A flatbed truck driver, who caused the "absolutely tragic" death of a nurse cycling to a volunteer shift on an intensive care unit during the pandemic, was more than two times over the legal limit for driving with cannabis when the collision occurred.

Douglas Toshack said he had been smoking the drug the night before the collision, and had been using cannabis for 30 years. He denied causing death by dangerous driving and was instead convicted of the lesser offence of causing death by careless driving
and driving while over the legal limit for cannabis.

At a sentencing hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh, Toshack was jailed for two years and banned from driving for eight years.

James Harrison was cycling to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in June 2022, where he was volunteering to support the Covid response during the pandemic, when he was hit by Toshack at a junction on the A772 Gilmerton Road.

The court heard that the research nurse was heard shouting "whoa" repeatedly before the flatbed Mercedes Sprinter vehicle driven by Toshack hit him before driving over the victim, Mr Harrison dying later that day at the same hospital where he was due to
work.

Toshack was deemed to have caused the death through his inattention and failure to see Mr Harrison, the judge Lord Sandison left in no doubt the "cause of Mr Harrison's death was, first and foremost, your carelessness". The judge also referenced a victim
impact statement from Mr Harrison's widow and said it reflected "the devastation caused to two young children who will never see their father again".

The maximum prison sentence for causing death by careless driving is five years, while the offence of driving while over the limit for cannabis can result in a maximum six-month prison sentence, an unlimited fine and a minimum one-year driving ban

Toshack was sentenced to two years in prison, defence solicitor advocate Euan Gosney saying the driver was "completely devastated" and is genuinely remorseful.

"The impact of the offence on Mr Harrison's family has been considerable and it is accepted that the level of harm caused is of utmost seriousness," he did also admit, arguing that a community payback order and a restriction of liberty order could be a
more suitable punishment than jail time, a suggestion rejected by the judge.

At the end of Toshack's eight-year driving ban he will be required to pass an extended test before being allowed to drive again.

https://road.cc/content/news/truck-driver-above-cannabis-limit-when-he-killed-cyclist-304333

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On 06/10/2023 01:17 pm, Simon Mason wrote:

A flatbed truck driver, who caused the "absolutely tragic" death of a nurse cycling to a volunteer shift on an intensive care unit during the pandemic, was more than two times over the legal limit for driving with cannabis when the collision occurred.

Douglas Toshack said he had been smoking the drug the night before the collision, and had been using cannabis for 30 years. He denied causing death by dangerous driving and was instead convicted of the lesser offence of causing death by careless

driving and driving while over the legal limit for cannabis.

At a sentencing hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh, Toshack was jailed for two years and banned from driving for eight years.

James Harrison was cycling to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in June 2022, where he was volunteering to support the Covid response during the pandemic, when he was hit by Toshack at a junction on the A772 Gilmerton Road.

The court heard that the research nurse was heard shouting "whoa" repeatedly before the flatbed Mercedes Sprinter vehicle driven by Toshack hit him before driving over the victim, Mr Harrison dying later that day at the same hospital where he was due

to work.

Toshack was deemed to have caused the death through his inattention and failure to see Mr Harrison, the judge Lord Sandison left in no doubt the "cause of Mr Harrison's death was, first and foremost, your carelessness". The judge also referenced a

victim impact statement from Mr Harrison's widow and said it reflected "the devastation caused to two young children who will never see their father again".

The maximum prison sentence for causing death by careless driving is five years, while the offence of driving while over the limit for cannabis can result in a maximum six-month prison sentence, an unlimited fine and a minimum one-year driving ban

Toshack was sentenced to two years in prison, defence solicitor advocate Euan Gosney saying the driver was "completely devastated" and is genuinely remorseful.

"The impact of the offence on Mr Harrison's family has been considerable and it is accepted that the level of harm caused is of utmost seriousness," he did also admit, arguing that a community payback order and a restriction of liberty order could be

a more suitable punishment than jail time, a suggestion rejected by the judge.

At the end of Toshack's eight-year driving ban he will be required to pass an extended test before being allowed to drive again.

https://road.cc/content/news/truck-driver-above-cannabis-limit-when-he-killed-cyclist-304333

Anyone can make a mistake while driving. Anyone can make a mistake while
riding a chav-bike. But users of illegal drugs found driving or riding
their chav-bikes while under the influence should be automatically
disqualified from driving, no matter how little of the drug is found in
their bodies. Marijuana is an illegal drug, not a legal one with
restricted acceptable levels. No level of it is acceptable.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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And on the same day a motorist who killed another motorist while high on cocaine gets 12 years behind bars at Glasgow High Court. Courts feeling motorists lives are worth more than cyclists lives again, it might appear?

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/coked-up-driver-who-killed-27851176
============================
If you think that's bad wait till you read about this one.

Just 10.5 years for 3 counts of death by dangerous driving, whilst 15 times over the drug drive limit on crystal meth, and already under bail & curfew conditions for drug & driving offences, which he broke.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-66984466.amp

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Account, including sentence, already posted:

Kelty truck driver jailed for causing death of cyclist

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com>
9 Sep 2023 at 16:37


Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

A flatbed truck driver, who caused the "absolutely tragic" death of a
nurse cycling to a volunteer shift on an intensive care unit during the pandemic, was more than two times over the legal limit for driving with cannabis when the collision occurred.

https://road.cc/content/news/truck-driver-above-cannabis-limit-when-he-killed-cyclist-304333

--
Spike

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On Friday, October 6, 2023 at 5:31:13 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:

And on the same day a motorist who killed another motorist while high on cocaine gets 12 years behind bars at Glasgow High Court. Courts feeling motorists lives are worth more than cyclists lives again, it might appear?

