If the law is an ass, then who's protecting yours?

Eugene McGee and Kimberley Davis are names you probably aren't familiar with, nor are their victims Ian Humphrey and a Koroit man, but for reasons which I'll highlight they should be along with Amy Gillett, herself a victim of a driver who lost control and collided with a bunch of cyclists in 2005.  As much as I've no desire to turn this blog into a name and shame tabloid style, I can't stand by and watch injustice pass by without saying something about recent news stories I’ve pieced together for this blog.

The Warnambool Standard recently carried a story about the court case of Kimberley Davis, who collided with a male cyclist on the 20th September 2013 while sending and receiving text messages.  The offence resulted in a $4500 fine and loss of licence for nine months. The Koroit man suffered a spinal fracture and spent a significant time in hospital.  The original prognosis of being left a paraplegic was fortunately incorrect and the man spent 3 months recovering.  The disappointing thing is the young woman showed no remorse and months later went on to lose her license to a drink driving offence.  She was clearly more concerned with the state of her car than the life of another human being.   The Magistrate highlighted that a recent workplace breach causing a lesser incident resulted in a company being fined $17,500 plus costs.  Go figure.  The story went viral even being picked up by the Huffington Post, so hopefully now a good portion of the western world along with those in the South West of Victoria know who this person is and will dob her in the next time they see her flaunting the law.  

Ian Humphrey was killed when struck by a car being driven by Eugene McGee north of Adelaide in 2003.  McGee a barrister and former police prosecutor failed to stop and render assistance.  He was later fined $2,250 and was disqualified from holding a driver's licence for twelve months.  Despite there being witnesses and a Royal Commission into the case, McGee and his legal team seemingly pulled out every trick in the book and he still holds the right to practice law in South Australia.    

The newly-qualified driver who collided with Amy Gillett’s training bunch was fined €1440 and disqualified from driving for eight months.

In 2012 I wrote about light fines and hard consequences, as a reflection on the current state of road laws in Australia as they apply to motorists who have caused injury or death to a cyclist. Clearly none bar the most narrow minded moron goes out on the road to cause harm to another road user and we've heard plenty about them in recent times terrorising the cyclists of Melbourne.  It's the texting driver and the alleged drink driver in these recent examples who have respectively been found guilty of "failing to render assistance" and "driving without due care" and perhaps given every other would be offender and their defence team a template of how to minimise the legal impact on their lives while others suffer.  

What would the fine be if they were responsible for the death of a fellow passenger or pedestrian and do these penalties reflect the value placed on a human life or the right to live life without being permanently disabled?  The drink driver who collided with and killed 6 teenagers in Cardross near Mildura in 2006 was sentenced to 10 years jail (1.7 years per victim) with a minimum 7 years.  He was released after 5 years.

While the fine for texting whilst driving in Victoria have increased from 3 demerit points in 2012 and $234 to 4 points and $433, so hopefully 199 more reasons to consider your actions and consequences.  However as Bicycle Network Victoria reported, a recent police blitz on texting drivers in inner Melbourne and Beach Road caught an average of more than 300 drivers a week.  Seems that for many life is just too short to miss sending or receiving a text message in transit.  Perhaps the good news for Victorians is that the state has recently invested in technology to detect mobile phone use while driving.  Don't worry I checked the date and it's no April Fool’s joke that new cameras can pick up drivers without seatbelts on and handling mobile phones up to 700m away.  

This is not an argument about intent, but responsibility and consequence.  Regardless of whether we're riding or driving, we all have a responsibility as road users to obey the road rules.  A recent interview in the Wangaratta Chronicle  of a 26yr veteran of Victoria Police's traffic division summed it up well when he said he could count on one hand the number of accidents attributed to mechanical failure or acts of god. It’s all the other human factors within our control which will make the road a safer place.

As riders it's important to consider that our safety is paramount.   Organisations like Bicycle Network Victoria provide a great magazine full of excellent tips on cycling, strive to improve riding conditions, provide support and insurance.  Support and insurance you may just need one day.