Cataract Granny escapes jail over biker death

This punishment bears no relation whatsoever to the crime this granny had committed. I would have thought the judge had more discretion to impose a custodial sentence? That fine of £500 is just ridiculous. The 3 year ban will effectively get killer granny off the road because she would have to take a re-test which she would fail in 3 years time.

I would call on yearly compulsory physical testing for the over 65s, plus regular re-testing of their driving skills, e.g. every 5 years.

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 10:18

It's tricky isn't it.  You just hope that they have enough sense when to call it a day to there motoring lives.  However it was an honest accident with absolutly no malice involved so she now has to live with that for the rest of her life.

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 10:20

totally disagree. From the article it sounds like she didnt give a fuck about her eyesight and made the decision to drive without here glassess.

Throw the fucking book at her and let her rot...

Sorry but its about time that this country took some personal responsibility for its actions. It is not always someone elses fault...

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 10:59

too true and in reality she wont get her licence back as she wont be able to pass the required eyesight test! I hope she catches hypothermia

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 11:01

Electric_Dreams wrote (see)

It's tricky isn't it.  You just hope that they have enough sense when to call it a day to there motoring lives.  However it was an honest accident with absolutly no malice involved so she now has to live with that for the rest of her life.

 Honest she was driving dishonestly.

Try reading the article again.

This woman drove a car knowing full well that her eyesight was severely impaired and had been told expressly that she cannot drive with the condition.

She then caused the death of an innocent party. In my view this was a completely avoidable accident. Therefore she should have been prosecuted for manslaughter.

Age should not be a factor in the sentence, she will probably still drive thinking that she is OK.

My neighbour drove against doctors orders and rolled his car on a motorway. The police confiscated his licence at the scene. He still says that he will drive without any consideration for other road users.

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 11:04

i agree with dooffle on this one

she knew full well she wasnt allowed to drive,  yet she still did and killed someone, manslaughter right there minimum  5 years in prison?

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 11:18

This is yet another case that could have been avoided by giving Doctors the ability to remove the right to drive if someones condition/medication is detrimental to their ability to drive safely.

Doctors should contact the DVLA and Police.

How many accidents are caused in this manner. Never see that statistic.

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 11:27

The only pity is it wasn't her own family member she killed....That would have been poetic justice!

If you can't see and you drive without glasses it's no better then driving pi55ed senseless

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 11:33

Judge Paul Glenn told Baker: "No words at my disposal will even begin to convey the deep sense of loss felt by his family. You are a stubborn lady and you still do not think you have done anything wrong...............................

Shows not only did she not care but she still doesn't..... Hope the bitch dies a slow, painful death alone!

Accidents do happen but to kill someone so young without any regret is just disgusting!

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 11:40

As said this was no accident. at best its manslaughter..

 I wear glasses and contacts but do i drive knowing full well i cant distinguigh between a lampost and old woman in a zimmer.. Of course not.

 Hopefully some scrote who wants her pension will get her..

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 11:53

Compare this against the case of the woman who killed cyclist whilst texting who got 4 years even though the cyclist ran a red light

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 11:59

dooffle9 wrote (see)

Electric_Dreams wrote (see)

It's tricky isn't it.  You just hope that they have enough sense when to call it a day to there motoring lives.  However it was an honest accident with absolutly no malice involved so she now has to live with that for the rest of her life.

 Honest she was driving dishonestly.

Try reading the article again.

This woman drove a car knowing full well that her eyesight was severely impaired and had been told expressly that she cannot drive with the condition.

She then caused the death of an innocent party. In my view this was a completely avoidable accident. Therefore she should have been prosecuted for manslaughter.

Age should not be a factor in the sentence, she will probably still drive thinking that she is OK.

My neighbour drove against doctors orders and rolled his car on a motorway. The police confiscated his licence at the scene. He still says that he will drive without any consideration for other road users.

It didn't say that either.  It said the optician read her the riot acy for driving without her glasses.  It doesn't say anywhere that she wasn't fit to drive at all.  The frightening thing is that there threre are thousands of drivers out there with uncorrected deffective vision, if you wear glasses dear reader and your evetest is overdue you might be one of them.

