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Law—or justice?
Of course Ilona Richards is right (CM 6-12 February). There will always be aberrations in sentencing and this was an extreme example.
Only last year you carried the headline "Judges get tough on fatal fatigue" in reporting a three year sentence on a driver who caused a fatal accident after falling asleep at the wheel (CM 16-22 May).
And only six weeks later you reported on a driver fined £800 following the death of two motorists in similar circumstances (CM 4.10 July).
Motoring law is full of contradictions and often takes account of the result, rather than the seriousness of the offence.
No doubt there are many cases of drivers falling asleep at the wheel and causing acci dents in which no one is injured yet no prosecution results. Others cause no danger but are caught driving over the blood alcohol limit (some of them unwittingly well into the following day when sobriety has long since returned) and suffer enormous penalties.
Car drivers may drive with a break for as many hours as they like: car phones may legally be used when on the move, even though their use can seriously impact on concentration.
Epileptics and others with disabilities are restricted and even those with defective eyesight (but who can safely compensate) were recently threatened with licence withdrawal.
We have plenty of laws, but I sometimes wonder whether we have justice.
Anthony G Phillips, Salisbury.