The standard answer Rog, is that I can only speak for myself…it can be frustrating though, to have done loads of work to get a real criminal convicted…only to see them get a community sentence or a paltry term inside. But, like the Murphy’s, I’m not bitter, I just do my bit and get paid for it, it long since stopped being personal with me…I do my job to the best of my ability and (hopefully) go home at the end of every shift. It pays quite well.
The sentence is ludicrous considering he killed 6 people, after all he did get out of his bunk with the full intentions of carrying out his job and ploughing into the back of the car, many hours earlier. Lets not forget, he also had taken his breaks accordingly to remain within the law, after all, there were no tachograph infringements reported.
Am I being sarcastic? Probably, because all the hollier than thou on this site are the first to condemn anybody who makes a mistake, regardless of the lives lost through what was probably a momentary lapse of concentration. Does that excuse him? No not bloody likely, will he forget what he did? I bloody doubt it !!!
Do I feel he should of got off as lightly as he did? No not really, but I do realise that he was carrying out a job similar to what I did for over 25 years, I’m brave enough to admit that I’m not perfect and I too made mistakes, in fact I still make mistakes as I’ve still not managed to become as perfect as some on here would like us all to think they are.
Lets not forget, the JURY decided that it was an accident, lets hope that anyone suffering similar circumstances also get the same type of jury.
Regardless what anyone thinks, it was an accident, something totally unplanned, and I hope to god none of the users on this site are ever put in that position.
Or are you all fully convinced that by giving a hefty sentence it would of brought back the deceased?
Personally I would hate to be in either situation, that of a grieving family member, that of a member of the drivers family, or that of a Juror having to decide on somebody’s future because of an accident.
Davey Driver:
Regardless what anyone thinks, it was an accident, something totally unplanned, and I hope to god none of the users on this site are ever put in that position.
An ‘ACCIDENT’ is something to which no-one has reasonable control over - not in this case me thinks - the driver made a concious decision to do something other than look where he should have been looking.
ROG:
Davey Driver:
Regardless what anyone thinks, it was an accident, something totally unplanned, and I hope to god none of the users on this site are ever put in that position.An ‘ACCIDENT’ is something to which no-one has reasonable control over - not in this case me thinks - the driver made a concious decision to do something other than look where he should have been looking.
I agree.
The number one priority of a driver has to be concentrating on the road in front of you. He decided not to and this is the result.
The man is being punished for the crime that he commited ,the law does not take account of the consequences of his actions.The judge has to follow set procedures the same as we do.I was a cycling club member for years and a few friends were killed and injured in crashes and that is what we were told after a really messy death.
ROG:
An ‘ACCIDENT’ is something to which no-one has reasonable control over - not in this case me thinks - the driver made a concious decision to do something other than look where he should have been looking.
And would that happen to be reaching for:
A drink from a drinks holder?
A Delivery / Collection note to check the address?
A CD Rom because the radio reception is poor?
A Cigarette and removing it from the packet?
A Packet of Sweets?
A Cloth to wipe condensation off the Window?
Re Tuning the Radio?
Or something which seems very common with some of the users on this site, Reaching for a camera / mobile phone to take photo’s?
Yes Rog, one day you will certainly come into the real world of truck driving 
I dont beleive for one minute that I am the only one guilty of the above 
Joshh:
3 years for killing 6 people!
should of got life
omg consider himself lucky!
he made a mistake , crashed into a car and killed the occupants - and you think he should consider himself lucky 
he’s got to live with that for the rest of his life !
Davey Driver:
And would that happen to be reaching for:A drink from a drinks holder?
A Delivery / Collection note to check the address?
A CD Rom because the radio reception is poor?
A Cigarette and removing it from the packet?
A Packet of Sweets?
A Cloth to wipe condensation off the Window?
Re Tuning the Radio?Or something which seems very common with some of the users on this site, Reaching for a camera / mobile phone to take photo’s?
Yes Rog, one day you will certainly come into the real world of truck driving
I dont beleive for one minute that I am the only one guilty of the above
Yes but these things take a fraction of a second to do.
On the news they showed footage of a police car travelling as the lorry did. There were matrix signs warning of queues and the road was straight. He was not taking any notice for alot longer than it takes to do any of those things.
Davey Driver:
I dont beleive for one minute that I am the only one guilty of the above
I agree 
bubsy06:
Yes but these things take a fraction of a second to do.
On the news they showed footage of a police car travelling as the lorry did. There were matrix signs warning of queues and the road was straight. He was not taking any notice for alot longer than it takes to do any of those things.
Sorry bubsy but your missing the point, it only takes a couple of seconds of lost concentration for wiping out a family in a car, you cannot twist and alter the evidence to suit.
It was the last 6 or 7 seconds that caused the accident, after they elapsed he had no chance of stopping !!!
Davey Driver:
ROG:
An ‘ACCIDENT’ is something to which no-one has reasonable control over - not in this case me thinks - the driver made a concious decision to do something other than look where he should have been looking.And would that happen to be reaching for:
A drink from a drinks holder?
A Delivery / Collection note to check the address?
A CD Rom because the radio reception is poor?
A Cigarette and removing it from the packet?
A Packet of Sweets?
A Cloth to wipe condensation off the Window?
Re Tuning the Radio?Or something which seems very common with some of the users on this site, Reaching for a camera / mobile phone to take photo’s?
