Motorist jailed for three years for using her car as a weapon

[meic]

There is a five year minimum sentence for just possessing the firearm in the first place.

[old_windbag]

News reports always have to throw in "attributes" to sway your thinking of a person or situation. I see this all the time on the news, in this case "pregnant", "carer" etc, oh how bad for the poor girl. If it was just a person ran another over after they kicked their wing mirror off it doesn't bias opinion as much. They always tack age onto many items too if trying to convey someone is too old to do the task, "Mr Corbyn who'll be 70 soon....." . Another that sticks in my mind was when noel edmonds accidentally killed a chap as part of his whirly wheelers stunts, the news said "mr X who was unemployed died accidentally in a stunt...". Adding his unemployed status, rather than a married man and father of two type of thing, sort of appointed a "value" to his life unecessarily and gave it a negative tone.

The frightening thing about the outcome of the road rage incident is that there will be a new generation on it's way created from the genes of an unhinged mother and likely a dipstick father. God help us all........... we're in a big enouh mess.

[661-Pete]

I do wonder what the outcome of this would have been if there hadn't been a CCTV camera to clearly record the collision and run up to it......

Well - this all happened in a city street. If it had happened on a rural road it would have been highly unlikely that any CCTVs would have been nearby. And most of my cycling is done on rural roads, so sets me thinking .... Having said that, I don't think - leastways I hope not - I'd ever get fired up to the point that I'd swipe off a wing mirror....

So maybe the only way video evidence could have been obtained, out of town, would be through a cyclist's own camera or a motorist's dashcam. Maybe the time has come to suggest that all cars should be fitted with dashcams? And that they should be tamper-proof, somewhat akin to aircraft flight recorders?

Come to think of it (and somewhat off-topic), is it still the case that aircraft flight recorders only record cockpit audio plus flight data? Is it not time that they recorded video as well - both in cockpit and cabin? After all, the technology has moved on.

[Cyril Haearn]

and put inside also

Just for kicking off a wing mirror?

They could share a cell to save public cash

[Cyril Haearn]

News reports always have to throw in "attributes" to sway your thinking of a person or situation. I see this all the time on the news, in this case "pregnant", "carer" etc, oh how bad for the poor girl. If it was just a person ran another over after they kicked their wing mirror off it doesn't bias opinion as much. They always tack age onto many items too if trying to convey someone is too old to do the task, "Mr Corbyn who'll be 70 soon....." . Another that sticks in my mind was when noel edmonds accidentally killed a chap as part of his whirly wheelers stunts, the news said "mr X who was unemployed died accidentally in a stunt...". Adding his unemployed status, rather than a married man and father of two type of thing, sort of appointed a "value" to his life unecessarily and gave it a negative tone.

The frightening thing about the outcome of the road rage incident is that there will be a new generation on it's way created from the genes of an unhinged mother and likely a dipstick father. God help us all........... we're in a big enouh mess.

True, I am afraid one wants to pigeonhole people. Maybe it would be enough to just quote the net financial worth of the criminal, victim etc irony!

Mr Corbyn who is xx years old has accumulated a lot of wisdom just by living so long

Mr Corbyn who has a beard, that earns him some points to start with

[mercalia]

and put inside also

Just for kicking off a wing mirror?

They could share a cell to save public cash

and make it a reality tv show have phone line bets how long before they start fighting

[reohn2]

It wasnt her competence that failed her, (she took that corner quite nicely ), it was entirely her attitude. Attitude isnt tested in the test, certainly not to the point of being provoked by a physical attack on your "pride and joy" of a car.
I would think that the jail term would have a far greater effect on her attitude, hopefully as a future deterrent from such rash actions.
Likewise, I bet the cyclist will be deterred from ever kicking off a mirror again.

I would think the jail term is the punishment and the driving ban and retest along with a suitable probationary period (2 years?) would be the rehabilitation.

Her attitude does of course stink(as does the cyclists when he kicked out at her wing mirror though that was only property).
The problem here IMO is one of being competent enough to be trusted with potentially lethal machinery in the public domain,which she clearly isn't due to her total lack of regard for human life.

[thirdcrank]

The word has obviously been getting round for some time that bashing door mirrors is a jolly good wheeze. A couple of years ago I was driving along in a normal queue of traffic late evening and some joker leaned over a pedestrian railing to spring mine back with a loud bang but no damage. Only property but door mirrors are generally extremely expensive. As I've suggested above, if you want to provoke somebody driving a car, bashing their door mirror is an effective way to do it. When the subject of provocation comes up, one comparison is that you wouldn't go up to the biggest guy in a pub and put your tongue out at him. You might get away with it with a woman if she wasn't with that big guy, unless she whipped off a stiletto and bashed your face with it. It's wrong to react to provocation with violence, but nobody should be surprised when it happens.

[reohn2]

The word has obviously been getting round for some time that bashing door mirrors is a jolly good wheeze. A couple of years ago I was driving along in a normal queue of traffic late evening and some joker leaned over a pedestrian railing to spring mine back with a loud bang but no damage. Only property but door mirrors are generally extremely expensive. As I've suggested above, if you want to provoke somebody driving a car, bashing their door mirror is an effective way to do it. When the subject of provocation comes up, one comparison is that you wouldn't go up to the biggest guy in a pub and put your tongue out at him. You might get away with it with a woman if she wasn't with that big guy, unless she whipped off a stiletto and bashed your face with it. It's wrong to react to provocation with violence, but nobody should be surprised when it happens.

Whilst I agree,there's a world of difference between a bashed wing mirror and deliberately running them over in retaliation once they've done it.
That said the anonymity of a cyclist in such an encounter can,I would imagine,be infuriating.Though doesn't excuse anything she did of course.

