Calls for harsher punishments for careless drivers after father died in cycling crash

A grieving son is calling for tougher sentences for reckless drivers after his father died in a collision on the A487 near Aberystwyth.

Cameron James, from the village of Llanbadarn Fawr, Ceredigion, believes the sentence given to the driver who hit his father, Paul James, was 'not harsh enough.'

Paul was cycling near Aberystwyth in 2019 when he was struck by Lowri Powell's car.

The 61-year-old father of four underwent heart surgery in 2017, but as soon as he was able to he decided to raise money for the hospitals which had cared for him through a sponsored charity ride.

But while out training on the A487 he was knocked from his bike into the path of a following car.

Lowri Powell was found guilty of causing death by careless driving and was given a six-month suspended sentence at Swansea Crown Court.

The judge said the driver had been inattentive to the road conditions but added while the harm caused was extremely grave, the court was dealing with carelessness rather than intent.

'There’s no pain like it'

Speaking to ITV Cymru Wales’ current affairs programme Wales this Week, Cameron says he's found the fact he never got to say goodbye to his father extremely difficult.

He said: "Dad was cycling towards Bow Street from Llanbadarn. There was a car right behind him. Even though he was wearing high vis, it was not enough. She clipped him and he fell into the road. There were cars behind, because he fell into the road, the cars couldn’t stop and they ran him over.

“I broke down just crying. It hurts so much. There’s no pain like it. I hope I’ll never feel pain like that again. 

"He was such a massive person in our lives. It’s so quiet in the house and life feels so quiet without him. It’s not something we can move on from and just adjust to."

Cameron is now calling for drivers to be aware of cyclists and 'think of others when they're driving.’

"If you take somebody’s life, you should get severe punishment. It feels like a bit of a joke because there should be a more severe punishment for it.

"Until they do hand out a punishment that sends a shock to people then maybe nothing will change."

Cameron wants road users to learn from his family’s loss so that others don’t have to experience the same grief. 

"You are on the road but so are many other people," he added.

"Otherwise if you’re not concentrating, just thinking about yourself and what you’re doing then you might take a life or you might seriously hurt somebody and it could be life-changing."

A recent survey on behalf of the Welsh Government found that nearly half of us worry that Welsh roads are not safe enough for cyclists.

Cameron isn't the only person who has experienced the consequences of careless driving.

'It’s really impacted me emotionally'

Ffion James and Ruby Miller, who are both experienced cyclists, were knocked off their bikes from behind by a driver in a hit and run incident.

As they came to the end of their 70km ride in Caerphilly they were going around a roundabout when the driver stuck them and they both hit the ground.

They were both taken to hospital for treatment and the driver of the car received a fine of £1,000 and seven points on her licence.

Ruby said: "For me, personally, it was a big shock but my main focus was to get back on the bike as soon as possible and it’s only more recently since we found out how the trial’s gone that I feel like it’s really impacted me emotionally and I’ve had to go seek counselling since."

In the UK, far fewer women cycle compared to men and studies show concern around safety on our roads is the main reason for this.

Despite having cycled from a very young age, Ffion says this experience has knocked her confidence.

"It just made me realise how vulnerable we are and whatever you do, if you do everything correctly sometimes you can’t control what’s going to happen around you," she said.

"Another thing that’s crazy is how many people have been hit by cars. It’s a shockingly common occurrence."

Back in January major new road rules came into effect in a bid to better protect cyclists and pedestrians from road accidents.

The Highway Code changes include a new hierarchy, which means cyclists and pedestrians take priority.

Sustrans, a charity that campaigns for safe active travel in Wales, has welcomed the move.

Christine Boston, Director of Sustrans in Wales, hopes drivers will 'slow down and have respect for those who use the road.'

She said: "The car does not own the road. There are others who use the road, many of whom are vulnerable and we have to make sure that drivers respect that."

The code now reminds drivers to leave enough space when overtaking and also gives cyclists greater priority at junctions.

Christine says the junction change 'makes a big difference and hopefully saves a lot of accidents."

"This is significant. We would encourage drivers to make sure they know what the changes are and adapt accordingly because we all have to adhere to the new rules on the road because it’s down to keeping everybody safe and respecting everybody who’s using that space," she said.

Lee Waters MS, the Welsh Government’s deputy minister for Climate Change, who is responsible for active travel says the Welsh Government is spending £75 million on active travel this year.

The minister acknowledged it will take time and investment to bring Wales’ cycling infrastructure in line with that of other European countries.

Mr Waters says councils have a pot of money to apply to improve infrastructure for cyclists.

He said: “Even though we’ve had a massive increase in the number of people cycling over the last year due to lockdown, we haven’t seen a similar proportionate rise in the number of casualties which is very encouraging.

"We do have a problem with the behaviour of some drivers and this is partly cultural because so few people in this country cycle, drivers don’t have the experience of what it feels like on a bike.

"We’ve created, in this country, a culture of us and them where the driver somehow feels emboldened in this dangerous box of steel to do what they like and that does require confronting their behaviour and prosecuting dangerous driving.” 

You can catch up on Wales This Week: Riders on the Road which is available to watch online here.