Driving deaths in Ireland

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Romulan

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A 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence.
He was also disqualified from driving for six years.

VS

A man who assaulted his boss and broke his jaw in a dispute about working overtime has been jailed for a year.

A broken jaw is a serious injury and I know I am not comparing like with like but how is it that the courts tend towards suspended sentences in these cases?

My perception is that those who cause death on the roads rarely get jailed. Why?
 
Possibly because it could be argued that the dangerous driving was accidental but the assault was intentional?
 
Well in this instance there is a guilty plea to dangerous driving.

But in general how can some of these incidents be described as accidental?

If you drive at a speed inappropriate to road conditions or just plain crazy then you are bound to hit trouble. Nothing accidental about it!
 
in the driving case it was estimated that the speed of the vehicle was 145kmh so it was not accidental.
all you have to do not to go to jail is cry on the witness stand and have the family member of those you killed say something on your behalf, the driver in this case killed two others and should have done some serious time and should also have been banned from driving for at least 10 years. the whole he'll have to live with the guilt could apply to any crime and we don't let those people off so why should people that drive in an exceedingly dangerous fashion be excused jail?
 
There was a man in the papers yesterday, who was drunk driving and killed his own 4 year old son. His wife has still died.
He got 3 years in prison and a long driving ban.
People do go to prison for drunken driving causing death, but in this case, i wonder has he enough unescapable punishment going on?
 
Nobody put a gun their heads and forced them to either drive at criminally insane speeds or to drink 8 pints. I Personally I would favour of a charge of vehicular manslaughter being brought in. There should be no question of jail time and the driving ban should last their entire lives. There are plenty of good drivers out there whose lives are put at risk every day by morons like the above.
 
Seems a strange disparity in sentencing. Thats common enough these days, it really should be sorted out.
 
rob30 said:
There was a man in the papers yesterday, who was drunk driving and killed his own 4 year old son. His wife has since died.
He got 3 years in prison and a long driving ban.
People do go to prison for drunken driving causing death, but in this case, i wonder has he enough unescapable punishment going on?
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Thinking out loud: I wonder does this sentence reflect the fact that this man was from the travelling community?
 
Romulan said:
But in general how can some of these incidents be described as accidental?
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Easily - someone could make an ill judged manoeuvre, misjudge the speeds of others etc etc. Pleading guilty doesn't necessarily mean that the dangerous driving wasn't accidental.

Obviously, driving at 145kph, if that's what we're talking about, cannot be accidental but this wasn't mentioned in the original post. Alcohol wasn't mentioned either.
 
Every case is judged on its own merits. You can't do a simple comparison of crime versus punishment without taking into account all of the facts. That's the system we have- common law versus civil.
 
Driving at 145kph may not be accidental but killing someone was. If you speed you are not guaranteed to kill someone and I would argue that most people speed a little. Granted I would have thought some prison time would be appropriate but the merits of the case might not warrant so.

As someone said attacking someone is a premeditated crime and is treated differently by the courts.
 
The word accident doesn't sit right for me - the bottom line is someone makes a conscious decision to either speed or to drink and drive and imo the price they pay for the consequences of these actions are not enough. I don't know the facts of this case so can't comment on it directly but I do feel that people don't take enough care for the responsibility they hold when getting behind the wheel.
 
Ceist Beag said:
The word accident doesn't sit right for me - the bottom line is someone makes a conscious decision to either speed or to drink and drive and imo the price they pay for the consequences of these actions are not enough. I don't know the facts of this case so can't comment on it directly but I do feel that people don't take enough care for the responsibility they hold when getting behind the wheel.
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In general, I agree with you. But the fact remains that it is possible to cause serious injury, or death, by dangerous driving with neither illegal speed nor alcohol being a factor.
 
It's possible to kill someone in a car driving at the correct speed doing nothing wrong and it can be completely the other party's fault (such as kid suddenly running into road). In that type of case in my opinion you should not be charged at all and I believe that people aren't.

The reason you get prosecuted at all is beacuse of the dangerous element such as speeding, drinking etc which means you were not obeying the law. Six months in prison would be a huge deal for an otherwise law abiding citizen who lost control of their car if speeding and killed someone. People who never expect in their lifetime to go to prison.
 
In the motoring case mentioned by the OP, the families of the deceased asked for a non-custodial sentence to be considered. Perhaps this was taken into account and partly explains why the lad walked from court, albeit with a suspended sentence and ban.
 
FKH said:
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As someone said attacking someone is a premeditated crime and is treated differently by the courts.
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An assault may not necessarily be premeditated and may be a reactive thing; a lack of control or an inability to express hurt / anger in a more appropriate way.
 
at the end of the day its the judge who hears all the facts and makes his judgment...he is the one appointed and qualified to do the job.
 
starlite68 said:
true...but i would say they a lot more experienced than any of the posters on this forum, thats why they sit in judgement and we do not!
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A quick read through any weeks crime stories and you quickly start to question their judgement.
 
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