20 months UK jail for American driver

An American who caused a fatal car crash when he drove on the wrong side of the road at Garforth has been jailed for 20 months for causing the deaths of three men.

http://www.rothwelltoday.co.uk/4136/Garforth-triple-fatal-crash-American.4765284.jp

All I can say is I feel for everyone who has been affected by the tragedy.

He got off easy...

It's terrible that those men were killed, but I feel for this driver, too.  It was legal for him to drive in the UK with his US licence, but I can see how he would be confused.  I always tell DH about how there are white lines in the middle of one-way roads and yellow lines in the middle of roads with traffic heading opposite directions.  I have had to ask him several times whether it was a one-way street we were on.  Personally, I think this is a flaw in the system.  I was shocked to discover I was legally allowed to drive here on my US licence.  I just now have a bearing on how traffic works here, and I have been here 5 months.  It is more than just driving on the other side of the road, the road markings and traffic signs are different, etc.  Yes, he made a devastating mistake, the biggest of his life, I am sure.  I feel for those three families who lost love ones, but the article states there were three families devastated, when really there are four.  This "father-of-one" has to sit in jail for nearly two years, and I am sure his own child may be devastated, as well.  Killing those men will be something he has to live with for the rest of his life.  The whole situation is just a terrible shame. 

My reaction is it was an accident.....so why does he have to do jail? I'll have to think about that one.
I'll have to think about whether I want to drive in the UK also if jail is a possibility.
I'm wondering if that had happened in the US would the penalty be the same.
I think only if they were over the limit?

the guy might feel hard done by but those people would be alive today if he read the UK highway code and followd it like the dead were doing instead of making presumptions based on road markings from a different country.

i accept the guy might not have a bad bone in his body but he was in charge of a lethal machine and he didnt look at the rules. and he killed innocent people through that.

It's a very sad story but at the end of the day, if you are going to take the risk of driving in another country without knowing anything about it, you have to take on the responsibility of the accidents you cause.

My reaction is it was an accident.....so why does he have to do jail? I'll have to think about that one.
I'll have to think about whether I want to drive in the UK also if jail is a possibility.
I'm wondering if that had happened in the US would the penalty be the same.
I think only if they were over the limit?

An accident, yes but he was the one at fault.  In any case folks need to slow down around a bend.  That's the one thing they teach you here.  He killed 3 people, not on purpose but he did kill them.

When I first drove here in the UK, I worked really hard to keep on the correct side of the road.  Even still there were a couple of times when I came soooo close to turning onto the wrong side.  Funny thing is, the same exact thing happened when I visited the States in October.  I've been driving for 10 years on the right-hand side of the road, spent some time in the UK where we drive on the left and then had difficulties driving on the right-hand side again.  So I don't necessarily think that reading the highway code would have necessarily done much.  Sometimes, when you're just so used to one thing, it's difficult to suddenly switch to doing it differently.  It's just something you've got to get used to.

My reaction is it was an accident.....so why does he have to do jail? I'll have to think about that one.
I'll have to think about whether I want to drive in the UK also if jail is a possibility.
I'm wondering if that had happened in the US would the penalty be the same.
I think only if they were over the limit?

Just because it's an accident doesn't always mean no jail time.  In the US, if anyone makes a mistake driving and causes someone's death, it's called vehicular manslaughter and nearly always, there's jail time (depends on the state).  So, yes, this would have happened in the US.  Though it may have been more severe, depending on the state.

I always tell DH about how there are white lines in the middle of one-way roads and yellow lines in the middle of roads with traffic heading opposite directions.  I have had to ask him several times whether it was a one-way street we were on. 

I have this problem as well.  I always get so freaked out when turning onto a street I've never driven on because of this.  To me it looks like a one-way street.  I honestly don't understand why all lane markings are the same colour here.  It makes way more sense to have one colour marking the divisions of lanes of traffic going a certain way and another colour dividing the different directions.  Much, much safer.

I was made sick when I saw a younger couple drive on the interstate highway, in the Sierras in California, on the wrong side of the road. The road in the other direction was separated some distance and it was snowing a little bit but anyway I hope they somehow realized their mistake and no one got hurt.

In the US, if anyone makes a mistake driving and causes someone's death, it's called vehicular manslaughter and nearly always, there's jail time (depends on the state).  So, yes, this would have happened in the US.  Though it may have been more severe, depending on the state.

Sorry, I've never heard of someone getting put in jail in the US if they were in a car accident that killed someone, unless the driver had been drunk or recklessly driving.

I'm not suggesting the driver here wasn't driving recklessly, just pointing out that I've never heard of people being jailed "nearly always"

Sorry, I've never heard of someone getting put in jail in the US if they were in a car accident that killed someone, unless the driver had been drunk or recklessly driving.

I'm not suggesting the driver here wasn't driving recklessly, just pointing out that I've never heard of people being jailed "nearly always"

As I said these laws do vary State by State.  It may be that there's no VM law in your state or just that there is so much other news, an incident isn't widely seen.  I can recall few instances in my life which have made it on the news in California (not sure if they actually happened there), but not everything gets front page either.  I think that a drunk driving incident is much more likely to be widely publicized in the States than one where the driver was not under the influence. 

Also, nearly all of the time if someone kills someone with a vehicle, they are drunk or recklessly driving.  Reckless driving can include anything like text messaging while driving to street racing.

A former coworker in Texas went on trial for accidentally killing a man on a motorcycle.  He pulled out in front of her, and she didn't see him.  Fortunately, she was found not guilty of manslaughter.  So I suppose in Texas they will put you on trial for manslaughter for these types of accidents.   

Its bad news all round. I'm thinking that since he was in the UK for such a short time,he would have been better off using public transport of some kind of catching a flight.

I've done plenty of miles driving in the US and the good thing is that there is usually enough space and time to make good or accomodate any minor errors. Even the freeways round big cities like LA are manageable in rush hour when on unfamiliar territory. Thats something thats missing over here in the UK where traffic density is much greater and, IMHO,many drivers are in far too much of a hurry and dont make much allowance.

No amount of jail will bring these people back. I guess his only error was overestimating his driving ability in a foreign country and not getting public transport.