Tuesday 23 December 2008

This driver should have been banned for ever

One of the things that really really irks me about the legal system in this country is the fact that someone can commit some relatively minor offence and then receive a disproportionately harsh punishment whilst another person does something that demands the stiffest of penalties and gets off relatively lightly. In other words there is not nearly enough differentiation between the two.

Looking at the Sky News site on the net one of their breaking news stories is regarding a Czech lorry driver who at the wheel of his 40 tonne juggernaut rammed cars that were in his way on the M1. Three drivers were left with whiplash, cars were seriously damaged but fortunately nobody was killed. The Czech was convicted of dangerous driving and criminal damage: he was sentenced to 15 months in jail and banned for three years. Why for heavens sake only three years? This wasn't a case of someone falling asleep at the wheel, which in itself would be grave enough, but it would seem a deliberately malicious act. Surely we shouldn't let that sort of person ever drive again on our roads. Extreme of me you might think, I say not - there are certain times when you have to go to the ultimate so bad is the offence.

Regarding foreign lorry drivers in this country it has been suggested that European drivers aren't all tested to the same HGV standard as the British ones. If this is true then this is something else that's very wrong with the EU. Instead of devoting so much time to totally unnecessary legislation why doesn't Brussels try and ensure a more consistent standard of HGV driving tests in the different states. Answers on a postcard please ...

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