[landsurfer]

Oh and I think I can recognise sarcasm emanating from the magnolia when I see it! Trouble is, he does over-egg it rather a lot on this forum, no?

What are you talking about ...... ???? Silly Person .......

[LollyKat]

Whilst I agree,there's a world of difference between a bashed wing mirror and deliberately running them over in retaliation once they've done it.
That said the anonymity of a cyclist in such an encounter can,I would imagine,be infuriating.Though doesn't excuse anything she did of course.

Don't forget that the driver had first nearly collided with him because she was using her phone, and then abused him when he remonstrated with her. I don't for a moment condone the mirror bashing (how did he manage to kick it??) but it was not a totally random act without provocation.

[Lance Dopestrong]

I'm sure she would argue her actions were not without provocation either.

The problem with picking arguments is there is always someone bigger/tougher/less inhibited/more unhinged than you. I'd rather take my ego take a bruising than my liver be punctured.

[VanDriver]

Her attitude does of course stink(as does the cyclists when he kicked out at her wing mirror though that was only property)

In view of the driver's actions leading up to the wing mirror incident, the cyclist's attitude is understandable and reasonable. The police and/or courts were never gonna sort her out.

[reohn2]

Her attitude does of course stink(as does the cyclists when he kicked out at her wing mirror though that was only property)

In view of the driver's actions leading up to the wing mirror incident, the cyclist's attitude is understandable and reasonable. The police and/or courts were never gonna sort her out.

FIFY

I disagree,it merely escalated the situation,that doesn't excuse the offenders actions in any way as I posted above.

As someone who has broken off someone's wing mirror in temper in a similar situation(very close punishment pass and consequent exchange of words through his open window) I can testify to that.
Purely by luck the incident happened where I knew the area like the back of my hand,and led the driver a merry dance around a housing estate until he was practically dizzy before disappearing down a known short cut leaving him confused and very angry.

My actions did nothing for one drivers attitude toward cyclists,though I strongly suspect it wasn't too high before the incident,which the start of was entirely his fault but a different reaction from me could have calmed the situation down somewhat.
IMO a very high percentage of road rage cases between cyclists and motorists is caused by the impatience of motorists brought about by their attitude which is one of their right over cyclists to their use of the road,which is obviously wrong,though unless the cyclist has witnesses,is 'camera equipped' or as in this case the incident is covered by CCTV any retaliation by a motorist can be sidestepped as one persons word against the other.

IMO the UK has a serious problem with motorists and cyclists,as I mentioned above the motorist attitude to their right to the roads over cyclists is disgraceful and due to the underfunded and undermanned police there's little chance of that changing.The laws are there but aren't being implemented due to that lack of policing and the reluctance of the CPS to take to task anything but a 'dead cert',as a result,frankly motorists are a law unto themselves in light of that.

AS TC's sig used to say 'gang warily',because every time you venture onto the roads your life and limb is in the hands of someone else,and that someone else is in charge of a huge and potentially dangerous machine compared to a totally unprotected bicycle,and who are whether we like it or not top of the 'food chain',with very few checks and balances against them due to the lack of law enforcement and extremely lenient sentences handed down for motor crime in the UK today.
That said the overall majority of drivers are decent law abiding human beings,the problem is that you can't tell them from the nutters until things begin to unfold.

[Cyril Haearn]

Her attitude does of course stink(as does the cyclists when he kicked out at her wing mirror though that was only property)

In view of the driver's actions leading up to the wing mirror incident, the cyclist's attitude is understandable and reasonable. The police and/or courts were never gonna sort her out.

FIFY

I disagree,it merely escalated the situation,that doesn't excuse the offenders actions in any way as I posted above.

As someone who has broken off someone's wing mirror in temper in a similar situation(very close punishment pass and consequent exchange of words through his open window) I can testify to that.
Purely by luck the incident happened where I knew the area like the back of my hand,and led the driver a merry dance around a housing estate until he was practically dizzy before disappearing down a known short cut leaving him confused and very angry.

My actions did nothing for one drivers attitude toward cyclists,though I strongly suspect it wasn't too high before the incident,which the start of was entirely his fault but a different reaction from me could have calmed the situation down somewhat.
IMO a very high percentage of road rage cases between cyclists and motorists is caused by the impatience of motorists brought about by their attitude which is one of their right over cyclists to their use of the road,which is obviously wrong,though unless the cyclist has witnesses,is 'camera equipped' or as in this case the incident is covered by CCTV any retaliation by a motorist can be sidestepped as one persons word against the other.

IMO the UK has a serious problem with motorists and cyclists,as I mentioned above the motorist attitude to their right to the roads over cyclists is disgraceful and due to the underfunded and undermanned police there's little chance of that changing.The laws are there but aren't being implemented due to that lack of policing and the reluctance of the CPS to take to task anything but a 'dead cert',as a result,frankly motorists are a law unto themselves in light of that.

AS TC's sig used to say 'gang warily',because every time you venture onto the roads your life and limb is in the hands of someone else,and that someone else is in charge of a huge and potentially dangerous machine compared to a totally unprotected bicycle,and who are whether we like it or not top of the 'food chain',with very few checks and balances against them due to the lack of law enforcement and extremely lenient sentences handed down for motor crime in the UK today.
That said the overall majority of drivers are decent law abiding human beings,the problem is that you can't tell them from the nutters until things begin to unfold.

I maintain that the majority of drivers are nasty and illiterate. Driving to and from work I enter the town at the maximum speed allowed. The normal drivers behind me are flabbergasted at my abnormal behaviour

Try standing at a junction with a S T O P sign and count how many drivers can read