Community work for woman who killed three cyclists

[Swoop]

...like the govt would just make sitting the licence more expensive as a tax

Yeah, that's just not on.
IF they SERIOUSLY want to do something about NZ's road toll, this would be the first place to look (along with tightening the bollocks screws on the fecking judges!).

[oneofsix]

IF they SERIOUSLY want to do something about NZ's road toll, this would be the first place to look (along with tightening the bollocks screws on the fecking judges!).

Second place is to get off the "speed kills" bollocks and to police basic driving skills like indicating, lane selection etc. Ensure drivers (and riders) are driving. Make people realise driving isn't just something that happens whilst you travel from A to B, but is serious. Get them doing the basics right and they will start to realize how dangerous it is, appropriate speed will tend to follow as a cause and affect thing.

[Clockwork]

Well the families did place a submission before the judge requesting that she not go to jail so I suppose they're satisfied with that.

That submission really needs to be in the forefront of people's minds when commenting on the 'lightness' of her punishment in this thread. If the families were big enough to do that then perhaps posters here should respect that.

I don't agree.... bad driving like this has a much wider affect on all of society, everyone else needs to be considered too.

Perhaps a short term in a minimum security prison and an extended home detention and loss of license. People need to understand that killing someone with a vehicle is just as unacceptable as killing someone with a gun, or any other way for that matter.

[MD]

As sweet a child as she may be. As remorseful as she may be. As unintentional as the crash may have been. The sentence was far too light for taking three lives.

The danger of this light sentence is the message it is sending to the wider polulation. If you come across as upset by 'your mistake' you can walk away free from killing 3 people.

And as far as I have read on this, she can't offer any explanation, let alone an understandable one, as to why she lost control on a modest bend. A seizure for example would be understandable. But no, she was sober, not using a phone and supposedly driving at 80kph in a 100kph zone. From press photos there was good visibililty through the modest curve of the road, the riders were on the opposite side of the road and in hi-viz wear. WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE DOING??? No seriously, I'm not being cynical. What could possibly distract her for SO LONG as to not see she was off course, not see the riders coming towards her and not be able to correct her course at such a slow speed. It's pretty simple, turn the steering wheel. At 80kph you have plenty of control over a car's movements and plenty of braking room. OK, they said the road was damp. Cars with four tires on the ground give bloody good control on damp roads at 80kph.

Had she veered 1 or 2 metres into them I could accept this from a moments inattention. BUT she went right across her lane, across the centreline, across the other lane to hit them!

Her failure to even explain her actions to me is reason enough for home detection as a minimum.

[JimO]

as i understand it, it was light rain she came around the corner and braked,when she saw the cyclists, car locked up and skidded across the road, i would say panic took over and she was just along for the ride, as most people would be in that situation

[marty]

as i understand it, it was light rain she came around the corner and braked,when she saw the cyclists, car locked up and skidded across the road, i would say panic took over and she was just along for the ride, as most people would be in that situation

hmm. you weren't there, and you understand it wrong. my 15 year old daughter would have done a better job at controlling the car than miss king did (or didn't in this case)

[marty]

google pix of the crash site. i've highlighted the position the bikes were hit

[avgas]

Seems fair - she can serve the community by servicing my......

[superman]

Could tie this into the other thread.

I wonder if these bikes hadn't been riding in a group, how many would still be alive today. They should have the same 2-seconds behind eachother rule as everyone else on the open road.

The only reason they ride in the group is to be seen.

So again, it's cagers faults for not looking and making cyclists feel to be safe they need to ride in such a tight group, the car might as well have been ten pin bowling.

[JimO]

unfortunatly shit happens and cyclists have no protection, personally i feel they have no place on the open road, cars travelling at 100ks and people weaving about on bikes traveling at (sometimes) 10 ks dont mix.

[MD]

google pix of the crash site. i've highlighted the position the bikes were hit

Thanks. That's what I remember seeing on the news at the time. A stretch of road that to me is closer to straight than a corner. It is absolutely beyond belief that someone could be so utterly useless as to 'lose control' at 80kph there.

I recall a distressed family member of a victim making a similar comment along the lines of "There's no excuse, you just can't crash on such a gentle curve?"

[JimO]

"There's no excuse, you just can't crash on such a gentle curve?"

i will have to ask my very experienced mate who crashed his ducati on a gentle right hander, bike written off, smashed leg, fractured scull, broken ribbs broken ancle, last in a group of bikes not speeding fine day, good road

[MD]

i will have to ask my very experienced mate who crashed his ducati on a gentle right hander, bike written off, smashed leg, fractured scull, broken ribbs broken ancle, last in a group of bikes not speeding fine day, good road

It's quite simple really. Something MUST cause a crash. Either your mate was utterly useless at negotiating a gentle right hander - and you say he's experienced so that should rule that reason out. Therefore something caused him to crash? A pot hole, loose stones, diesel spill, blow out, sun strike, bird strike, animal strike, texting, the easter bunny, whatever.

I'd just like to see the facts come out as to what caused this girl to go so far off course as to kill three visible people positioned at the far edge of the other side of the road.

[98tls]

Yes...and it could have been her overcooking the corner, losing control and ploweing into you, killing you, and 2 mates... If it had of been a group of motorcyclists dead it would be a different story wouldnt it...

Blah blah blah,we live in a country that cant convict anyone for the death of 2 baby boys ffs.

[Shadows]

I'm beginning to think that the driving test examiner that signed her off as competent enough to drive in the first place should have been charged instead.