Joan Morris: Husband's driving test call after road death
A husband disgusted at a sentence given to a man who caused the death of his wife in a road crash says all motorists should have regular driving tests.
Joan Morris, 51, who was on a scooter, was hit head-on by Danny Lewis's car as he tried to overtake a bus on the A487 near Aberystwyth in March last year.
He was banned from driving for a year and ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work by Cardiff Crown Court on Friday.
Lewis was found guilty of causing death by careless driving on Tuesday.
He was cleared of the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
The court heard that the accident happened on 2 March, 2011 when Mrs Morris, a mother-of-two from Bow Street, was riding her 125cc scooter south on the A487 between Llanon and Aberystwyth shortly after 08:00 GMT.
Lewis, 41, from Cardigan, told the jury during his trial at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday that he had edged out to see if it was safe to overtake and felt "horrified" and "ashamed" to have hit Mrs Morris.
After Lewis was sentenced on Friday, the victim's husband Alan Morris said the punishment was a "travesty of justice and an insult to Joan's memory".
He added: "There have been a series of crashes in Wales in recent years, with many innocent people losing their lives through the appalling actions of some drivers who treat our roads like racing tracks.
"It is also obvious that some drivers either do not take any notice of warning signs and road markings or do not know what they mean.
"I believe it is time for all drivers, regardless of age and experience, to be subjected to a regular test to make sure they understand the rules of the road.
"It cannot be right that you can pass the driving test at 17 and then not be assessed for your fitness to drive until you are 70."
Swansea Crown Court heard on Tuesday that as Mrs Morris left Llanon she would have seen an Arriva X40 Pencader to Aberystwyth bus coming towards her in front of five cars.
The bus had 14 CCTV cameras on board and one filmed Mrs Morris riding "perfectly correctly" on the right side of the road and towards the nearside seconds before the crash.
Lewis's car had been the second one behind the bus.