Thoughts with the Rhys-Evans family. On this occasion appropriate charges were brought and pursued. I have written an open letter to the CPS and posted on my blog.

Lets hope the sentence will reflect those charges. Tragic for everyone concerned.

One life destroyed and one life slightly inconvenienced.Oh the justice.

God damn...

That is shit. Genuinely terrible.

doe3s anyone think she will get 5 years??? more like a little slap on the wrists and 6 points on her license. Until more stringent mesures are brought upon the likes of ms hart, its open season on cyclists. I can't see the CPS doing much.

As a member of icknield road club i have ridden in time trials with Gareth and know that he is very sadly missed by the club.

I can only hope that other motorists will read about this and be more aware of cyclists in the future

Very sad.

It is interesting that she said "he came out of nowhere" but she was seen passing within a foot of another rider.

I suppose she has to make some excuse. I think yet again it is all just down to a lack of care and respect for other road users. You see it everyday cycling on the road but sorry for this girl she hit this poor fellow that could have been anyone of us.

As I say I think this sort of thing is just down to impatient and inconsiderate car drivers. I am sure the girl feels very sad and its a shame that this happened due to our sometimes selfish nature.

I've always believed that before people can hold a car licence they should be shown to have competance in operating other vehicles. After all to hold an HGV licence I had to hold a car licence for a couple of years before taking the test.

Perhaps teenagers should be trained more rigorously in road craft before they get to the age of seventeen and be made to pass some form of advanced cycling and motor scooter proficiency test. They could then be made to hold it for at least a year to demonstrate some basic road craft before getting behind the wheel of a car. The problem in this tragic case, and many other similar incidents, seems to be a complete lack of comprehension of the vulnerability and rights of other road users. For driving so carelessly she should really be banned for life as she clearly doesn't know what she is doing behind the wheel of a car.

That she was actually found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving tells us that the jury clearly thought she was deliberately passing the cyclists as closely as she thought she could get away with. As such manslaughter or murder would have been a more appropriate charge...

i feel for his family , i drove past him just after it happened . i was horrified by seeing him be given CPR . How could she not off seen him :(

This is hard to read without anger, but respect is due. Let's raise a glass and commit to making the roads a better place for all users.

I feel for the familys loss and its clear this girl should receive the severest possible sentence.

But at the risk of inciting a tyrade of abuse/comments of naivety. Should there not be a question regarding the use of the A1 for an amateur cycle event or have the Icknield Road club been doing this for years?

Yes there are dangers on all open roads but the A1 is without doubt one of the most dangerous in the UK.

Assuming there were plenty of marshalls and signage in place then the girl has no defence whatsoever but to her we are just people on bikes and probably shouldn't be there anyway.

Maybe the CTT could provide for purchase by clubs a range of standardized road cycle event signs, their website doesn't seem to mention this at present.

"Came out of nowhere" ... An interesting description for "The cyclist was going in the same direction as me and I ran into the back of them"?

I've lost count the number of motorists who pass far too close even when there is nothing coming the opposite way, they cannot claim not to see me as I always use hi-viz and when needed, quality lights.

It's mainly young driver's, lad's showing off to their mate's, some passenger's have even leaned out the window in attempt to grab me and girl's who have no spatial awareness who appear to be oblivious to the outside world as soon as they get in a car.

How did any of these people pass the theory and hazzard perception test? and then who taught them? although I can guarantee some will not have a licence.

The excuse of "didn't see" does not wash.

I have marshalled for events for Icknield and we always put out highly visable signs that there is a race under way and have marshalls in high vis clothing at each roundabout, turn or danger area.

people always use the " i didn't see them" excuse because they know that they can only be charged for careless driving if they dont see you, but if they see you its dangerous driving

she should get life for coming out with such a disgraceful excuse as that, obviously she doesn't give a shit.

My heart goes out to the children left without a dad and the wife who has been left to pick up the pieces to her devastated family.

what the hell was she doing not to have seen the cyclists?

I got hit last October by a 16 year old fresh out of Driver's Ed, and she was texting on her phone. I got drilled with no chance of reacting. I'm just glad things we'rent worse and that i can still ride(despite its been a long recovery). Shame on thoughtless, young drivers!

