A van driver who killed a cyclist after failing to see him on the road, despite the 54-year-old riding with two rear lights, has been handed a suspended 10-month prison sentence.
Graham Nash was riding his bike on a single carriageway section of the A65 Settle bypass in Craven, North Yorkshire on 6 August 2024, when he was struck from behind by van driver Robert Wade.
On Monday, Bradford Crown Court heard that the incident took place at around 4.50am and that Nash was riding with a rear bike light, along with another light attached to the back of his helmet.
Other motorists using the road at the time told North Yorkshire Police that they had seen the cyclist, but Wade informed officers that he had “no idea how he hadn’t seen him”.
In his interview with police following the fatal collision, the 35-year-old van driver told officers that he was simply driving along when the “next thing” there was a collision on the left side of his vehicle, the Craven Herald reports.
Speaking in court, judge Ahmed Nadim said Wade would have had eight or nine seconds to see Mr Nash ahead on the road, telling the motorist: “You failed to observe him despite having ample opportunity to do so.”
Following the crash, Wade stopped and attempted to perform CPR on Mr Nash, who had suffered “catastrophic” injuries. According to prosecutor Jeremy Barton, the cyclist was unconscious and in a state of cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The court heard this week that Wade, despite having no previous convictions, had received penalty points on his driving licence for using a mobile phone while driving in February 2024.
In July, Wade pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving. According to barrister Rhianydd Clement, representing Wade, the fatal crash had been a tragedy “for all those involved”, noting that the van driver had shown “extreme remorse” and understanding of the impact on Mr Nash’s family.
“He knows that sorry is not enough, but he does wish to apologise through me to the family,” she said, adding that Wade had not driven since the incident.
In victim impact statements read to the court, Mr Nash’s wife Linda described the cyclist as “one of a kind” and a “truly special man who made life better simply by being in it”.
A walk held in Mr Nash’s memory raised over £5,000 for local charities, a demonstration of the love everyone had for him, his wife said.
“The sentence imposed by the court will one day end. Ours never will,” Linda, who had been married to Graham for over 30 years, said.
Wade was handed a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was also banned from driving for three years and ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid community work.
Noting that the incident did not involve alcohol, drugs, phone use, or racing, judge Nadim explained that, following Wade’s early guilty plea, the appropriate prison term was 10 months. However, new sentencing guidelines meant that any jail time under 12 months would result in a suspended sentence, “unless there were exceptional circumstances”.
9 thoughts on ““No idea how he hadn’t seen him”: Van driver avoids jail after killing cyclist riding with two rear lights”
As the great American humorist P.J.O’Rourke observed in a different context, “That’s pretty much posting a ‘kick me’ sign on the ass of the law.”
Sadly the prison system is a mess. A result of decades of right wing press appeasing longer sentencing, lack of investment and lack of support for released prisoners.
The only consolation is that the driver has still paid a high price. He may well never again be employed as a van driver, his insurance premiums will skyrocket, he has a criminal record and much of his leisure time will be spent on community service for the foreseeable future.
Maybe in these type of cases a large life-changing fine (£25k – £50k?) would be appropriate? Perhaps this money could be spent on released prisoners support.
@Mr Blackbird A suspended sentence could at least encompass electronic tagging so only allowed out for work/community service, at least? And yes, an attachment of future earnings possibly as well.
But we should all applaud that cyclists can (and very likely in 100% of cases) be sent to jail for life if they are involved in a collision with a pedestrian and that pedestrian dies. Because IDS and that vengeful prick wanted ‘equality’ with driver sentences.
I despair at the leniency of sentences handed out for Death by Careless Driving.
If I was responsible for the death of another person based on my negligence in any other way it would be Manslaughter. But the fact a vehicle in involved is separate. Ironically due to the fact the govt at the time who introduced the law thought juries would be too lenient or apprehensive on convicting someone who – at the end of the day – still took another human life because of their actions.
This needs more signatures and I hope it can reach its target Call for harsher sentencing for causing death by careless driving:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/766378
@Smoggysteve It seems to me that part of the problem is the fact that drivers are charged with careless rather than dangerous driving. It is obvious to me that if you hit a cyclist lit up like a christmas tree from behind when they have been in view for at least 8 seconds your driving falls well below that of a careful and competent driver. I would hazard a guess that the driver agreed to plead guilty to careless but would have pled not guilty to dangerous and the CPS go for the easy option which will take up less court time and not burden the prison service.
I don’t have too much of a problem with lack of jail time but I have a serious problem with the length of the ban. 3 years is an insult to the cyclist’s family.
On a more positive note the driver did at least stop at the scene and tried to administer CPR according to the report. Drivers who have killed cyclists in similar circumstances and not stopped have received sentences on par with this which is another thing that gets my goat.
PS petition signed thanks for the link
@Bungle_52 As you say, the reason they are more often charged with Careless and not Dangerous driving is pretty much , from the CPSs point of view, far more likely to result in a conviction. Its a numbers game for them.
Kill A Cyclist = Don’t Worry, we don’t take it seriously, only a Joke Sentence. It’s their own fault for cluttering up the roads, and anyway he shouldn’t have been out at 4:50 in the morning getting in the way of respectable drivers who have an important job to do
Dangerous vs careless driving. RTA 1998, S2A:
“…a person is to be regarded as driving dangerously if (and, subject to subsection (2) below, only if)—
“(a)the way he drives falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver, and
“(b)it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in that way would be dangerous.”
So how is it in any way possible that failing to spot a fellow human lawfully using the road, with 8-9 seconds to see them, could be anything other than dangerous, by the definition in the RTA?