Police appeal for information after cyclist is killed in hit and run in Sheffield

bumble wrote:

So sad.

And also bloody annoying. That's a dodgy road, with 2 enormous wide pavements either side - plenty of room for a seperate lane,  an easy (and obvious) job in terms of infrastructure.

 

I don't know the road, but i do know of similar from the description, A pavement used as a cycle path is only as safe as the weakest point, junctions! TBH you can't win until drivers are subject to meaningful penalitites for breaking the law. 

I would hope that this case would see a jury be harsher, less of the by the "grace of god go i", drink driving happens but is fairly frowned upon by most.  

Gus T wrote:

My condolences to the family, another young life un-necessarily lost. IF the driver was under the influence of alcohol, and from what I see drunk driving is on the increase, then surely a new crime, not a traffic offence, of murder by driving under the influence should be introduced. Again if the initial information is correct then someone sold the driver the alcoholic drinks and prehapsthe purveyors of alcohol may also have to be included as accessories to the fact, too many shops and pubs are happy to sell alcohol in large amounts without any responsibility for the results of what happens when people over imbibe, one pub I know of even levey's a parking charge if drivers opt to take taxi home rather than drink drive. Prehaps we should take the Finnish view and use taxes to make alcohol so expensive that alcohol becomes a luxury and not a way of life. 

And no I'm not anti-alcohol, just anti drink driving, I lost a friend the day he left school because of a drink driver and on Sunday met a gentleman who took up cycling earlier this year to fill the gap left in his life when a drink driver killed his wife. We have stringent laws against smoking but in comparison have extremely lenient laws and sentencing for offences commited whilst under the influence of alcohol, one has to ask why?

Totally impractical and pie in the sky thinking this is murder. It's not. The individual did not set out in his car to kill this cyclist but what he did was grossly and criminally negligent. Neither is there any hope what so ever of prosecution of those that sold him the alcohol. The correct charges are causing death by dangerous driving and driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs. What needs to change is the sentencing - much more severe, ie  very long prison sentences 20 years and life time driving bans to commence when or if some one is ever finallly released. However there would be no need for any of this if scum such as this were just hung or put to death by lethal injection.

Airzound wrote:

Gus T wrote:

My condolences to the family, another young life un-necessarily lost. IF the driver was under the influence of alcohol, and from what I see drunk driving is on the increase, then surely a new crime, not a traffic offence, of murder by driving under the influence should be introduced. Again if the initial information is correct then someone sold the driver the alcoholic drinks and prehapsthe purveyors of alcohol may also have to be included as accessories to the fact, too many shops and pubs are happy to sell alcohol in large amounts without any responsibility for the results of what happens when people over imbibe, one pub I know of even levey's a parking charge if drivers opt to take taxi home rather than drink drive. Prehaps we should take the Finnish view and use taxes to make alcohol so expensive that alcohol becomes a luxury and not a way of life. 

And no I'm not anti-alcohol, just anti drink driving, I lost a friend the day he left school because of a drink driver and on Sunday met a gentleman who took up cycling earlier this year to fill the gap left in his life when a drink driver killed his wife. We have stringent laws against smoking but in comparison have extremely lenient laws and sentencing for offences commited whilst under the influence of alcohol, one has to ask why?

 

Totally impractical and pie in the sky thinking this is murder. It's not. The individual did not set out in his car to kill this cyclist but what he did was grossly and criminally negligent. Neither is there any hope what so ever of prosecution of those that sold him the alcohol. The correct charges are causing death by dangerous driving and driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs. What needs to change is the sentencing - much more severe, ie  very long prison sentences 20 years and life time driving bans to commence when or if some one is ever finallly released. However there would be no need for any of this if scum such as this were just hung or put to death by lethal injection.

Sorry, I disagree, if I get drunk, walk into town with a loaded shotgun & start firing randomly, I get charged with attempted murder, if I do the same with a motor vehicle it becomes a lesser crime, unless the person I hit is a police officer when it becomes murder again. Everyone has a choice, if you get into a motor vehicle drunk & know the charge at the end may be murder or vehicular manslaughter which results in life imprisonment then you may change your views. There are enough TV shows & articles in the press showing the effects of drink driving so why not let the punishment fit the crime, stating it's totally impractical is not an option. Any issue can be resolved if people & politicians put their mind to it.

IanW1968 wrote:

I wouldnt advocate state killing for any crime, people do bad stuff given the wrong circumstances.

That said..a 20 year ban and a manslaughter charge would provide some hope.

No, not for any crime, but just for those serious ones such as in this case.