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#1
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driver charged (at last...)
You may remember postings on here about Zak Carr being killed on the A11
last October. Basically he was rear-ended by a terminally unobservant fule as far as I know. At long last, someone has been actually charged in this sad matter. See http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/conte...A00%3A58%3A873 or http://tinyurl.com/s8yl8 It says, "A man was today due to appear in court facing charges over the death of a champion cyclist. Donald Pearce, 48, of Colman Road, Norwich, has been charged with causing death by reckless driving following the death of Zak Carr last year. Following his arrest by police, Pearce was bailed to appear at Norwich Magistrates Court today." Can those who know the technicalities of the law advise me, please - I thought that 'death by reckless driving' had been changed to 'death by dangerous driving' some time ago. Am I thinking completely out of my tree here?? If it is the case that it was changed, I hope that it's just the reporter getting it wrong and not the guy being incorrectly charged and going to get off on a technicality... Cheers, helen s -- ~~ you may need to remove dependence on fame & fortune from organisation to get correct email address ~Noodliness is Good~ |
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#2
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driver charged (at last...)
wafflycat wrote:
Can those who know the technicalities of the law advise me, please - I thought that 'death by reckless driving' had been changed to 'death by dangerous driving' some time ago. Am I thinking completely out of my tree here?? IIRC, Causing Death by Reckless Driving was the old offence pre the 1991 Road Traffic Act. Its big problem was the judgement of recklessness required an assessment of the thinking of the driver, which was notoriously difficult to prove. The new offence of Causing Death by Dangerous driving was based on the standard of driving, not the why the person was driving that way. Out of interest, pre 1977 it was Causing Death by Reckless or Dangerous Driving but was reworded in the Criminal Law Act as Causing Death by Reckless Driving. This was following a lot of debate as to whether the Causing Death by.. part should be dropped altogether as it was the standard of driving that was being prosecuted, not whether or not it led to injury or death. The charge was introduced in the first place though in 1956 because with only Careless and Reckless Driving charges, it required juries to convict drivers of manslaughter or murder to get a higher penalty if someone was killed, something the juries proved very reluctant to do. Which brings us full circle to the recent debate in this parish about whether such deaths should be prosecuted as manslaughter or murder. -- Tony "The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham |
#3
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driver charged (at last...)
So the EDP and EEN decided to treat Zak's death with the respect and
courtesy it deserved (Traffic chaos after accident) and then get the details of the charges wrong? |
#4
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driver charged (at last...)
"spindrift" wrote in message ps.com... So the EDP and EEN decided to treat Zak's death with the respect and courtesy it deserved (Traffic chaos after accident) and then get the details of the charges wrong? That would not surprise me in the slightest. helen s |
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driver charged (at last...)
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#6
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driver charged (at last...)
wrote in message ups.com... I think both offences still exist. Put crudely, sub-standard driving comes in degrees of severity, from relatively minor 'careless driving' then 'dangerous driving' up to the extreme ' reckless driving'. Put very crudely, reckless driving is the sort which will probably cause an accident every time, while dangerous driving is the sort where the driver might manage to get away with it for months but will sooner or later cause a serious accident. Careless driving creates a enhanced risk of minor accidents and/or slight risk of a major one. Having done a swift check on Auntie Beeb's handy online law terminology guide, causing death by reckless driving has been superceded by causing death by dangerous driving. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/law/jargonbuster_c.shtml Now there is 'carless or inconsiderate driving' and 'causing death by dangerous driving' which is the more serious offence. Cheers, helen s |
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driver charged (at last...)
wafflycat wrote:
Having done a swift check on Auntie Beeb's handy online law terminology guide, causing death by reckless driving has been superceded by causing death by dangerous driving. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/law/jargonbuster_c.shtml Now there is 'carless or inconsiderate driving' and 'causing death by dangerous driving' which is the more serious offence. I'm trying to imagine the offence of "carless driving." Have cars become mandatory now? -- Tony "The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham |
#8
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driver charged (at last...)
"Tony Raven" wrote in message ... I'm trying to imagine the offence of "carless driving." Have cars become mandatory now? Just checking on your proof reading skills, Tony ;-) Cheers, helen s |
#9
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driver charged (at last...)
On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 18:52:38 +0100, Tony Raven said:
I'm trying to imagine the offence of "carless driving." Have cars become mandatory now? It's quite common. http://www.ntk.net/2003/07/25/#ANTI_NEWS http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22carless+driving%22 And I'm sure the .gov.uk one wasn't there at number one two and a half years ago. -- Alan J. Wylie http://www.wylie.me.uk/ "Perfection [in design] is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but rather when there is nothing left to take away." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery |
#10
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driver charged (at last...)
Tony Raven writes:
I'm trying to imagine the offence of "carless driving." Have cars become mandatory now? It almost seems that way... After a minor prang last week our car is off the road with a smashed headlight. Other party admitted liability, and the letter from their insurance mentioned "replacement car if you can demonstrate a need". Now I don't think we /need/ a car but it comes in handy at times, so I called, prepared to discuss to what extend I need it. Turns out that the only criteria is that our car is off the road. Same with the rental company shortly after: when would I need the car? While I was thinking about what upcoming trips were necessary and which I could do by bike he continued by asking if our car was away for repairs yet, and as soon as I mentioned I couldn't drive it at the moment it meant I needed a car right away. And back to cycling: car rental company guy did say the Brompton was very handy when I used it to pick up the car. Roos |
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