Yes I see your point, no worries there but do find it interesting that the police decided on that specific charge. Obviously theres more to the story then just whats been reported
alowishes,
Apr 16, 11:34pm
And that’s it, we don’t know the whole story.
bwg11,
Apr 17, 12:00am
Irrespective of knowing the full story, it is just so typical of today's society. It is always someone else's fault. Where is the personal responsibility? As others have said, book him for speeding, but the manslaughter charge is patently ridiculous.
kazbanz,
Apr 17, 12:52am
discharged without conviction and name supressed. ignoring any emotional distress how is that not scott free? That person unquestionably failed to give way. The excuse that the rider was going 100 in an 80 zone doesn't explain how the bike rider hit the trailer front corner not the tow vehicle.
pico42,
Apr 17, 12:59am
Not only that, the defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.
pico42,
Apr 17, 1:05am
Police brought the charges, not the judge. The defendant pleaded guilty, not the judges decision.
Definitely something more to this - I also can't see how this incident is culpable homicide on the part of the defendant.
trogedon,
Apr 17, 1:25am
1/ "The defendant was deeply remorseful over the crash. Caldicott-Elwell’s death was something he “is going to have to carry with him regardless”, McCormick said." although this wouldn't matter to you. 2/"The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving causing death halfway through a judge-alone trial in November last year." 3/"Judge Callaghan ordered the defendant pay $25,000 for emotional harm to Caldicott-Elwell’s widow." Maybe you read it but your comprehension was lacking.
absolute_detail,
Apr 17, 1:29am
Getting away with only having to pay 25k is scot free
trogedon,
Apr 17, 1:35am
"scot-free, ADJECTIVE, without suffering any punishment or injury." No it's not and read the rest of what I wrote or read the article - carefully.
kazbanz,
Apr 17, 1:52am
I'd STRONGLY recommend YOU read again.
A Canterbury businessman’s name will be kept secret permanently after he caused a crash that killed 34-year-old husband and father Ben Caldicott-Elwell. The 50-year-old businessman was also granted a DISCHARGE WITHOUT CONVICTION in the Christchurch District Court on Thursday.
So he keeps his job, Keeps secret he was the killer. Has NO conviction against his name and has to pay $25000 which the judge decided was affordable based on his income level.
yet a person who in no way directly contributed to someone else's death gets manslaughter.
desmodave,
Apr 17, 2:26am
I didn't miss all the rain , but ya get that . Quite a few Adventure type bikes heading up my way at the mo . Hard not to go and look when i hear bikes coming out of a nice cambered right hander down the road a bit . Our so called Justice system , is consistency inconsistent . $$$ for a life the way i read it is just wrong .
trogedon,
Apr 17, 2:29am
"I'd STRONGLY recommend YOU read again." because you've MISSED more than one thing. Read what I've written too as I've made is simple for you.
richynuts,
Apr 17, 4:57am
he was ordered to pay 25k to the widow
alowishes,
Apr 17, 6:03am
It will be interesting to see what penalty the charged motorbike rider gets.
mrfxit,
Apr 17, 8:06pm
not off free by any real definition According to the report, the defendant would have needed 0.74 seconds to clear the intersection. Going on the data in that report, if the bike had been traveling at 80kph (max legal for that section of raid) there would have been the extra second needed to clear the intersection. This would appear as presuming the bike didn't attempt to slow down Of course, the bike slowing down would have slightly increased the time available to avoid the trailer Time to do some maths on this calculator https://www.omnicalculator.com/everyday-life/speed.
At that stated distance & speed, the bike had 5 seconds to react accordingly & should have already been aware of the car & trailer at the intersection. 30m per second at 100kph
Of course, not accounting for part seconds, so the last figure could have been closer to 7 seconds at 80kph
Going on that info, both partys were at fault
mrfxit,
Apr 17, 8:07pm
Yes indeed
chevy2019,
Apr 17, 9:01pm
He got a 25k fine, a few months disq. and some community service. He kept his name a secret and so did his employer and the company he worked for. Its rubbish that the life of a motorcyclclist is worth so little.
apollo11,
Apr 17, 9:33pm
Because the assumption is that the motorcyclist must have been speeding (because we often are). I've been on the wrong end of police assumptions after an accident. In one, my bike was stationary. Didn't stop them from trying to blame me for the crash.
bumfacingdown,
Apr 17, 11:55pm
Personal responsibility of the person charged, no one forced them to race, they did and now face the consequences
framtech,
Apr 18, 5:16am
The thing i am noticing lately is vehicles being over taken - speeding up and holding the passing vehicle on the wrong side of the road, I personally would call this action attempted murder and its about time the non existent police force started policing this. It is becoming more of an issue as cars get faster and people get selfish bigger ego's, even powerful cars towing the weekend titanic and the newer trucks are guilty of this, its extremely dangerous driving.
muppet_slayer,
Apr 18, 12:54pm
Personal responsibility of the deceased, he is responsible for his own death. He wanted to race and be a dare devil and ended up killing himself. The other rider was not in control of any of that. He should be booked for speeding and dangerous driving/riding certainly not manslaughter.
muppet_slayer,
Apr 18, 1:13pm
"The deceased was seen overtaking the defendant and moments later they witnessed the deceased crash.”
"The deceased reached a speed of 240kmh when he passed De Reeper, the summary says."
Both those statements above (have not been altered and are as they appear in the article) place the deceased in control of his own actions moments before tragedy struck. He could have instead eased off and remained behind DeReeper and made the corner and carried on, but no he made the decision to accelerate up to 240kmph to enable him to get passed DeReeper but failed to negotiate the corner and died of his own actions. Where is the manslaughter in that?
bumfacingdown,
Apr 18, 8:58pm
"Jacques John Francis De Reeper, a 64-year-old sickness beneficiary, admitted charges of manslaughter and dangerous driving" Somebody who was there disagrees with you
muppet_slayer,
Apr 18, 9:03pm
He may have made a huge mistake and or was pressured into it by the police and lawyers. Just because he admits it doesn't mean it's actually right.
alowishes,
Apr 18, 9:09pm
Would the dead guy have been doing that speed if the other motorbike rider had not been there?
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