Truck Driver gets a year inside

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pete75
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Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by pete75 »

Perhaps the judge's remarks need communicating to all drivers..........

‘every road user is entitled to use the road way - it is not confined to those with an engine. Horse and bike riders have equal entitlement,’

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news ... -1-7082525
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axel_knutt
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by axel_knutt »

It doesn't have quite the same snappy appeal as "no pay no say" though, does it. In this day and age, if your point can't be whittled down to a fatuous soundbite you've lost the argument.
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Postboxer
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by Postboxer »

Seems a lengthy sentence for getting out of your cab and pushing someone off a bike, might have got away with it had he used his truck.
pete75
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by pete75 »

Postboxer wrote:Seems a lengthy sentence for getting out of your cab and pushing someone off a bike, might have got away with it had he used his truck.


Lengthy for GBH?????????
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
Tangled Metal
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by Tangled Metal »

It said in the article that a cyclist has nowhere to go when confronted by a motorist. Personally I'd hop on my bike and go in the opposite direction to the direction the car is and pedal fast. Of course hard if pushed over causing a broken leg, if elderly, etc. But most cyclists are better off avoiding confrontation by riding off. Although I doubt this victim had the chance. Not condoning the truck driver's actions or criticising the victim on the bike. I'm just criticising a little bit from the judge and article.

I once got told how to defend yourself from attack by a 7th Dan ju-jitsu instructor. Expecting some fancy block and strike I got told just don't be there. Trouble has to find you. He elaborated by saying whatever you do take the first opportunity to run away. That was just before he told us about some effective close quarters techniques everyone should know especially vulnerable people.
Flinders
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by Flinders »

Tangled Metal wrote:
I once got told how to defend yourself from attack by a 7th Dan ju-jitsu instructor. Expecting some fancy block and strike I got told just don't be there. Trouble has to find you. He elaborated by saying whatever you do take the first opportunity to run away. That was just before he told us about some effective close quarters techniques everyone should know especially vulnerable people.


We were taught something much the same in self-defence classes for women students in the 80s. Best option [i]if it is possible[/i] is always 'run away'.
Then some 'effective options' if that isn't possible. The group's general squeamishness when the effective options were pointed out was, the instructor suggested, what might get us killed. Run, fight, or submit (in that order I suppose, well that would be my order) but whichever you do, you have to do it 100% or you're in serious trouble.
iviehoff
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by iviehoff »

These are the sentencing guidelines. From the judge's comments, it sounds like he was not prosecuted for GBH with intent, but for inflicting GBH, a lesser offence. The relevant guideline starts on p7 of this.
http://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp- ... _Court.pdf
Whilst the maximum sentence for this offence is 4 years, judges have to follow the sentencing guidelines. Probably the offence was determined to be in category 2 - greater harm (broken leg) and lower culpability (one push). The starting point for that is 18 months, and there would be an automatic discount for the guilty plea, sounds like it was an early guilty plea too. Also isolated incident would be a relevant mitigation. So probably the judge is right that a year is about the max he can give.

Of course the same actions can lead to different outcomes in terms of injuries received etc due to random factors outside the offender's control. If we sentenced people in relation to what they did rather than the outcome, sentences would be very different. But we sentence people in this country taking large account of the outcome of actions. Logically this may be irrational, from a theoretical perspective. But it would be politically very difficult to do anything else ("but he killed him...."/"but no one was hurt...").
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Vantage
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by Vantage »

If I could give that judge a big, wet, sloppy kiss, I would :D
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Phil Fouracre
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by Phil Fouracre »

Yup, good on the judge, just need a few more like him
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Merry_Wanderer
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by Merry_Wanderer »

Tangled Metal wrote:It said in the article that a cyclist has nowhere to go when confronted by a motorist. Personally I'd hop on my bike and go in the opposite direction to the direction the car is and pedal fast. Of course hard if pushed over causing a broken leg, if elderly, etc. But most cyclists are better off avoiding confrontation by riding off. Although I doubt this victim had the chance. Not condoning the truck driver's actions or criticising the victim on the bike. I'm just criticising a little bit from the judge and article.

I once got told how to defend yourself from attack by a 7th Dan ju-jitsu instructor. Expecting some fancy block and strike I got told just don't be there. Trouble has to find you. He elaborated by saying whatever you do take the first opportunity to run away. That was just before he told us about some effective close quarters techniques everyone should know especially vulnerable people.


I understand what you are saying but this is an article in a newspaper. It isn't the whole story to give context, it's the edited version :-)
MikeF
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by MikeF »

Is the judge a cyclist also????? No victim blaming here.
He added there was no suggestion of any improper action by the cyclist and said: “Every road user is entitled to use the road way - it is not confined to those with an engine. Horse and bike riders have equal entitlement.


But passing the sentence he said: “This is a course of action I consider to be on the short side.”
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mjr
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by mjr »

MikeF wrote:Is the judge a cyclist also????? No victim blaming here.

Quite possible. Peterborough is fairly cycling-friendly and March's cycle parking shares pride of place in the middle of the main street:
Image
(Station Road where this happened starts just on the right beyond the blue shopfront.)

Even so, I'm pleasantly surprised by the judgement.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Valbrona
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by Valbrona »

Postboxer wrote:Seems a lengthy sentence for getting out of your cab and pushing someone off a bike, might have got away with it had he used his truck.


Spot-on.
I should coco.
iviehoff
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by iviehoff »

Valbrona wrote:
Postboxer wrote:Seems a lengthy sentence for getting out of your cab and pushing someone off a bike, might have got away with it had he used his truck.

Spot-on.

Actually in such a case there can be, and is material precedent, for concurrent charges of both dangerous driving and S20 GBH (ie inflicting GBH). http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sent ... s_driving/

In general, the sentences you get for S20 GBH and for injuries inflicted while driving tend to be pretty closely aligned these days.

There is a separate offence of "causing serious injury by dangerous driving", but this is intended to apply to "life-changing" injuries and I think they'd be reluctant to use such a charge in this case as it looks a little borderline. Also, it's a recent enacted offence and doesn't seem to be in the sentencing manual yet.
beardy
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Re: Truck Driver gets a year inside

Post by beardy »

In general, the sentences you get for S20 GBH and for injuries inflicted while driving tend to be pretty closely aligned these days.


I'll take your word for that.
That only matters if it gets to sentencing, from many of the links that have come up from the forum and other cyclists' tales it seems that if you stay in the vehicle and use it not blatantly obviously then you are quite unlikely to get anywhere near sentencing, conviction or even prosecution.
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