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim

Chilling story. Sad thing is that there are god knows how many drivers out there just as dim as she is. She missed the fluo race signs - she didn't see the other rider (with fluo number on their back) she didn't see the Major until she hit him. WTF would have made her see them ??

It could have been any of us who have ever ridden a TT.

Condolences to the family.

dangerous driving you think!, what you reackon a max 4yrs, and a driving ban served whilst in prison. back on the road in no time. keep on trucking at all costs

She kills a cyclist and only get 5 years jail. That's bullshit. The family of the cyclist will have to deal with many more than 5 years with out there husband/father.

They should ban her from driving for AT LEAST 10 years after she gets out of jail. That'll make her think next time she hops in a car.

But she will probably only get a slap on the wrists, a small fine and some points of her license. *sigh*

Doesn't look like we'll be getting through to car drives anytime soon.

Oh well, rant over.

I think she was trying to see how close she could get. I have driven down the same stretch of road on an early sunday morning in May at just after 8am and the traffic is very light. It is easy to see what is around you. An earlier post suggested that the CPS might even have tried for a murder/manslaughter charge, but for the fact that any driver simply has to say "I don't remember, SMIDSY, TCOONW or I fainted" to make sure the high burden of proof cannot be satisfied. Generally no charges are brought as it is an unfortunate tragic accident or at the very worst driving without due care and attention.

Good that the CPS in this instance stuck to their guns and went for DDD. Hope it is a sign that they are starting to take such horrific cases more seriously. The law needs to change such that a driver simply cannot rely on saying SMIDSY to get off scot free or avoid being charged with the most serious offences.

MPs - are you looking at this case? The law needs to be strengthened not only to increase the conviction rate but make the sentences proper sentences that are also deterrents and to close the SMIDSY/fainted/TCOONW loophole defence.

Condolences to the Evans familiy.

It's OK, she just needs to press START and reload her last saved game.

Another needless death. Hope the justice system in this country will prevail but I think it will let us, the british cyclist, down again with a flimsy sentence ...

My condolences to Major Rhys-Evans wife and children.

I hope the CPS would have pursued with the same determination if the victim had not been an army Major and the case not so high-profile.

terrible, honestly I wouldn't road cycle because of these types of story. I'd love to cycle to work but seeing the selfishness carelessness.

Long as they're not 5 mins late, you can be 40 years early.

It doesn't say if she was even sorry for what she did! Do you think she even realises that she killed someone?

5 years for murder... it's getting less and less, When will Justice start doing it's job. Or maybe they don't want to overcrowd the prisons(that's sarcastic).

When you are so careless and take away someone's human rights, yours should be stripped also. Throw her in a hole and chuck crap food down to her for 20 years.

I do agree she probably does feel sorry, sorry that she ruined her car that daddy bought.

Anyone can get a ldriving license and this is a big part of the problem. You are not taught how to handle a car in a collision, you are not taught to give cyclists room(as no patience is neccessary for having a driving license).

You are just taught how to get the car from A-B using gears and brakes. You are taught the bare minimum to get a pass, just like our education structure really.

My deepest sympathy's go out to Gareths family.

She is a teenager.

She is scared.

No doubt a lawyer, and her relatives, have told her what to say to the court.

She might have remorse, she might feel guilty, but she is just too scared, and the people around her know this very well.

The girl made a serious mistake.

Our society (me included) killed the man by allowing this mistake to take place more than once.

We must do something to stop this!

OK, I am going to try not to sound like a prick here

Girl is guilty no question and my deepest sympathy goes to family and friends of the deceased and indeed to all those who have lost a loved one in a similar incident.

Incidents like this beg the question why?

Why hold timetrials on busy A roads?

Yes we have a right to be there but we also endanger ourselves in doing so.

How many cyclists would choose to use some of these tt routes as rides out? these roads are not pleasant places to be, whatever time of day. There are plenty quieter roads to use, these may reduce your av speed but increase both your enjoyment and life expectancy.

Every spring/summer I see local tt'ers riding along the a66 by bass lake and every year I think the thoughts expressed above.

I'm sorry but this is making me so angry.

She should be hung for what she did !

And 2 nights ago I had a taxi driver about

4 inches off my back wheel revving his

effing engine at at me !