Tractor driver sentenced for death by careless driving (From York Press)
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Tractor driver sentenced for death by careless driving
9:10am Thursday 17th May 2012 in News By Megi Rychlikova, megi.rychlikova@thepress.co.uk
A TRACTOR driver will be haunted for the rest of his life by the momentary lapse of concentration that caused the death of a former soldier, York Crown Court heard.
Dan Nixon, 37, died when Andrejs Rajevskis tried to turn across his path and hit his motorcycle, said David Brooke, prosecuting.
The tractor driver with a trailer on tow failed to look properly before pulling out into the A645 between Eggborough and Goole from the drive to HM Poskitts. The motorcyclist, in clear visibility, could be seen for 11 seconds as he approached at or slightly below 60 mph at 12.30pm.
“Your lack of care has had the most devastating consequences,” the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, told Rajevskis. “You will have on your conscience for evermore that your careless driving has resulted in the loss of a young man’s life.”
Following national sentencing guidelines, he gave Rajevskis a 12-month community order with 200 hours’ unpaid work, disqualified him from driving for 18 months and ordered him to take an extended driving test before driving unsupervised on British roads again.
Rajevskis’ lawyer David Kilty said he had not driven since the fatal crash on July 27, 2011.
Rajevskis, of Jackson Street, Goole, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving. Prosecution and defence agreed it was a momentary lapse of concentration.
Mr Kilty said: “He is extremely remorseful and regretful of his actions on that day. On countless occasions he has asked himself what if something had happened differently. This incident will live with him until the day he dies.”
Rajevskis still works at HM Poskitt, but now loads lorries.
Mr Brooke said Mr Nixon, 37, of Rawcliffe near Goole, served in the Army for six years and qualified as an HGV driver and landscape gardener. He and his wife had a child and her three other children regarded him as their father. He was an experienced motorcyclist.