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/coked-up-driver-who-killed-27851176
============================
If you think that's bad wait till you read about this one.

Just 10.5 years for 3 counts of death by dangerous driving, whilst 15 times over the drug drive limit on crystal meth, and already under bail & curfew conditions for drug & driving offences, which he broke.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-66984466.amp

How does Mr Arsehole defend these druggies?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 06/10/2023 10:06 pm, Simon Mason wrote:

On Friday, October 6, 2023 at 5:31:13 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:

And on the same day a motorist who killed another motorist while high on cocaine gets 12 years behind bars at Glasgow High Court. Courts feeling motorists lives are worth more than cyclists lives again, it might appear?

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/coked-up-driver-who-killed-27851176
============================
If you think that's bad wait till you read about this one.

Just 10.5 years for 3 counts of death by dangerous driving, whilst 15 times over the drug drive limit on crystal meth, and already under bail & curfew conditions for drug & driving offences, which he broke.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-66984466.amp

How does Mr Arsehole defend these druggies?

Ask Collins (or is he just one of your socks?).

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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QUOTE: Toshack was sentenced to two years in prison, defence solicitor advocate Euan Gosney saying the driver was "completely devastated" ENDS

I should imagine that the family of the cyclist that he killed would be rather upset as well.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: Toshack was sentenced to two years in prison, defence solicitor advocate Euan Gosney saying the driver was "completely devastated" ENDS

I should imagine that the family of the cyclist that he killed would be rather upset as well.

Your sympathies for the deceased’s family might have the ring of verisimilitude if you refrained from re-posting accounts of the incident.
What comfort do you think the family drew from your quote above, for
example, or your repeated postings?


--
Spike

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Wish I'd just read the headline, cursed the driver and decided not to read the rest.

" . . . two young children who will never see their father again"

I don't think there will ever come a day when I don't feel moved to tears by reading details like this, if only there was a way of getting this feeling across to drivers every time they get behind the wheel.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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chrisonatrike replied to Left_is_for_Losers | 20 hours ago
5 likes

... and for those not using drugs we should be even quicker to convict and impose stronger sentences - because they don't even have the excuse of impairement!

Of course, we rightly criticise those who choose to drive while intoxicated. That is after all a choice which makes crashes more likely. It's also a handy shorthand for the "other" (only - statistically - a substantial proportion of people in the UK
use drugs including alcohol). However, so does speeding, not driving to the conditions, phone use, driving while tired, driving while distracted (perhaps the kids are playing up?)... And - for understandable legal reasons - we grant each driver before
the court the benefit of the doubt that this is a single isolated incident and they have never driven this badly before.

"Throwing the book at drink-drivers (and now drug-drivers)" (if we did!) is I think a symptom of our feeling that "driving is normal, bad driving is understandable, dangerously bad driving is excusable (and actually 'careless' legally)". There has to be
*something* beyond the pale, surely? Ah - drink driving! They are the "other" which puts the rest of us on the right side of the fence.

Driving in the first place (as opposed to cycling, walking, getting the bus / tram / train / taking a taxi, just not making that journey at all) makes us more likely to be the cause of someone else's injury. Naturally in our driveogenic environment we
don't often see driving as making a choice. We also don't think about the additional risk to others we create when we do so. That's because that risk is normally small - for over decades people have learned (the hard way) that the roads are only "for"
motor vehicles. And - slowly - authorities have patched some safety back in.

So we should amend the phrase "if you want to murder without penalty use a vehicle" with the caveat "just make sure you're sober when you do it".

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Wish I'd just read the headline, cursed the driver and decided not to read the rest.

" . . . two young children who will never see their father again"

I don't think there will ever come a day when I don't feel moved to tears
by reading details like this, if only there was a way of getting this
feeling across to drivers every time they get behind the wheel.

Good job whoever wrote that doesn’t live in Israel right now.

Keep in mind that 800 people a year die from falling down steps and stairs. That’s a lot more deaths than cyclists. Kids are sometimes left orphaned,
or lose one parent; what does the writer above suggest should be done to
people about the issue?

--
Spike

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QUOTE: The only time I've ever been car-pranged on a bike was the summer of 1980, when going to work (spit). A lady came out of a junction across the main highway, clipping my back wheel (although I had seen her suddenly put her foot down and tried,
unsuccessfully, to dance out of the way). Broken wrist for me. She was t-boned by the car that was in the traffic stream behind me.

Rozzer investigations discovered that she was woozed from some downers prescribed by her quack for anxiety. She had become too unanxious, especially about the rest of the traffic.

Was she an evil drugged up criminal or just a victim of poor quackery? Or was it the cultural assumption that you can drive in any condition you like as its some sort of natural right?

In all events, she was prosecuted and her insurance paid out wodges to me and another. That was when there was still a justice system, though, before Toryspiv neglected it to death. ENDS

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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