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 12:20

Velocette

It didn't say that either.  It said the optician read her the riot acy for driving without her glasses.  It doesn't say anywhere that she wasn't fit to drive at all.  The frightening thing is that there threre are thousands of drivers out there with uncorrected deffective vision, if you wear glasses dear reader and your evetest is overdue you might be one of them.

Even wearing glasses would not correct the effects of CATARACTS even the optician should know that.

My eyesight with contacts is 20/20 and checked regularly thank you.

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 12:57

dooffle9 wrote (see)

This is yet another case that could have been avoided by giving Doctors the ability to remove the right to drive if someones condition/medication is detrimental to their ability to drive safely.

Doctors should contact the DVLA and Police.

How many accidents are caused in this manner. Never see that statistic.

Doctors already have the right/obligation to report drivers that are no longer fit to drive..there is a proper procedure for this, and although it doesnt apply to opticians, if she had cataracts she would almost certainly have seen her GP and he should have told her not to drive and then reported her to DVLA who would have wothdrawn the licence..

Just goes to show that its not just the young wh are reckless and irresponsible when it comes to motoring

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 13:11

Bugie wrote (see)

The only pity is it wasn't her own family member she killed....That would have been poetic justice!

If you can't see and you drive without glasses it's no better then driving pi55ed senseless

If she'd pulled out on a truck, that would have been justic for choosing to drive half blind.

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 13:24

I can't help but wonder if taking her licence away will make any difference to the miserable old bat. I bet she'll drive anyway.

It's fucking ridiculous that I'll have to take a medical when I'm 50 in order to keep my HGV licence, but there's effectively no limit what-so-ever on how long I can keep driving a car or riding a bike. 

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 13:26

ooops i'll read the article nw lol

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 13:33

Well he would know the extent of her cataracts which is presumably why she still apparently had her license and he had only told her off for driving without glasses and not for driving per se.  I doubt that the cateracts were a contributory factor rather than simple uncorrected vision or even more likely not even looking properly.  I was only making the point that you were also making assumptions about the case that were not reported in the article.

 The reason I said Dear Reader was so you wouldn't take that bit personally.  20/20 is only average though, by no means perfect, so keep an eye on it.

This is a massive problem, and everyone getting emotional over one badly reported case isn't going to improve matters.

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 13:36

Surely if they were in the early stages or only in one eye they wouldn't affect the vision enough to have a license taken off you.  I don't think all cateracts cause instant blindness, I think they come in different shapes and sizes..

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 13:44

gedge wrote (see)

Just goes to show that its not just the young wh are reckless and irresponsible when it comes to motoring

I know what you mean, on another site I've just read about someone test riding a BMW F800 GS

gedge wrote (see)

Top speed was a very easy 110 and I would guess that there is another 10/15 mph to go with a bit of space...  

 
I'm shocked that the older generation seem to casual about breaking laws, in this case by nearly 60%.

The limit is 70 for a reason








I haven't a clue what that reason is but those in power keep telling up Speed Kills so there must be a reason.

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 15:08

MAC wrote (see)

gedge wrote (see)

Just goes to show that its not just the young wh are reckless and irresponsible when it comes to motoring

I know what you mean, on another site I've just read about someone test riding a BMW F800 GS

gedge wrote (see)

Top speed was a very easy 110 and I would guess that there is another 10/15 mph to go with a bit of space...  

I'm shocked that the older generation seem to casual about breaking laws, in this case by nearly 60%.

The limit is 70 for a reason








I haven't a clue what that reason is but those in power keep telling up Speed Kills so there must be a reason.

I feel certain that such a speed would only be achieved on a private test track

I actually know the bloke you are talking about and he is a top bloke and in no way reckless or irresponsible..

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 16:57

gedge wrote (see)

I feel certain that such a speed would only be achieved on a private test track

I actually know the bloke you are talking about and he is a top bloke and in no way reckless or irresponsible..

