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news
Statue of Justice, Old Bailey (licensed CC BY 2.0 on Flickr by Ronnie Macdonald).jpgDriver who was using WhatsApp when she killed cyclist jailed for 30 months
A driver who was using WhatsApp when she crashed into and killed a cyclist has been jailed for 30 months.
Paige Blake, aged 24, had been talking to her sister through the smartphone app when the fatal crash happened on the A414 near Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, on 20 April last year.
The victim, 80-year-old Hertford resident Freddie Oborne, who competed regularly in cycling events and triathlons, died at the scene reports the Welwyn Hatfield Times.
Blake, from Hertford, pleaded guilty at St Alban’s Crown Court yesterday to causing death by dangerous driving.
Besides handing down a prison sentence, Judge Michael Kay also banned Blake, who is heavily pregnant, from driving for four years and three months.
Caroline Oborne told the Welwyn Hatfield Times that she and her sister had both suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder in the year following their father’s death.
Reflecting on the jail term given to Blake, she said: “It's never going to bring my dad back.
“Whether it had been two months, five years or 10 years. It will never bring my dad back, but at least I hope people will reflect when they pick up their mobile phone, or Facetime while driving at a speed.
“Don't do it, Don't do it because this is what happens.
“Too many people get killed on bikes at the moment by people being reckless,” she added.
It was one of 15 cyclist fatalities road.cc identified as having happened during the first month of the first national lockdown last year, which began in late March.
> 15 cyclists killed on UK roads in first month of lockdown
As we noted at the time, that was an unusually high number for the time of year despite motor traffic being well below pre-pandemic levels as people heeded government instructions to stay at home.
The same period also saw a big rise in the number of cyclists on the roads, however, due to key workers taking to two wheels to get to work while avoiding public transport as well as people getting on their bikes to take their permitted daily exercise.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- kingleo 4 sec ago
Did commuting to and from work on my bike for 46 years in the London traffic increase the number of my red blood cells? - my breathing is superb, ...
- Rendel Harris 8 min 12 sec ago
Can you also imagine refusing to answer police questions on the matter and then when you went to court pleading guilty to a serious criminal...
- Bungle_52 17 min 33 sec ago
I am afraid you won't be able to stop close passes but you can play your part in trying to hold drivers to account which may reduce the problem in...
- Hirsute 15 min 41 sec ago
I made a complaint within an hour of the story being published. I have zero faith that they will amend anything....
- chrisonabike 33 min 51 sec ago
Especially children, near a school, one might imagine? By a bus driver driving children to school?...
- chrisonabike 37 min 30 sec ago
TBF I think that's before she saw the light and got on her bike. Not so great if her views have been informed by Mr. Briggs though.
- Saracen888 1 hour 16 min ago
That's a great price. Just bear in mind Import duty and handling charges will be applied pre delivery.
- Griff500 2 hours 38 min ago
Yep, I appreciate your problem. I wouldn't buy a bike without at least sitting on the same frame configuration on a trainer in the shop, something...
- Secret_squirrel 3 hours 52 min ago
One less thing to clutter up your jersey pockets no? Though difficult to retrieve in a hurry...
- David9694 4 hours 44 min ago
was it one of these? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411246675771?
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24 comments
There is always a tendency (that I share) to look at these sentences and bemoan how drivers are treated so leniently when they cause the death of a cyclist due to their terrible driving, and assume that it is somehow because it was a cyclist that was the victim.
It is not ... it is just a symptom of the wider problem of drivers being treated way too leniently by the courts full stop. The car truly is king and, as a result, drivers are allowed to get away with way too much.
The sentence in this case seems reasonable enough when you compare it to the 5 years in prison, and 5 year ban, Gary Hart received for causing death by dangerous driving in coming off the M62 onto the railway line and causing a train derailment/crash that killed 10 people and injured over 180.
There is little incentive for drivers in this country to take their responsibilities seriously, and little deterence for those who choose not to.
