A lorry driver whose trailer struck a cyclist on a roundabout after assuming that the bike rider would take the same exit as him has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
Neil Gass, aged 48, had pleaded guilty in May this year at Carlisle Crown Court to causing the death by careless driving of 71 year old Mike Seminara in March 2018, reports the News & Star.
Earlier, a jury had cleared the lorry driver of causing death by dangerous driving in relation to the fatal crash, which happened on the Cargo roundabout on the A689 Carlisle bypass.
The victim, from Wetheral, was on a bike ride with two friends as they approached the roundabout. His friends took to an adjacent cycle path, but Mr Seminara, who was riding an e-bike, decided to remain on the main carriageway.
Gass admitted that he had made a “careless assumption” that Mr Seminara would take the second exit, when in fact the cyclist was planning to take the third, and his trailer struck the rider as he passed him.
Recorder David Temkin told Gass that since he had been riding a bike, Mr Seminara was “by definition vulnerable,” and rejected a claim by defence council in mitigation that it had been a case of “momentary inattention.”
The judge said: “You should have slowed down and you should have stayed behind the cyclist.”
He noted, however, that the driver had shown “genuine and enduring” remorse, adding: “I accept entirely that you are very, very sorry.”
He handed down a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and banned him from driving for 15 months.
While Gass will not have to take an extended driving test to regain his licence once his ban expired, the judge ordered him to undertake a computer based driver awareness course before he can drive again.
Mr Seminaro had been married to his widow Joyce for 56 years, and in a statement read out in court she said: “I miss my husband every single day. It’s been hard during the pandemic. We should have been at home together yet I had to go through this alone.”
Speaking of their children and grandchildren, she said: “Mike has been taken away from them far too soon. All of the family have had a difficult time coming to terms with Mike’s death.
“He was always willing to help anyone.” She added: “Mike lost his life because of a careless driver and I would like that to mean something.”
Have to agree about reviewing the footage as what att he time seems close can be very different on camera and thats what a court will see. it does...
Shock as £500k Ferrari SF90 crashes head-on into row of parked cars in Halesowen...
Cast is very brittle
What could be could be causing this flooding, is it the blocked drains? No, it's definitely that line of white paint near the side of the road!
I've not bothered to read the comments under the JV Emergency vehicle tweet but I guarantee there would be so many of them stating that without the...
This. Everybody needs a bike they're willing to leave locked outside the pub without worrying about losing it.
Might not be disingenuous at all. As I learned on road.cc "road safety expert" means "expensive self-publicist lawyer"....
Come on, Chris, I think you are smarter than this, and can do better....
By his logic on overtaking bikes they'd have to wait there forever - even if you could see the other lane was clear for miles ahead - until there...
Don't advertise and the trade will go elsewhere.