The prosecution pushed for a $1,000 fine and a complete driving ban, while the defense argued for a higher fine ranging from $1,500 to $1,800 without any prohibitions. Along with the $1,150 fine the judge restricted his driving to work duties and picking up his kids.
Just imagine if your kid was killed by a truck driver, and the courts were battling over a few extra hundred dollars for the fine. No jail, and a very loose “ban” on driving for the person who killed your kid.
I just don’t know why a cyclist (or pedestrian’s) life means nothing in the eyes of the law.
Beltran was a UBC PhD student engaged in a project emphasizing the benefits of bike lanes.
How about that
This was an attempt by Big Car to silence his work
Big Car
They’re called trucks.
It costs $1000 to legally kill someone.
And a year of semi-revoked driving privileges. I wonder how many times you could get away with it before they actually put a real penalty in place…
The article doesn’t say what happened. Without more information, the outcome could be fair. Arbitrarily putting people in prison for an accident isn’t going to solve anything.
The context makes it worse, unfortunately.
The collision happened at the intersection of Pacific and Hornby streets. The court heard the intersection was well marked and McIntyre turned right from the centre lane instead of the designated right turning lane. (reported by CTV News)
This is why he pleaded guilty to “driving without due care and attention.”, which ignores the fact that this negligence caused a death.
A $1000 fine, $1800 fine, or even a $10,000 fine would still be insulting to the family of the victim.
“criminal negligence resulting in the loss of life”
That would actually be a justified charge, but the court decided not to pursue criminal charges.
Seems to be a trend to simply let truck drivers off the hook for their negligence. The truck driver who killed 16 people in Saskatchewan only got 5 years before he was out on parole. In Toronto, a truck driver with a history of bad driving killed a cyclist and saw no time in jail.
There is no justice for people killed by vehicles.
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He also loses the ability to do his job for the next year, and he’ll probably find it difficult to get a trucking job later, so that’s not exactly letting him off easy.
This is still a tragedy of course.
He’s no longer a truck driver, so that’s irrelevant. He’s allowed to use his vehicle for work, as this was not part of his driving restrictions.
There’s really not much the courts can do to make up for the loss to the family, but an $1100 fine is offensive.
Consider this: the fine for littering in B.C can be up to $2000 with up to six months in jail. Literally, more than negligently killing someone with your truck. 🧑⚖️
Ah, I had misunderstood, and yeah you’re right that with that context it’s very also on the wrist
$1,150.
That is the value of a human life, if they are a cyclist. Absurd.
