Grieving parents of teenage Cambridgeshire cyclist demand mandatory speed limiters as driver jailed

The grieving parents of a teenage cyclist killed by a speeding driver has called for limiters to be installed in all vehicles.

Isla Cochrane, who was just 14, was riding in a segregated cycle lane with her bike lights on when a car mounted the pavement and hit her.

Her parents said she "had done nothing wrong" but "had no chance".

The driver, Oliver Nicholls, 22, had been doing 56mph in a 40mph zone when he overtook a turning vehicle and misjudged the road in Girton, Cambridgeshire. An investigation found he had reached speeds of up to 71mph in the moment leading up to the crash.

Guy Cochrane and Ciara Twomey, Isla's mother and father, have called for a change in the law.

"Isla died because a driver chose to drive at dangerous speeds," they said. "This is immutable. Why, though, was this choice available to the driver?

"Driving at unsafe speeds is common; why is any driver given the option to drive above the speed limit?

"We ask, given that the technology exists, is it not time to require mandatory speed limiters in all vehicles or, at least, mandatory speed recorders?"

Nicholls, of Corpus Christi Lane, Godmanchester, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving during a hearing at Cambridge Crown Court and was jailed for four years and 10 months.

During the investigation into the crash he said he believed he had been driving at about 40mph when he overtook a car waiting to turn into New Road as he headed towards Girton.

He said he had mistaken the cat's eyes on the cycle path as being the middle of the road and insisted he had not seen Isla, according to Cambridgeshire Police.

Nicholls said he knew something was wrong when he hit the kerb and braked hard, but it was too late.

He and a passenger got out the car and called an ambulance, which took Isla to Addenbrooke's Hospital, but she died the following day.

Dr Cochrane and Dr Twomey said they believed Nicholls "feels guilt and pain" and were "uncomfortable that a young man is now imprisoned" but said they hoped his sentence would act as a deterrent to others.

"Mr Nicholls had every opportunity to make correct decisions on that night; it was his duty to drive so as to protect others," they said.

"Rather, he made the worst possible decisions and he drove so as to endanger others, resulting in Isla's death."

They described their daughter as "creative, social, sporting, comedic, kind and busy" and said few moments passed without them thinking of her.

"The life to which she was entitled was taken cruelly from her," the parents added.

Following the sentencing of Nicholls, Det Con Kim Marshall, of Cambridgeshire Police, said: "There is nothing that highlights the danger and devastation speeding causes more than a heart-breaking case like this one."

Nicholls was also banned from driving for five years and must pass an extended test before he can get his licence back.