Suspended sentence for lorry driver who admitted killing A1 time trial cyclist

The rider has an absolute right to be on a non-motorway road, or one that does not carry restriction on cyclists. However, the wisdom of being on it is another matter.
The issue may well lie with the ludicrous time trial culture, where "times" and "PB" are a be-all and end-all, so organisers respond to rider demands for events on "fast" courses. The riders then "race" on these courses, record a "fast" time, and that counts for everything. Sadly, the cost of running these events (apart from the reaction of anyone thinking "why are they doing this, it's crazy?") can be seen by the reports of people losing their lives.
Unless and until CTT take a national grip on this, abandon times and fixed distances, institute a points/ranking system based on comparative placings, I cannot see things improving.

The culture is simply, wrong.
Both the TT culture and the culture where it's OK to claim "I didn't see xxx so I killed xxx but it's not really my fault" and then walk away with a shortish ban, no extended retest requirement, a fine, and a suspended short sentence. That is plain lack of responsibility, but then those sitting in judgment are drivers too, and may even think "there but for the grace of God go I".

The rights exist and should be protected, but, as my old dad would always say, "there's no use in being DEAD right".

The A1? On the route I ride Oxford-Cambridge from time to time, I have to ride maybe 50 metres of it (staggered crossing). My least favourite, white-knuckle moment of the entire ride. Why I would ride a TT on it is beyond me.

(Still doesn't excuse killing me, or any other cyclist on it).

In pure road engineering terms there are a lot of pluses in using dual carriageways for time trials compared with quieter roads:- better forward visibility, 2+ lanes to allow safe overtaking, no risk from overtaking oncoming vehicles, fewer junctions with more controlled traffic flows, better surface conditions... and I understand that the limited stats available do tend to show fewer accidents in TTs held on dual carriageways compared with single carriageway courses

The difficulty comes where lack of driver awareness (in similar previous cases driving past signs and then near missing a series of riders at 1 minute intervals before the final collision) does cause a collision, as any injury is likely to be more severe.

While it's clear that any event's risk assessment, signing and marshaling should be pushed to be as effective as possible, there surely must be an effort in driver education as well?

At current trends the numbers of pedestrians and cyclist KSIs nationally will soon exceed the numbers of KSIs among vehicle occupants.... now that is scary.

Frankly seeing as he was driving during his work, I don't see why the company cannot face a charge of corporate manslaughter.

Blaming the cyclist is wrong. He was legally entitled to ride on that road, and was riding responsibly and safely with hi-viz and helmet. He had EVERY right to expect to be safe.

It is purely the driver's responsibility to look out, and subsequent failure to see the cyclist in plenty of time.

Around here we have lots of dual carriageways with limits from 40 to 70mph, and sometimes little or no alternative as unlike m-ways there is no adjacent route for prohibited vehicles.

I think most people drive on 70mph dual carriageways, especially with "motorway" style juntions, as if they are motorways, with little or no mental readjustment, so really tend not to expect cyclists.

Both arguments are valid.

On one hand drivers have responsibility to look out for more vulnerable road users and there should be no excuses for SMIDSY and on the other hand cycling on such busy roads in a low profile position increases the chance of you being killed or injured judging from disproportionately high number of deaths during TT events.
Perhaps something like compulsory uber bright (+1000 lumens) rear strobe lights would help?

I've got to agree with Francois. 30 years ago I was a regular commuter on the A1 from Lincolnshire to Scotland and would not have dreamed of going along it on my bike then. Nowadays it must be pure suicide. Is there no body, police sporting or other, that gives advice on suitable routes? I could agree with jova54 in many cases and routes but picking the A1 as part of a time trial route is pure stupidity.

Surely if this happened a mile south on the A1 ,the driver would have already passed another rider 1 minute previously?? or was he too close to the ground and missed him just like the sign, sad that life on Britains roads is still far too cheap

Jova54 hit the nail on the head, it's your responsibility as a road user to watch out for danger, not the victim. You can ban events all you want, but we have a right to be on the roads and a change in attitude has to take place amongst drivers, too many vulnerable road users are dying, cyclists and pedestrians.

It's nice to finally see a driving ban given out. They're far too rare in instances like these. 2 years seems too lenient though.

The organisers have a part of responsability too, organising cycling events along such roads without traffic restrictions is simply suicidal. I drove past a time trial on the A11 towards Norwich last year and I was shocked! I would not even consider taking part in such madness.