OK, it's a strongly worded title, but I do wonder sometimes what message gets sent out when drivers who do kill cyclists seem to get let off very lightly. Is my life, as a cyclist, worth less than someone who is driving car, or am I worth more when I'm driving?

In the very recent case of Rob Jefferies death, the driver responsible was given a 12-month community order by magistrates, and ordered to do 200 hours’ community service.

He was banned from driving for 18 months, and ordered to retake his test. He was also told to pay costs of £85.

In another case, the widow of a civil servant run over and killed by a cement mixer as he was cycling home said she had been cheated of justice after the driver walked free from court.

Everton Smith was hit by a truck near Vauxhall Bridge when the driver switched lanes in May 2010. The truck driver pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving; he was sentenced to 16 weeks' jail, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 120 hours of community service.

Mr Smith's widow said: "There is no justice at all. We are left without him and he can go on with his life. It is so unfair."

Not all cases are like this, there was the example of the lorry driver who crushed a cyclist while chatting on his mobile phone with "the most God-awful hangover" who was jailed for seven years and disqualified from driving for life.

This driver was over the legal drink-drive limit when he hit a cyclist as he accelerated away from traffic lights outside Oval tube station in south London.

He had a series of criminal convictions for offences including drink-driving and has been caught 20 times driving an HGV while disqualified. He only stopped when pedestrians began hammering on his cab door.

The driver was found guilty of dangerous driving.

Shouldn’t this sort of sentence be standard for some who kills because of their own negligence and lack of care?

When writing this blog I wanted to present a balanced view and had remembered the case of the cyclist who assaulted and killed a car driver who opened a car door on him.

I eventually found the details, but it took a while as every time I searched for "cyclist assaults driver" all that was returned was stories about assaults on cyclists and not the other way round, lots of these with headlines like "driver walks free after assault on cyclist".

It seems to me that the welfare and lives of cyclists are not valued by society as much as those people who are driving and this just seem wrong!

Cyclist Paul Lambeth was jailed for 18 months after he killed a motorist who opened his car door in front of him. The driver died three weeks after being assaulted in Hove, East Sussex, in November 2010. Paul was originally charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm, but this was changed to manslaughter after he pleaded guilty.

Lambeth had been cycling with two friends when the incident happened. The three men were cycling in a line when they approached a car which had just pulled up and parked, the door was opened before the cyclists had passed and struck one of them.

The collision forced the cyclists to brake and swerve, while a fourth passing cyclist fell off his bike. During the following confrontation Lambeth punched the driver who fell on to the pavement, he later died in hospital.

I don't understand why so many drivers seem to get off comparatively lightly when killing or injuring cyclists, whilst the odd case of a cyclist retaliating following a collision ends up with a more severe sentence.

Cars are dangerous; they travel at high speeds and are easily capable of killing people, yet we seem to think it's acceptable for people to drive too fast and in an aggressive manner that puts lives, and not just those of cyclists, at risk.

Based on information supplied by David Brown.