Learner Driver who killed three friends in Crash

 

Learner driver who killed three friends in crash

 

 A learner driver who killed three of his friends in a crash during which the car split in half has been jailed for four year and eight months.

Jake Loy, 19, lost control of his Honda Civic and smashed into another car just after midnight on the A711 in Dumfries, Scotland, after taking it out on a public road for the first time, without any supervision required by a provisional driving licence.

His three 16-year-old passengers – Tyler Johnston, Ian Cannon and Finlay Johns – were killed in the crash on March 16 2022. The three occupants of the other vehicle and Loy were seriously injured.

The court heard the other driver had been adhering to the 60mph speed limit and although Loy’s speed was “unknown”.

A judge heard how Ian had posted a message in a group social media chat before the crash that he was “scared” in the vehicle and that Loy was a “terrible driver”.

Ian Cannon, Finlay Johns and Tyler Johnston, all 16 years old, were killed in the crash 

 

Sentencing him to four years and eight months imprisonment, Judge Lord Drummond said: “Not only were you unqualified, you had no real familiarity with this car or its characteristics at speed or under adverse conditions.

“Your driving at the time of the collision formed part of a more prolonged and deliberate course of bad or aggressive driving with a disregard for the danger being caused to others.

“The victim impact statements all bear witness to the terrible devastation you caused to the lives of their family members of those you injured. This sentence cannot alleviate their anguish.”

Loy, of Moffat, Dumfries shire, was also disqualified from driving for eight years and must sit the extended test before he is able to drive again.

He showed no emotion as he was led to the cells. Family members in the public gallery were seen crying after the judge had concluded his sentencing.

 

Donald Findlay KC, defending, told the court that his client has “simply no memory” of the incident. He said: “Loy is distressed by what happened and the consequences to his friends.

“It is telling and quite moving to me when he said that if he could take their place he would. He would rather it be him. There is very clear and strong evidence of what is known as survivor’s guilt. There was no badness nor malice or intent of any kind.”

Driverless cars to be tested in UK

Business secretary, Vince Cable, sits in a driverless car.

Driverless cars are to be tested in Bristol, Coventry, Milton Keynes  and the London borough of Greenwich and those locations in trials will put the UK at the forefront of automated vehicle technology.

Government funding of £19m will allow three separate trials to take place: one in Bristol, one in Greenwich and one split between Coventry and Milton Keynes. The trials, lasting from 18 to 36 months, will test different aspects of self-driving technology. All will take place away from public roads, though each is aimed at making automated vehicles on Britain’s roads a reality.

The trials will use semi-autonomous cars that can drive themselves for periods of the time with a human driver behind the wheel, as well as lightweight self-driving pods designed for low-speed shuttle services. The three projects will be linked by an external monitor who will coordinate all the data.

The Greenwich trials – named the Gateway project – will involve self-driving shuttles being tested on closed roads and in simulation facilities. The project is led by the TRL with contributions from the Royal College of Art, Imperial College London and the University of Greenwich along with General Motors, the AA and RAC.

“These shuttles are a relatively mature technology, so our trials will be more about how to manage participants and the vehicles, to get us towards these vehicles being a real proposition for public roads,” Reed said.

Gateway will also test cars that can drop off passengers then park themselves. The vehicles will then return on command, similar to concepts shown off by Audi and other carmakers.

The Bristol trials – named the Venturer project – will involve tests investigating legal and insurance issues, as well as public reaction to self-driving cars.

well as public reaction to self-driving cars.

The Venturer project will be led by project management group Atkins Highways & Transportation. Also involved will be the Bristol robotics lab at the University of Bristol and insurance company Axa.

Driverless vehicles could change the way we move around cities. Photograph: Alamy

The question of who pays in the event of a crash involving a driverless car is seen as one of the major barriers to letting self-driving cars loose on highways.

The trials in Milton Keynes and Coventry will be run by a consortium named UK Autodrive. Arup is to lead this project with Jaguar Land Rover and Ford contributing. The project will focus on car-to-car and car-to-road communication and the infrastructure required.

The government has made clear its support of the automated vehicle industry. “The UK is a world leader in the development of driverless technology,” said business secretary Vince Cable. “This not only puts us at the forefront of this transformational technology but also opens up new opportunities for our economy and society.”

Full Report on :   http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/01/driverless-cars-tested-uk-bristol-coventry-milton-keynes-greenwich

Indian government drafts law to tame India's chaotic traffic

Measures include a points system to punish repeat offenders and stiffer penalties for speeding and failure to stop at red lights

Traffic in Delhi, India. Photograph: Alamy

For decades, the chaotic use of  roads has been held up as a point of pride by locals who argued that, though unnerving, the free-for-all worked in a way that foreign practices such as staying in your lane or using your mirrors would not.

Now the government, hopes to tame the rickshaws, elephants, trucks, luxury SUVs, bicycles, camels, five-seater motorbikes, cows and buses that battle it out each day on the country's highways.

The objective is an ambitious one. Around 150,000 people a year die on India's roads, with hundreds of thousands more injured in around half a million recorded road accidents.

There is no ongoing system of verification of vehicle, no central national agency of road safety, and a culture of flouting the law. A huge surge in car ownership has not been matched by investment in roads, safety education, monitoring or policing.

The new bill aims to save 200,000 lives over five years and boost economic development, which has flagged in recent years.

The World Health Organisation has said the number of deaths and injuries on the roads in India costs the country around three percentage points of GDP growth annually. Transport ministry officials put the figure higher.

Modi's government has disappointed some observers, particularly in the business community, for failing to pass "big bang" reforms immediately. BJP officials say they are taking a "softly softly" approach with measures aimed at "putting the house in order, not burning it down".

One spur to the reform was the death of a minister in a car crash in Delhi days after the election win.

The draft law was posted online by the road transport ministry at the weekend with a request for user comments.

Full Story at:  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/14/modi-law-india-traffic-roads

Diesel drivers face higher costs in battle to reduce pollution.

UK cities considering low emission zones and London diesel drivers could face extra costs on top of the congestion charge.

Drivers of diesel cars may have to pay more in road tax or face extra charges to travel into city centres in an effort to tackle pollution according to reports.

Major UK cities are considering low emission zones to force out older diesel vehicles that are responsible for higher levels of fumes, the Times said.

Almost all diesel vehicles driven into central London will trigger a £10 charge under plans being considered by mayor, Boris Johnson who will also reportedly lobby the government to increase road tax on diesel cars to encourage a move to cleaner vehicles.

The £10 fee, which would come into effect in 2020, would be on top of the congestion charge, forcing diesel drivers to pay at least £20 to drive into the capital's "ultra low emission zone", the newspaper said.

Only diesel vehicles meeting the Euro 6 emissions standard will be exempt, while petrol cars registered before 2006 will also have to pay.

Labour is reportedly planning a countrywide network of low emission zones to force older diesel cars from city centres, proposals that are being considered by more than 15 cities including Sheffield, Birmingham, and Bristol. Oxford has already introduced a zone for buses and may expand its plans for other vehicles. The initiatives are being considered to help meet European regulations on clean air and avoid the threat of heavy fines for breaching them.

The mayor's environment adviser, Matthew Pencharz, told the newspaper: "We want to see an unwinding of incentives that have driven people to diesel. Euro engine standards on emissions have not delivered the savings expected, meaning we now have a legacy of a generation of dirty diesels."

Today there are 10m cars in Britain are powered by diesel engines – a third of the total.

"Part of the problem is regulation. In laboratory conditions diesel cars have meet strict test criteria. Unfortunately that performance hasn't been matched on the road and now we have a significant health issue because of the dash for diesel."