Yes Rog, one day you will certainly come into the real world of truck driving
I dont beleive for one minute that I am the only one guilty of the above
All you mentioned there are DEILBERATE acts by the driver so are not accidents - now something like a tyre blowout on the other hand…
This is why all the emergency services and most of the road safety experts are now not using the word accident - it tends to take RESPONSIBILITY away from the driver in the case if a driving incident.
A lot of what you have mentioned can be done safely - it is down to the safe planning of WHEN to do them
I take your points there Davey…there can’t be anyone who doesn’t do those things whilst driving.
The point is that drivers have a duty to be in proper control of the vehicle at all times, but if any of those things causes the driver to lose control then they are guilty of an offence (and lets face it mate, who, in full control, ploughs into a line of stationary traffic?). He’s obviously been convicted of the new offence of causing death by careless driving (not dangerous driving…max 14 years inside). This carries a max of 5 years in the big house, so on reflection his sentence, for the offence he’s been convicted of, is quite reasonable.
The Courts do take into consideration the effect of the crime on the victims and their families, but they also take into consideration the effects on the suspect too.
Davey Driver:
bubsy06:
Yes but these things take a fraction of a second to do.
On the news they showed footage of a police car travelling as the lorry did. There were matrix signs warning of queues and the road was straight. He was not taking any notice for alot longer than it takes to do any of those things.Sorry bubsy but your missing the point, it only takes a couple of seconds of lost concentration for wiping out a family in a car, you cannot twist and alter the evidence to suit.
It was the last 6 or 7 seconds that caused the accident, after they elapsed he had no chance of stopping !!!
Yes but he had plenty of time to prevent the accident.
bubsy06:
Davey Driver:
It was the last 6 or 7 seconds that caused the accident, after they elapsed he had no chance of stopping !!!Yes but he had plenty of time to prevent the accident.
Which part dont you understand?
Once it got down to 6 or 7 seconds before impact he could not react in time to avoid the accident, after all, official statistics show it takes 2 seconds to react. What I have said is quite simply, he could of travelled 1 mile with his eyes shut, it was the last few hundred yards that were critical.
Dont get me wrong, I’m not defending this guy, he needs to be punished for the deaths he caused, however, we are all guilty at some point of taking our eyes off the road and losing concentration and having to hit the brakes.
Just because he was Portugese does not make him any worse than us.
As a member of the public, I feel 10 yrs minimum is sufficient time to serve, as an ex truck driver I feel 3 years he got was about right, because I too have lost concentration at some point and took my eyes off the road.
If I was a Family member I’d expect him to serve Life thats the difference, what annoys me is drivers on this site shouting the odds that 3 years was not enough when they themselves have also lost concentration at some point, if not already, then they have it to come, its a fact of life when driving many hours a day.
He would of seen the car stopped long before and been able to stop if he was concentrating on the road. That is what I am saying.
bubsy06:
He would of seen the car stopped long before and been able to stop if he was concentrating on the road. That is what I am saying.
Maybe in the heavy rain and spray and heavy traffic conditions that night it wasn’t so easy. And although it was terrible visibility that night, the coppers aid driving conditions was excellent and suggested he was using a laptop. Of course i’d totally discount the theory too that the car had maybe changed lanes and hit the truck in front. In all my years of driving i’ve never seen cars pull out of slow or long queues in front of trucks.
bubsy06:
He would of seen the car stopped long before and been able to stop if he was concentrating on the road. That is what I am saying.
…and as I was saying, he made the decision not to do just that by putting his concentration elsewhere…
He did not deliberately intend to cause the crash but could have easily avoided it if he had been driving safely and considered all the possibilities what could happen if he decided to put his concentration elsewhere.
I’ll bet that most on here, if they want to do something in the cab that takes away their driving concentration, look well ahead and assess the current & possible situations first to see if they have enough space and time in which to do it.
bubsy06:
He would of seen the car stopped long before and been able to stop if he was concentrating on the road. That is what I am saying.
Of course you have never lost concentration on the road, oh wait you have, you where just lucky enough not to have the same outcome as this driver.
I feel incredibly sorry for everyone involved really. 9/10 nothing would have happened in the situation.
The family need to get some perspective though, they are claiming the driver “butchered” their family, he did nothing of the sort, they where involved in a accident involving forces that kill. To say that he butchered them is to say that he went out and slashed them like the yorkshire ripper.
The driver did not notice the stopped vehicle because he was not concentrating. He had plenty of time to stop without hitting the car, but as he was not concentrating he hit the car. He had his eyes on other things not the traffic in front
Rog I’m sorry but I’m going to say it instead of biting my tongue 
You obviously dont live in the real world, there is one hell of a difference in teaching folk to drive and actually driving for a living, trying to meet deadlines, looking for diversionary routes when it looks like your going to be held up possibly causing you to miss that ferry you so badly need to catch.
I had a great driving instructor called Bob Steel (Tyne & Wear Fire Brigade), probably the same instructor Zebadee (John Vasey had) who helped me get through my HGV on my first attempt, in fact he had very few failures if any, it was amazing what that guy taught me in one week, and do you know something, some 27 years later I cant remember a fraction of the stuff he taught me, in fact, like most other drivers, once I had that piece of paper in my hand I didn’t particularly care.
Driving in the real world is entirely different to driving with some gadgey sitting next to you hitting you on the hand with a stick when you cross arms, or miss a gear etc.
Maybe you should take a driving job to get real experience that you can pass on to your students