You are probably right, he'll probably be the type of bloke that rides with a top box even on a sports bike

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 18:47

MAC wrote (see)

gedge wrote (see)

I feel certain that such a speed would only be achieved on a private test track

I actually know the bloke you are talking about and he is a top bloke and in no way reckless or irresponsible..

You are probably right, he'll probably be the type of bloke that rides with a top box even on a sports bike

Worse than that he even had one fitted to his supermoto 

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 18:56

"Judge Paul Glenn told Baker: "No words at my disposal will even begin to convey the deep sense of loss felt by his family. You are a stubborn lady and you still do not think you have done anything wrong."

i dont get it, if the judge was so disgusted why did he not give the daft bitch a harsher sentence? 

Posted: 14/03/2008 at 19:07

Surely the time has come to allow opticians and health care professionals the right to report an individual who does not meet the eyesight standard for driving.

Currently the patient confidentiality regulations prevent health workers from reporting people who are not fit to drive. They can only advise people to notify the DVLA themselves.  This should be changed forthwith. The rights of the individual should not entitle them to put the lives of others at risk in such a blatant manner

I also believe that all of us should have to face reassesment of our driving/riding standard and fitness on a regular basis, regardless of age. Most of us learn to drive and/or ride as reckless teenagers. While most of us do mature into reasonably responsible individuals, we still take the bad habits of our youth with us through the rest of our motoring life. Maybe if we knew that we would have to face some form of assessment in the not too distant future (say once every five years) then we would be much more likely to try to keep our driving up to a reasonable level. Who knows, maybe more of us would even consider taking some form of advanced training!

My final point on this despicable excuse for a human being echoes what several have already said. Why was she not tried for manslaughter? Surely her refusal to take the advice of the optician means that this was in no way an accident.

My deepest sympathy go to this poor man's family and friends.

I hope she dies alone and rots in hell for her lack of remorse. 

Posted: 17/03/2008 at 20:09

Ian Thompson wrote (see)

Surely the time has come to allow opticians and health care professionals the right to report an individual who does not meet the eyesight standard for driving.

Currently the patient confidentiality regulations prevent health workers from reporting people who are not fit to drive. They can only advise people to notify the DVLA themselves.  This should be changed forthwith. The rights of the individual should not entitle them to put the lives of others at risk in such a blatant manner

I also believe that all of us should have to face reassesment of our driving/riding standard and fitness on a regular basis, regardless of age. Most of us learn to drive and/or ride as reckless teenagers. While most of us do mature into reasonably responsible individuals, we still take the bad habits of our youth with us through the rest of our motoring life. Maybe if we knew that we would have to face some form of assessment in the not too distant future (say once every five years) then we would be much more likely to try to keep our driving up to a reasonable level. Who knows, maybe more of us would even consider taking some form of advanced training!

My final point on this despicable excuse for a human being echoes what several have already said. Why was she not tried for manslaughter? Surely her refusal to take the advice of the optician means that this was in no way an accident.

My deepest sympathy go to this poor man's family and friends.

I hope she dies alone and rots in hell for her lack of remorse. 

Thats not correct....

What you need to do is to speak to your Doctor who will have full copies of DVLA Guidelines and ask them to complete any necessary forms which need to be sent to the DVLA. It must be noted however that at the bottom of this page we do give the Guidelines direction for CONFIDENTIALITY, a doctor is obliged to inform DVLA if in thier judgement it is unsafe for a patient to drive

Taken from this site   http://www.adders.org/info63.htm which deals with ADHD but is correct and relevant for any medical condition

Posted: 17/03/2008 at 20:21

This happened fairly local to me, on my route to and from work, lots of flowers always at the spot he's well missed.

Its the same old same old, if the lad was riding the bike dangerously and got caught he would of had a worse punishment than the old lady that pulled out obvlious to the world and killed him.

Posted: 17/03/2008 at 20:56

Can anyone tell me why she wasn't jailed, age mabye. Some Judges need a kick up the arse and a reality check, and a sence of public opinion. As has been said before hope she dies slowly and alone.    Cow 

Posted: 17/03/2008 at 21:12