Dead cyclist's family angered by £200 fine for lorry driver

Eilidh Cairns, 30, was cycling to work through Notting Hill Gate when she was crushed by Joao Lopes's tipper truck in February last year. As she lay trapped under the 32-tonne vehicle, Ms Cairns was still conscious and able to talk. She was airlifted to hospital but died a short while later.

Lopes, 54, of Dagenham, was interviewed by police but it was not until May last year that his eyesight was tested and he failed by a small margin. His licence was revoked but returned to him in April this year and he is now back behind the wheels of heavy good vehicles - wearing glasses. He originally denied one charge of driving while his eyesight was such that he could not comply with the requirements of a prescribed eye test but changed his plea to guilty yesterday as his trial at Kingston magistrates' court was due to begin.

Lopes was ordered to pay £150 costs and a £15 surcharge but was not made subject to the discretionary driving ban available to the magistrates.

Today Emma Chesterman, 33, Ms Cairns's former housemate, said: "He has admitted his eyesight was not good enough and gets £200 and three points on his licence.

"It does not seem fair. We are bewildered by the whole system that treats cyclists' deaths in this way. It seems to be the attitude that you are putting yourself in the way of danger and therefore it is your own fault if it happens to you, which is not the same as if it were a pedestrian killed."

Ms Chesterman, who has campaigned with Ms Cairns's sister Kate for HGVs to be taken off the road during rush hour, said they were considering civil action and writing to the Ministry of Justice to demand tougher penalties. Ms Cairns, 38, said: "This shows the inadequacies in our justice system. We still don't know what happened and it leaves you with a sense of hopelessness."

Prosecutor Richard Lomax said a car driver had to be able to read a number plate at 30 metres, but for HGV drivers the law required a higher standard.

Lopes - who has been a driver since 1974 - had been cleared of any liability over Ms Cairns's death despite claims his mirrors were not properly adjusted, his barrister Austin Stoton said. He added: "Since that day the accident has certainly played on his mind and has actually changed his character."

Ms Chesterman added: "Cyclists deaths aren't dealt with thoroughly enough within our justice system - we have been through the inquest but we still don't know how the accident happened.

"We don't want to but the blame on the lorry driver and I don't feel any malice towards him.

"But after everything, no recommendations have been made as to how to make our roads safer, no lessons have been learnt. No one has answered the question: what could have been done to prevent Eilidh being killed?"