Driver gets 3 months suspended sentence for killing cyclist
There are a lot of distractions available to someone driving a car. Mobile phones, ipods, the car stereo, visual stimulus outside the vehicle, following a map, eating food, makeup, kids in the back seat and watching dvds are just a few.
You wouldn’t think something as simple and momentary as flicking on a demister would cause you to veer out of your lane and claim an innocent life.
Sadly that’s how the life of Suzanne Daniel came to an end.
On an April morning Suzanne Daniel was struck down by eighty five year old William Spence. Spence was turning on his demister when the car veered to the left and collided with Suzanne and her bike.
Spence did stop to inspect the damage to his vehicle. He got out, had a look, decided he’d hit a guide post (those white pole things with reflectors on the side of the roads), jumped back into his car and continued on his way.
As Spence drove off, Daniel’s cold body and mangled bicycle remained on the side of the road.
First of all how the hell long does it take to flick on a demister? It takes longer to change gears then it does to flick on a switch so exactly what was William Spence doing at the time of the collision?
Secondly the report from the Cairns.com.au states that Suzanne Daniel died instantly which means she received a pretty heavy blow to the head, went into sudden cardiac arrest or was crushed.
Unless Suzanne Daniel was a midget, how in the bloody hell do you confuse the damage caused by smashing into a cyclist with that of hitting a 2-3ft high wooden poll which would snap and go flying on impact? There’d be blood, a big bloody dent and not to mention the debris and wreckage on the side of the road.
To give you an idea of just how hard it would be to miss the wreckage of a collision, here’s what Kennedy Highway looks like:
In addition to being questionably blind William Spence is also deaf (to the point of having to stand directly infront of the judge to hear him speak) and presumably does not wear an aid.
At the hearing today, Spence’s lawyer, who refused to give his name to reporters, not only pleaded that his client go to jail but also “asked magistrate Tom Braes not to disqualify his client from driving as it would cause him financial hardship.”
Yeah because you know, we wouldn’t want to put the poor dear out or anything.
For running over a cyclist, failing to stop and assist and fleeing the scene of a crime William Spence was sentenced to a three month suspended jail term and a 2 year ban on driving. If he’s still alive, it’s wonderful news that a nearly deaf and perceivably blind man will be back on the roads two years after running over someone.
Ironically here in Melbourne under new laws introduced a few days ago, if a cyclist hits someone and fails to immediately stop and offer assistance they face fines of up to $68,052 or a five year prison term.
Two people have been killed by cyclists in the last ten years.
Double standards much?
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