Families can’t even appeal because causing death by careless driving isn’t covered under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.
The whole thing is disgusting.
The judge rightly asked why this was not causing death by dangerous driving.
It is possible the CPS and the defence negotiated a guilty plea to the lesser offence of causing death by careless driving to guarantee a conviction, albeit with a lower sentence.
Javonnie Tavener’s actions were so extensively appalling that I ran out of characters in the first post.
He also reversed over Maya, dragging her along. He also caused serious injury to two other people at the same time. He blamed another driver, claiming he was a passenger.
In England a driver can be speeding, using cannabis and a phone, overtake another vehicle, mount the pavement outside a school playground and kill a 4-year-old girl while uninsured — and receive just 3 years 10 months for causing death by careless driving.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Families can’t even appeal because causing death by careless driving isn’t covered under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.
The whole thing is disgusting.
The judge rightly asked why this was not causing death by dangerous driving.
It is possible the CPS and the defence negotiated a guilty plea to the lesser offence of causing death by careless driving to guarantee a conviction, albeit with a lower sentence.
Javonnie Tavener’s actions were so extensively appalling that I ran out of characters in the first post.
He also reversed over Maya, dragging her along. He also caused serious injury to two other people at the same time. He blamed another driver, claiming he was a passenger.
In England a driver can be speeding, using cannabis and a phone, overtake another vehicle, mount the pavement outside a school playground and kill a 4-year-old girl while uninsured — and receive just 3 years 10 months for causing death by careless driving.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The Vegas Loop carried 16,400 passengers per day during the expo.
For context, London’s Elizabeth Line carries ~800,000 per day.
Even Victorian steam trains in 1860s London moved 3–4× more people per hour than Elon.
In case you didn’t already know: cars in tunnels aren’t the future of transit…
NEW POD EPISODE! 🚨Women protesting for safer cycle routes - Laura joins a protest and the opening of a new cycle lane, and meets some people along the way shows.acast.com/streets-ahea...
This is awful news for anyone not in one of these hideous machines.
www.gbnews.com/lifestyle/ca...
This kind of car-centric infrastructure in a city centre is a relic of an experiment that went wrong. Big roads and mega junctions have no place in busy cities.
A good step is making crossing them in one go much easier.
But a better one is to remove them altogether.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Got something you'd like to ask Ned, Adam and Laura for a future podcast? They would love to (try to) answer them! Post said questions below, or you can email them to streetsahead@fusion-media.co.uk. Get in touch!
NEW POD EPISODE! 🚨 2026: the Journey so Far. @adamtranter.bsky.social @nedboulting.bsky.social and @lauralaker.bsky.social discuss local politics in the run up to the May elections, Ned's trip to India, and learnings from New York mayor Zohran Mamdani (& other mayors) shows.acast.com/streets-ahea...
100%
As one Special Advisor in the last Conservative government told me: “People know what a bus gate is and understand it. It’s the whole system of controlling how frequently people can travel that appears sinister.”
(I disagree but think the permit system gives ammunition to conspiracy theorists)
The only thing I would add to this debunking is to acknowledge that it is unusual to provide permits that can be used to bypass filters a certain number of times.
It sends out an odd message. Would have been better to have normal bus gates and fully stand behind the decision.
Police in Birmingham held a roads policing operation, supported by volunteer Special Constables.
In one evening on one road, they pulled over 166 vehicles and took action in a staggering 1 in 3 stops.
Imagine if Roads Policing was properly funded!
Motonormativity is not clearing snow from the sidewalks and then doing an Instagram post telling pedestrians not to walk in the road.
According to David Frost, a road casualty toll which involves an average of 80+ people *every single day* either dying or suffering injuries which could change their life forever is an "utter non-problem".
“Nobody will cycle in bad weather.”
The Netherlands:
The strategic road network is managed by a charity and relies on the goodwill of land owners for access. Some motorways will be muddy and flooded each winter.
Also
The strategic road network stops randomly at council boundaries and investment is where councils are willing.
(UK edition).
They say that they need to consider rehabillitation - which links into the motornormativity view that you cannot live a life without a car, and that driving is somehow some sort of right.
Example (watch video)
bsky.app/profile/adam...
The 4-year driving ban was within the sentencing guidelines.
Why should he ever be able to drive again, having shown such disregard for the rules of the road?
A new Government road safety strategy should enable wider use of lifetime driving bans.
Samson Leonard Biddle, 37, failed to stop for police, driving extremely dangerously. Eventually, tactical contact stopped him.
Upon being arrested, he refused to give a specimen.
You might not be terribly reassured to learn that he received just a 6-month suspended sentence and 4-year driving ban.
The Government's upcoming Cycling & Walking Investment Strategy 3 needs both investment and strategy. Seems like an obvious thing to say, but there's a risk it could lack both.
Talked about it here on @podstreetsahead.bsky.social 👇
Germany shifts over 2 million e-bikes every year. France: over 500,000.
Britain? It will be lucky to get to 150,000. Why?
Because people need to feel safe to cycle, and that requires serious and sustained government support, which has not been forthcoming.
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...
Cycling and walking could help deliver almost everything Brits say they want to achieve in 2026 — if we design streets to support them.
Getting fitter, losing weight, being healthier, saving money; enabling active travel quietly does all of it. With no gym contracts.
It’s time we stopped viewing driving bans like this. Cars are a dangerous weapon when used incorrectly. Upon release, he needs to travel to access work he can use other modes.
If this case doesn’t warrant a lifetime driving bans, what would?
