http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: The difference between hitting a car driver and a cyclist? en Mon, 18 May 2026 23:01:49 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10268#post-111870 Sat, 25 May 2013 10:31:07 +0000 Nelly 111870@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@crowriver</p> <p>Agreed - its too simplistic to presume that anyone makes a distinction that a cyclist death is more or less valid than a driver / pedestrian death.</p> <p>These cases were in different courts, and (I am no expert) I understand that most sentences are based not just on the crime but on mitigating circumstances.</p> <p>If the same judge was passing sentence on two identical deaths by dangerous driving in consecutive cases in the same court (all highly unlikely) - and there was a marked difference in the sentences - I suspect it would be commented upon by more than our forum. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10268#post-111869 Sat, 25 May 2013 09:55:48 +0000 crowriver 111869@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>To be fair, there were two victims in the car that was hit: one died of her injuries, the other seriously injured but survived. Maybe it was 4 years for the death, 2 years for the serious injury? Or maybe sentencing is inconsistent, and/or media don't report whatever mitigating factors were cited by the defence, eg. guilty plea, remorse, post-traumatic stress disorder... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10268#post-111860 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:35:49 +0000 neddie 111860@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>What I'm trying to say is that a fairer comparison in sentencing (between hitting a car &amp; hitting a cyclist) would be the Audrey Fyfe case versus the Bolton News case.</p> <p>(Where both drivers <em>stayed</em> at the scene) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10268#post-111857 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:18:03 +0000 SRD 111857@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>yes, i get that. i guess i misread what you meant to say in your post. never mind. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10268#post-111856 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:15:46 +0000 neddie 111856@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@SRD The driver who left the scene received a lighter sentence because he hit a cyclist!</p> <p>If he had stayed at the scene he would've got community service &amp; a driving ban, as we've already seen with the Audrey Fyfe case. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10268#post-111855 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:13:29 +0000 SRD 111855@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>errr...so why did the driver who left the scene receive a lighter sentence? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10268#post-111854 Fri, 24 May 2013 22:11:37 +0000 neddie 111854@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Not a fair comparison, because one driver left the scene, and the other did not.</p> <p>Leaving the scene is (rightly) treated <strong>very</strong> seriously </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10268#post-111846 Fri, 24 May 2013 19:34:31 +0000 custard 111846@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/local/10443173.Killer_driver_who_jumped_red_light_jailed/">http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/local/10443173.Killer_driver_who_jumped_red_light_jailed/</a></p> <p>6 years for jumping a red light,hitting a car and killing the driver</p> <p><a href="http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2013/05/family-of-cyclist-olatunji-tj-johnson-adeyanju-killed-on-deptford-church-street-say-4-years-for-the-driver-is-not-enough/">http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2013/05/family-of-cyclist-olatunji-tj-johnson-adeyanju-killed-on-deptford-church-street-say-4-years-for-the-driver-is-not-enough/</a></p> <p>4 years for jumping a red light,killing a cyclist and leaving the scene</p> <p>2 years it would seem </p>