SPEEDING BRITISH DRIVER KILLS FOUR PEOPLE -- WHO CARES?

A national cycling organisation called for an overhaul of the law yesterday after a motorist who killed four riders in Britain's most serious cycling tragedy was fined 180 pounds.

Robert Harris, 47, was driving a Toyota Corolla with three defective tyres when he lost control on black ice near his home in Abergele, North Wales, on January 8. The car ploughed into a group of 12 cyclists from the Rhyl Cycling Club who were just beginning a regular Sunday morning training session. The riders were said to have been scattered "like ninepins" as the car struck them on a bend of the A547.

Among the dead was 14-year-old Thomas Harland, who had ambitions to win medals for Great Britain at the sport. His father, Jon Harland, a club official in his forties, saw his son die.

Harris, a security guard for the DIY chain B&Q, did not attend the hearing at Llandudno Magistrates' Court. He pleaded guilty by post to three counts of driving with defective tyres. Diane Willaims, for the prosecution, told the court that a police investigation found that Mr Harris's defective tyres were not a contributory cause of the crash. She said: "The Crown took the decision that in the circumstances, tyre tread is there to displace liquid debris from the road to give a better grip. In this situation, the examination has found there was no liquid there. It was black ice. Consequently the defective tyres could not have been a contributory factor to the collision."

Harris's solicitor urged the court in a letter to note that his client's driving had not contributed to the accident.
Llion Williams, chairman of the bench, fined Harris 60 pounds for each of the tyre offences and endorsed his driving licence with six points. He already three points from a fixed penalty for speeding.

Mr Williams said: "We are dealing with this case as we would any case involving defective tyres, where a guilty plea has been entered by post. "It has already been established in court that the three defective tyres were not a contributory factor to this tragic accident". After the hearing North Wales Police said that the investigation into the crash was continuing.

CTC, the national cyclists' organisation, has been critical of the way the case has been handled, particularly that the question of the appropriate speed had not been considered. Roger Geffen, CTC's campaigns and policy manager, said: "Time and again when people are killed and seriously injured, the message given out by the legal system is that these incidents are nothing more than tragic accidents. "The victims are disproportionately pedestrians and cyclists, the very forms of transport we most need to encourage for health and environmental reasons."

Mary Williams, chief executive of the road safety charity Brake, said: "This is a tragic case where four innocent cyclists were killed and their families' lives were devastated. It is an outrage that Robert Harris has not even lost his licence, yet four people have lost their lives. "Drivers should ensure their vehicles are regularly serviced and maintained to the highest standards. Driving with defective tyres puts lives at risk and kills."

Provisional figures from the Department of Transport show that the number of pedal cyclists killed or seriously injured from January to March - 440 - was 20 per cent higher than the same period last year.

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