TRY TO IMAGINE...
That the following is the first story of its kind you've ever heard.
From Tuesday 17th August's Metro (usually these stories are not reported at all, for reasons I can't understand - either not sufficiently newsworthy or don't sit comfortably with political agenda).
A driver who killed a young child and crippled the boy's mother was jailed for nearly four years yesterday. Justin Martin was overtaking a bus on a blind bend when he ploughed into the car carrying Kirstie Buckle and her son, Blake. His 4x4 was travelling at 55mph. The three-year-old boy was knocked unconscious and pronounced dead in hospital. Miss Buckle suffered horrific injuries and is now wheelchair-bound. Jailing Martin for three years and nine months, Judge Paul Hoffman told him: 'Your driving was utterly reckless. It was a narrow road on a dark morning. It was an act of blind overtaking. You caused the death of Blake and shattered the life of his mother.' The crash took place on a country lane near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. Miss Buckle, 23, saw the bus coming in the opposite direction and slowed to 30mph. But Martin, whose Mistubishi was behind the bus, sped up and overtook. Miss Buckle was cut free from the wreckage. Both feet and six ribs were broken. She has had six operations since the crash in January. Outside York Crown Court, Miss Buckle said 'When I got up life was perfect. I had a son I adored. Blake was murdered because a man could not wait to get past a bus.' Martin, of Saxton, was banned from the road for four years.
That this happens every day is clearly a scandal and one that seems to pass unnoticed. Why? Why should an arrogant 4x4 driver be allowed to drive ever again after overtaking a bus on a blind bend at 55mph and killing/crippling people? Note that the driver was sentenced to three years, nine months custody, and banned from driving for four years. What these stories neglect to mention is that any driving ban runs concurrently alongside the custodial sentence, so this guy will, more or less, be back behind the wheel on his release. He will not, therefore, be banned from driving at any time when he is free and at liberty to drive!!!!!
We are surely desensitised to the terrible injustice of these stories and sentences. Perhaps that's because they are largely unreported. On the other hand, if a cyclist brushed past a pensioner causing him/her to stumble/drop his-her shopping/step out of the way - ie causing shock and inconvience but no lasting damage (note, I'm not saying that this is acceptable) you can be certain it'd be reported in appalled, condemnatory terms.
At the top of my street in South London there are boards advising of a 'fatal incident'. When I lived in North London there was a 'fatal incident' at the top of the road I lived there, too. Yet no one is ever really punished. A fine of a few hundred quid isn't punishment. A prison sentence is, and this is why they are so rarely handed down. What is most amazing is that people who kill on the road because they drive selfishly do not receive a life's ban.
And most depressing of all... cars are such a cash cow for the governemnt (from fuel taxes to the VAT on every tyre refit and MOT), the situation will never really change. Sigh.
That the following is the first story of its kind you've ever heard.
From Tuesday 17th August's Metro (usually these stories are not reported at all, for reasons I can't understand - either not sufficiently newsworthy or don't sit comfortably with political agenda).
A driver who killed a young child and crippled the boy's mother was jailed for nearly four years yesterday. Justin Martin was overtaking a bus on a blind bend when he ploughed into the car carrying Kirstie Buckle and her son, Blake. His 4x4 was travelling at 55mph. The three-year-old boy was knocked unconscious and pronounced dead in hospital. Miss Buckle suffered horrific injuries and is now wheelchair-bound. Jailing Martin for three years and nine months, Judge Paul Hoffman told him: 'Your driving was utterly reckless. It was a narrow road on a dark morning. It was an act of blind overtaking. You caused the death of Blake and shattered the life of his mother.' The crash took place on a country lane near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. Miss Buckle, 23, saw the bus coming in the opposite direction and slowed to 30mph. But Martin, whose Mistubishi was behind the bus, sped up and overtook. Miss Buckle was cut free from the wreckage. Both feet and six ribs were broken. She has had six operations since the crash in January. Outside York Crown Court, Miss Buckle said 'When I got up life was perfect. I had a son I adored. Blake was murdered because a man could not wait to get past a bus.' Martin, of Saxton, was banned from the road for four years.
That this happens every day is clearly a scandal and one that seems to pass unnoticed. Why? Why should an arrogant 4x4 driver be allowed to drive ever again after overtaking a bus on a blind bend at 55mph and killing/crippling people? Note that the driver was sentenced to three years, nine months custody, and banned from driving for four years. What these stories neglect to mention is that any driving ban runs concurrently alongside the custodial sentence, so this guy will, more or less, be back behind the wheel on his release. He will not, therefore, be banned from driving at any time when he is free and at liberty to drive!!!!!
We are surely desensitised to the terrible injustice of these stories and sentences. Perhaps that's because they are largely unreported. On the other hand, if a cyclist brushed past a pensioner causing him/her to stumble/drop his-her shopping/step out of the way - ie causing shock and inconvience but no lasting damage (note, I'm not saying that this is acceptable) you can be certain it'd be reported in appalled, condemnatory terms.
At the top of my street in South London there are boards advising of a 'fatal incident'. When I lived in North London there was a 'fatal incident' at the top of the road I lived there, too. Yet no one is ever really punished. A fine of a few hundred quid isn't punishment. A prison sentence is, and this is why they are so rarely handed down. What is most amazing is that people who kill on the road because they drive selfishly do not receive a life's ban.
And most depressing of all... cars are such a cash cow for the governemnt (from fuel taxes to the VAT on every tyre refit and MOT), the situation will never really change. Sigh.
