastated our lives and there will be no going back.”
Mrs Ridgway went on to pay tribute to her son saying:
“Tom was a generous and exceptionally warm-hearted young man, making friends wherever he went and sharing his sunny, optimistic love of life with everyone he met.
“Everyone who knew him, misses his beautiful smile and genuine warmth. It is impossible to express how much Tom is loved by his family and friends and how special he was.”
Solihull MP Lorely Burt said she was “shocked and disgusted” by the sentence and pledged to look into the case. Last month representatives of CTC, British Cycling, and RoadPeace met with Justice Minister, Helen Grant to call for a review of sentencing guidelines, in cases where drivers kill or injure more vulnerable road users. At the meeting Department for Transport official agreed to back "a cross-stakeholder meeting with the different agencies involved to discuss a review of the system and how it might be improved."
As yet no date has been announced for a follow up meeting,
road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.
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53 comments
If you accidentally kill someone with your car, it should be manslaughter. Same as if you accidentally shot them while cleaning your gun. If intent is determined, then it should be murder.
Martin Porter has written about this in his blog. There's a comment that appears to be from the victim's mum, and one from his aunt.
http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/update-from-court-cps-v-bha...
to quote the comment
The fact that the driver has not been able to drive since and has issued a statement of remorse to the family is all the justice we need to try to put this horrible aspect behind us, and for friends and family to continue in our private grief for our precious Tom. If others wish to continue to push for a change in legal processes, that is for them to do and is fine. But our loss is not helped at all by persuing a higher fine or penalty.
This seems to be a recurring theme, the relatives accepting the courts results, which have provoked outrage in others. To me the problem seems bigger than the family of the victim though. By issuing leniant punishment, the court has failed in its duty to discourage wrong doing (and hitting a cyclist while driving a vehicle *is* wrong, no matter whether you intended it or not).
The court should send a message that hitting vulnerable road users is serious and if drivers don't take the necessary care, then they will be punished severely. In this case the court did not send that message and the relatives are in no moral position to forgive and forget. The mother's loss is tragic and although her son can't be hurt any more, there are thousands of other cyclists who can and will be victims of careless driving in the future.
Finally, I'd like to make it clear now that if anyone kills me while I'm on my bike then I'd like the courts to take them to the fucking cleaners - max sentence and then hounded by the press when they get out, none of this 'prison sentence not in the public interest' bollocks - I'd want the book thrown at them, followed by the printing press and the print works, brick by brick.
My BLOOD IS BOILING RIGHT NOW
!!!! I give up on the police, make sure you have insurance with the CTC guys, where you can get assistance in the event of an accident/injury to claim against the driver
I wonder how the CPS and the judge would have charged/sentenced this grossly despicable waste of space, if the victim was related to law a enforcement officer, or a legal system operative. I hope this immigrant dies of shame!
utterly speechless , about time this country got its act together and started giving out proper punishments and giving help to those who need it most in society !! Its not the polices fault they do as much as they can.
words fail me
"While the level of charge brought was a disappointment to Mr Ridgway's family it is also worth noting that Solihull magistrates did not impose the maximum sentence available to them for the offence. According to the sentencing guidelines those found guilty of careless drive can be given 9 penalty points on their licence and a fine usually amounting to 150 per cent of the defendant's weekly income."
Truly truly shocking.
And the names of the magistrates in question are.....
Could be interesting to see what happens to Emma Way in court following her particular incident. Then the two can be compared.
Who wants to bet she receives a harsher punishment than 'Ichhapal'?
I've got my own opinions on this one, I don't think I'm going to be wrong either.
One thing that really needs looking at is how on earth a case that involves someone's death is heard in a Magistrates Court.
If this happened to a pedestrian instead of a cyclist there would be a much stiffer penalty handed out.
Unbelievable.
CPS? Not fit for purpose - Time to get rid of them
I have no words, other than to express my sympathy to the family of the victim in this case.
The remainder of this box 'would' be filled with as many swear words as I could muster in order to vent my anger at this 'sentence', the UK court system and it's inability to care for such victims.
It is a very sad outcome indeed!
What sort of punishment is appropriate?
Most cases of death on the roads are as a result of an accident, either through a genuinely unavoidable incident or as a result of 'bad driving', I can't imagine anyone for a moment thinks it's ok to cause the death of another road user as the punishment will be low.
I will be asking my MP to raise this appalling issue.
I have a vague recollection that in Holland, when a motorist hits a cyclist, it is automatically the driver's fault. I imagine that a rule like that would change driver's attitudes and may engender a perception that cyclists are vulnerable.
Utterly atrocious decision both at the start with the CPS decision and afterwards with the court result.
Going to add this link to my facebook page so more people are aware of how bad these decisions are.
MP letter send.....its the only way we'll get change.
MP written too with a link to this.
Please write to them! if every MP gets an email, and another, and another... Maybe we can start to change the system.
I got tagged by a brave policeman hiding behind a wall in a country town doing just over 30 in a 30 mph zone (driving carefully, well-maintained vehicle recently serviced, new tyres, no furry toys hanging from the rear view mirror or a fucking Sat Nav stuck in the middle of the windscreen to obscure eyeline), and I have to pay 100 quid to do a speed awareness course. You kill a cyclist and it's 35 quid fine. Did this man have a valid licence? I see he's only given up his taxi licence.
If you don't like getting caught DON'T BREAK THE RULES.
The speed limit is a maximum, not a target.
Exactly, as the adverts say its 30 for a reason.
I feel a little bit sick.
if I'm unfortunate to get taken out by a box dweller and they get a slap on the wrists my life insurance is to be used to hire a team of ninja assassins.
In mitigation the court was told that Mr Bhamra has since voluntarily given up his taxi licence and that he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and no longer felt able to drive.
He may have handed his taxi licence back BUT NOT his driving licence To me this is just a load of BS generated by his legal team to get HIM off.
I hope that the family of the victim appeal the sentence and get some real justice I know this will not bring him back but, maybe this could be used as a campaign vehicle to change the law. In the past such things like Sarah's law etc have come about so that somebodies tragedy can be used to stop these things happening in the future
To compound the sense of injustice I saw this as I logged out of my webmail:
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/two-million-drivers-may-face-141603133....
£1,000 for not updating your photo for Big Brother to keep tabs on you, £35 for killing someone and dragging the body down the road. F**k me!
again! really, we need lots more cyclists friendly magistrates!
"No longer felt able to drive"? I should damn well think so.
Keep sharing this information....post to facebook, twitter and tell people...it simply cannot continue like this...
Another example of the namby pamby UK Court system, if this was in France, Belgium or Spain they would of locked him up...the countries going to the dogs..
Un***king believable!
Really makes me feel safe on the roads when they are actively encouraging dangerous drivers.
Jail the magistrates, public menaces
Oh what a judgement call, Why does this kind of attitude in the courts not surprise me.
If it was an old age pesioner that failed to pay a bill in error; they would have received a far more severe penalty or punishment.
Judge and Taxi Driver should be named and shamed!
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