FOURTEEN seconds and 400 metres was the estimated time and distance that driver Timothy Wayne Yole had to see the two cyclists in front of him.

The weather was fine, the visibility excellent and traffic light, but Yole failed to see any cyclist until he ran into the back of one of them.

Trevallyn’s Lewis Hendey, 21, wearing a helmet and brightly coloured cycling attire, was on a training ride with his best mate on the West Tamar Highway at Riverside.

About 8.20am on Sunday, December 29, last year, he ended up on the bonnet and windscreen of Yole’s white Nissan utility.

Mr Hendey was the outer cyclist travelling on the left-hand side of the left lane when he was hit and then flung some 40 metres down the road.

That part of the road, opposite the Tamar Island Wetlands, is a dual carriageway in both directions.

State forensic pathologist Dr Donald Ritchie determined that Mr Hendey would have died almost instantly.

In the Launceston Magistrates Court yesterday, magistrate Reg Marron jailed Yole, 26, for four months, wholly suspended for two years.

He also disqualified Yole from driving for 18 months.

‘‘As Mr Hendey’ s family grieves, Mr Yole will have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life,’’ Mr Marron said.

Yole pleaded guilty last month to having caused death by negligent driving and having driven without due care and attention.

Mr Marron said it was a privilege to hold a driver’s licence and Yole had breached his duty of care to other road users.

‘‘This was a case of distraction and inattention or a lack of response,’’ he said.

‘‘No evidence of any evasive action by Mr Yole shows he was not paying attention.

‘‘This was no momentary lapse.’’

Yole, who has since moved to Western Australia, had previously been fined for six driving offences, but none had proceeded to court.

He had three fines for speeding, two for seatbelt offences and one for driving without reasonable consideration for other road users.