Change the law!

In response to the article about Georgia Addy (‘Driver who left girl, 15, for dead is given just a £500 fine and year ban’), my 36-year-old son, a pedestrian, was knocked down and killed in a hit-and-run accident in London in December 2016.

The 24-year- old driver of the van didn’t stop and didn’t call for help, but circled the area for a brief time before disappearing. He was found by the police 15 days later. He had tried to hide the van.

The police and Cps were considering whether to charge him with dangerous driving or careless driving. But due to a lack of evidence, and with the driver keeping quiet, the Cps could only charge him with failing to stop after an accident.

The police could only estimate the van’s speed as being between 29mph and 41mph (the speed limit being 30mph), although my son’s body was hit with such force that he was propelled under a parked car.

The police said the van would have been travelling faster for that to happen, but the law can only prove the minimum speed calculated.

In court, the driver pleaded guilty to failing to stop and was sentenced to six months in prison, reduced to four months for his guilty plea, a 14month driving ban and a £200 fine. If he keeps his nose clean in prison he will be out in two months.

not much for killing somebody, is it? As Georgia’s mother said, Wayne rooney got a two-year ban for drinkdriving, and he didn’t hit anyone.

BrAKe, the road safety charity, is calling for a new charge of failing to stop after a fatal or serious injury crash. At present, english law effectively acts as an incentive for the worst drivers to flee a crash if they kill someone.

If a driver who had been drinking or taking drugs remained at the scene of a fatal crash, they would likely be tested for alcohol or drugs, prosecuted for causing death by dangerous or careless driving while under the influence and face up to 14 years in prison.

But if they run away and sober up, and there is no other evidence of dangerous or careless driving, they can only be prosecuted for the minor offence of failing to stop, which carries a paltry maximum sentence of six months. It’s wiser to flee, ditch the vehicle and hope never to be identified. The law must be changed to remove this incentive.

DaviD LinDup, Evesham.