I suspect part of the reason for assuming it is because a cyclist was the victim is that on average to cause similar carnage in a collision between vehicles requires far bigger, faster impacts... So similar injuries for drivers usually result from far more dangerous behaviour, so sentencing looks longer, because we only hear about the worst cases, while similar levels of substandard driving resulting in collisions between cars probably gets even less prosecution because it is just dented metal that insurance can deal with... Of course this then makes it even harder to prosecute substandard driving (because the average driver thinks that level of incompetence is just an insurance job)
I have just returned from a trip to the Lakes. There were several bad close-passes, but no very bad ones. There were several uses of HH mobile, including a van driver coming towards me with both arms through the spokes of the steering wheel, holding the phone in both hands and texting. Sadly, I wasn't wearing the GoPro on this 6 hour trip.
another rather harsh hill up to Cow Ark
Yes, surprisingly hard work up from the Whitewell side, especially if you turn next left! Do you agree that the hardest road around here is Jeffrey Hill, on Longridge Fell, from the north?
I would be genuinely curious to ask anyone who thinks its ok to text or even video call at the wheel... if they were travelling in a bus, and they saw the driver doing it, would they think it was alright?
"If you want to kill someone, the best way to do it is in a car…"
https://vimeo.com/361286029
https://www.eta.co.uk/2021/04/06/another-week-another-child-on-a-pavemen...
And if you want to get away with it then get pregnant immediately after, and use it in your defence to get a more lenient sentence. This is completely messed up.
"Today was a hard day for us all as a family. Seeing some of the horrible disgusting comments posted on this blaming cyclists for being on the road and riding all over the place just makes me sick to my stomach. Paige Blake the women that killed my Grandad by dangerous driving she had over 3.5m to avoid hitting my Grandad but only reacted or didnt react at all until 2-3 seconds before impact when she braked and got her car down to 70 miles an hour from 80-90 miles which she had been going at throughout her journey, this is all proven by police reconstruction. On impact Paige was distracted by a video call to her sister not a phone call she was video calling, 2 minutes before hitting my grandad she texted someone while still video calling. Again through a police reconstruction it showed that my Grandad was cycling straight no swerving, she had more then enough space to avoid my grandad on an empty clear road during lockdown. She got pregnant to avoid prison and deleted calls and text"
From the DM comments
The family comments on that page are heart breaking.
Justice has not been done.
A pub owner with shoddy electrics was jailed for 9 years for the death of a child on his property. He was charged under gross negligent manslaughter. The same charges should be applied for someone stupid enough to be using a mobile phone at 80-90 mph and leading to the death of someone. Yet they aren't. Also if you look at what the family posted in the comments, then look at the sentencing guidelines for death by dangerous driving, he decided there was some intermediate culpability from the driver. Yes, speeding, using a mobile phone to text AND. Video chat is only classed as intermediate culpability.
I find it sickening, using her father's death as an excuse for her lack of care towards others on the highway. It dishonours his memory.
Erm, that was the victims daughter statement. The clue is in the same surname.
And what of the fact she got pregnant after she killed the cyclist and used that for leniency. A cynical person would sugest that was planned to abuse the sexist, and already too lenient, justice system... She's a royal piece of work. Can we not just have a giant blender for these kinds of people?
I find it sickening, using her father's death as an excuse for her lack of care towards others on the highway. It dishonours his memory.
No, that's the daughter of the elderly man Blake killed lamenting her father's untimely and tragic death.
What is the maximum sentence and why so low a term in jail?
I recall the fella who killed a family on the A34 while choosing music on his phone was jailed for 10 yrs, which I think is the maximum for death by dangerous driving.
The other magic words are "But I'm a politician!"
My deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Freddie Oborne.
Should be a lifetime driving ban. If she'd rather be talking to her sister than paying attention to where she's going then let her do that - as a pedestrian.
Interestingly, if you go to the Daily Mail comments section for this story (usual health warnings apply) you will find the same sentiments repeated throughout the most recommended comments.
If that opinion is popular, even on the most anti-cycling forum, then surely it is time that a political party noticed and drafted some policies accordingly.
"I thought you are not allowed to cycle on the dual carriageway?"
<facepalm>
You'd think so wouldn't you? However, there's a fair bit of money floating around to bolster a car-centric culture, so in the end the money talks louder than people's lives.
Very sad. Despite points and fines even for using a phone without causing a catastrophe, drivers still do not get the message.
Proper policing would help - at the nearest traffic lights to my house, they could nick dozens a day very easily (at pre-covid traffic levels). Once a driver has 6 points and £100 fine they might learn.
Same here in Belfast, there is a junction just 50 yds away from the main police station where cars fly through the red and I've seen them do it with a police car next to me, more interested in getting to the station for a cuppa!