A driver involved in a fatal accident has been given a 26 month prison sentence suspended for two years after pleading guilty to dangerous driving at Derby Crown Court. The prosecution dropped a charge of causing death by dangerous driving against David Furnival of Congleton.
The Court heard that a car driven by Margaret Robinson pulled out of a side road at Brierlow Bar into the path of Furnival's speeding 32 tonne laden tipper in February 2008. She died at the scene. Prior to the collision the tipper had been travelling at 60mph and was travelling at 50mph at the point of collision.
Prosecuting, Jeremy James said that because of flawed technical calculations it was impossible to conclude that had Furnival been driving within the 40mph speed limit the fatality would not have occurred.
For Furnival, Mark Laprell said that had there been a speed trap on that road and no collision had taken place Furnival would simply have been charged with a speeding offence. His HGV driving licence had been taken away for 12 months by the Traffic Commissioner and he had been unemployed since.
Imposing the suspended prison sentence, disqualifying Furnival from driving for 18 months and ordering him to take an extended re-test and to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, Judge John Burgess said he had ignored the particular responsibility that drivers of heavy lorries had.
"You knew that stretch of road extremely well and you were aware that the junction was a danger spot," he told Furnival.
Sentence was based on the speeding offence The sentence passed was based on the speed that Furnival was driving, the Judge saying that it could not include that fact that there had been a fatality as a result of the collision.
Related used vehicles for sale
