HGV driver who killed cyclist found not guilty of dangerous driving

How saying "I didn't seem them" is anything other than admitting your guilt I really don't know.

Surely seeing what's in front of you when driving is really the very least that we can hope for from a driver.

How you can kill somebody and be convicted of "careless driving" is a sick, sick joke. Careless is scratching your car or knocking off a wing mirror. At the very least this has to be "dangerous driving" but really it deserves some kind of vehicular homicide charge.

This isn't just about cyclist, this is about justice for the 5 family's a day that have loved ones kill by motorists. How can this be acceptable. In other comments I recently read somebody point out that if we were losing 5 people a day to terrorism we would be living under marshal law with the army on the street. But as it drivers doing the kill nobody gives a shit.

Another failure of our justice system. Scary the inequality that exists between cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles. Driving in low sun, or with impaired visibility of the road constitutes dangerous driving in my book - if you can't see the road ahead, stop or drive very slowly.

Another failure of our justice system, it is time that judges where made aware that causing death while driving should NOT be acceptable collateral damage.

When operating heavy and dangerous machinery, the operator should be held fully responsible for the consequences. If people don't want to accept the responsibility then they shouldn't drive.

Just read an article that in 55% of incidents where cyclists are killed the driver gets off without a prison sentence. Obviously there will be cases where the driver was not at fault or where there was joint liability. What would interest me is whether the composition of jury would have an effect on the outcome of cases. Eg would the excuse of "sorry I have not seen you when I run you over from behind" be accepted. If it was made mandatory for a jury to be made up of people who drive and cycle in such cases. Seems to me that if a jury is just made up of people who drive they could be too lenient towards the party that drove. I would find a study in what outcome the composition of a jury had in those cases interesting.

In the news reports 2 factors not in this piece

1) the Police arrived at workplace, where truck was based. Driver showed no surprise at being arrested.....

2) the truck had many areas of damage, not all from the impact with DNA identification.

Thought also - DNA implies body material/blood/hair/flesh? still present on truck. 1) did Driver not notice 2) did others at workplace (Transport Manager) not notice.

No chance of a serious conviction when 99% of the jury are likely to be car drivers and 0% cyclists. I hope the truck driver gets mown down by a dangerous driving moton blinded by the sun. This would be rather fitting for a total fuckwit who should not be driving a pedal car let alone an HGV. Shocking. Was he registered blind?

This is comforting. ..my uncle was killed last year in practically same circumstance.Went to plea case last week and defendant saying exactly same thing!! So apparently if you say you didnt do it you didn't do it.....great!!British justice at its best!!

Oddly on a winter's morning I leave for work, I drive up a hill and the sun is sometimes right in my face, it's not a surprise as you know it's about to happen (large yellow object in periphery vision).....but I slow right down to a crawl. It's not hard, takes zero effort and I know 999/1000 times no one is there (dead end lane, rural area) but occasionally dog walker. If I were to drive into someone...there can only be one guilty / at fault party.

HGV driver - absolutely unforgiveable, as a professional driver you really should have foreseen where the sun might be.

It seems that more and more deaths appear because of drivers not seeing cyclists. I'm not an expert, but we shouldn't allow blind people driving a big ass vehicle. Not seeing is not an excuse!!! It's like having sex with an underage girl and saying I didn't know. You still had sex with her...

It gets tiring reading these stories, how long can this go on for?

yet more "low sun" bolloxs .... if you can't see you slow down or
stop ... It's not rocket science and could save someone's life !
when will the courts understand this is an unacceptable
excuse ???

"In his summing up Judge Roger Dutton told the jury it was important to take time in considering all the facts in deciding whether or not Mr Byrne’s driving "fell far below the standard required of a competent driver" — the definition of dangerous driving."

This is key, and what did a jury of other drivers say, "no, it totally acceptable to drive along for 200 meters and not see a cyclist"

What a f..king surprise!

This is how low the bar is set for drivers in their killing machines.