Short’ sentence

ALTHOUGH "accidents" do happen (Three years in jail is a small price to pay - Hunts Post, August 9), and being a driver who uses the A1 to Huntingdon regularly, I know that numerous lorries use the A1. I have yet to see a driver of such a vehicle taking control of it - they are far too often travelling at speeds higher than they should be.

Often one tries to overtake another, the lorry driver on the inside lane speeding to try to prevent the other from passing, often resulting in the lorry in the outside lane having to cut back in.

Is this the way to drive such enormous, heavy and dangerous vehicles? No, of course it isn't and if, as in this particular case, the driver had been in control and therefore aware of what was happening ahead of him - and remember they have a better view than a car driver - he would have had plenty of time to bring the vehicle to a speed capable of stopping before it ploughed into the back of a car which had slowed down with others due to the roadworks.

Although this lorry driver is "sorry", I believe he should be more severely punished. And I would say that if he were a member of my own family. His actions have killed three human beings and ruined the lives of their family members for years to come - much more than three years.

I pass the spot where this accident happened every day - it is very obvious by the new tarmac that had to be laid because the road's surface was burned. When I pass, I acknowledge the lives and deaths of the three people who died. My heart goes out to the family who also must pass that spot regularly.

How many years did the great train robbers get? That may have been a premeditated action, but driving a very large and potentially lethal weapon on our roads with such lack of care and attention which ultimately results in loss of life surely rates the highest possible sentence.

MAY PARKER, Orchard Close, Hail Weston