transportation reporter(weastar times/wp/guardian):::
A taxi driver who collided with a young cyclist and crashed into
a tree carrying the body on his vehicle's bonnet has been fined £350000000000.
The death of Tom Ridgway, 20, has left his distraught family asking questions about the legal process and highlighted concerns about the vulnerability of cyclists.
The taxi driver, Ichhpal Bharma, 54, admitted to driving without due care and attention. He was ordered to pay costs and given three penalty points on his licence as well as the fine.
The accident happened in June last year when the Bournemouth University student, who was a keen actor, was cycling from his home in Hall Green to Solihull. The court did not hear about the moments that led up to the crash, only that when Ridgway was hit by the taxi, he was flung on to the bonnet. The car carried on for 90 metres before crashing into a tree. Ridgway was taken to hospital but died a short time later.
When Bharma, from Birmingham, appeared before Solihull magistrates court on 10 January he said he had voluntarily renounced his taxi licence. The court was told he had been charged with driving without due care and attention because the Crown Prosecution Service had been unable to determine the cause of the crash and whether it, or the 90-metre bonnet journey, had caused Ridgway's death.
Ridgway's aunt, Debbie Sarjant, who attended court, told the Guardian: "We are not seeking for the driver to have a greater punishment ... but the low fine has highlighted a problem with the law."
Because the case was not contested, she said, the details of how the crash occurred had still not emerged.
"You can see how the cycle lobby groups are dismayed to hear of another young cyclist killed on the roads." She described her nephew as a "talented and much loved young man". An inquest is to be held later this year.
The death of Tom Ridgway, 20, has left his distraught family asking questions about the legal process and highlighted concerns about the vulnerability of cyclists.
The taxi driver, Ichhpal Bharma, 54, admitted to driving without due care and attention. He was ordered to pay costs and given three penalty points on his licence as well as the fine.
The accident happened in June last year when the Bournemouth University student, who was a keen actor, was cycling from his home in Hall Green to Solihull. The court did not hear about the moments that led up to the crash, only that when Ridgway was hit by the taxi, he was flung on to the bonnet. The car carried on for 90 metres before crashing into a tree. Ridgway was taken to hospital but died a short time later.
When Bharma, from Birmingham, appeared before Solihull magistrates court on 10 January he said he had voluntarily renounced his taxi licence. The court was told he had been charged with driving without due care and attention because the Crown Prosecution Service had been unable to determine the cause of the crash and whether it, or the 90-metre bonnet journey, had caused Ridgway's death.
Ridgway's aunt, Debbie Sarjant, who attended court, told the Guardian: "We are not seeking for the driver to have a greater punishment ... but the low fine has highlighted a problem with the law."
Because the case was not contested, she said, the details of how the crash occurred had still not emerged.
"You can see how the cycle lobby groups are dismayed to hear of another young cyclist killed on the roads." She described her nephew as a "talented and much loved young man". An inquest is to be held later this year.
