Major car accident - what happens next?
Discussion
FIK said:
Just watched the report on the local news. 12 months seems far far too lenient for the devastation that this woman has caused!! Sending my best wishes to you and your family durbster.
I think the idea is that it's related to what she did wrong, rather than the consequences. Which does raise the question of why there is such an offence as 'death by careless' anyway. Many others have probably made exactly the same mistake when there wasn't another vehicle in the wrong place and not even been charged with careless driving. Dr Jekyll said:
I think the idea is that it's related to what she did wrong, rather than the consequences.
AFAIK this changed in the late 90s, so that the effect of the offence on the victims had a bearing on the punishment. If that's what you meant.Re the insurance company, I hope they play fair. I had a similar head on many years ago - driver on the wrong side of the road - and they started by offering to accept a % of the liability.
All the best to you and yours OP, quite inspiring.
Yep, we were in court for the sentencing today. The main details are all here:
http://www.nottinghampost.com/A47-crash-Debra-West...
It's very difficult to associate a punishment with what's happened and although many people think this is lenient, for me at least it's an appropriate outcome. The judge (who was excellent) detailed how he arrived at the result, starting from the legal guidelines and then how the various factors affected the outcome. The bottom line is that it was triggered by little more than a moment of carelessness and it's hard to pretend any of us are immune to that. That moment coupled with a poor response to losing control ended with the accident.
The tragic consequences were balanced against her driving safely before the accident, her clean record, her plea and her remorse (which was not apparent to us but was made clear in court).
Regarding insurance, my brother's insurers were a pain but, frankly, this was just incompetence rather than deviousness. The policy was basic so their costs were minor and there was little reason for them to be difficult. As for the other driver's insurance, that is ongoing so it remains to be seen.
And the Merc offer is very kind of you
http://www.nottinghampost.com/A47-crash-Debra-West...
It's very difficult to associate a punishment with what's happened and although many people think this is lenient, for me at least it's an appropriate outcome. The judge (who was excellent) detailed how he arrived at the result, starting from the legal guidelines and then how the various factors affected the outcome. The bottom line is that it was triggered by little more than a moment of carelessness and it's hard to pretend any of us are immune to that. That moment coupled with a poor response to losing control ended with the accident.
The tragic consequences were balanced against her driving safely before the accident, her clean record, her plea and her remorse (which was not apparent to us but was made clear in court).
Regarding insurance, my brother's insurers were a pain but, frankly, this was just incompetence rather than deviousness. The policy was basic so their costs were minor and there was little reason for them to be difficult. As for the other driver's insurance, that is ongoing so it remains to be seen.
Palmers said:
I've just read this from the start. I didn't really twig until i got till the end but I'm from Peterborough, and i also work at Indesit.
I genuinely take my hat off to you, Sir. I know you have had to scrap the idea of a Monaro, but if you ever fancy a German V8, feel free to come and take the Merc for a spin.
Just wanted to add that Indesit and everyone who worked with my brother has been great. They even organised a memorial bench for my brother and his wife I genuinely take my hat off to you, Sir. I know you have had to scrap the idea of a Monaro, but if you ever fancy a German V8, feel free to come and take the Merc for a spin.
And the Merc offer is very kind of you
Edited by durbster on Friday 13th February 20:20
S10GTA said:
Aye & someone called Wayne has just pointed them in the direction of this thread 😥ali_kat said:
S10GTA said:
Aye & someone called Wayne has just pointed them in the direction of this thread ??durbster said:
It's very difficult to associate a punishment with what's happened and although many people think this is lenient, for me at least it's an appropriate outcome. The judge (who was excellent) detailed how he arrived at the result, starting from the legal guidelines and then how the various factors affected the outcome. The bottom line is that it was triggered by little more than a moment of carelessness and it's hard to pretend any of us are immune to that. That moment coupled with a poor response to losing control ended with the accident.
The tragic consequences were balanced against her driving safely before the accident, her clean record, her plea and her remorse (which was not apparent to us but was made clear in court).
Indeed, however long she was sentenced to spend in prison, it's nothing knowing you killed two people, and took a child's parents from them. That's what she has to live with for the rest of her life, which is punishment enough IMHO.The tragic consequences were balanced against her driving safely before the accident, her clean record, her plea and her remorse (which was not apparent to us but was made clear in court).
Annoying however, seeing the anti-4x4 brigade climbing on the bandwagon though, it's not what you drive, it's how you drive it. And from the sounds of it it's a moments carelessness that's caused this - something that as you say, any one of us could do.
A similar accident with a different sentence..
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/man-se...
Why, with the Land Rover case being so recent, is there no consistency over sentences?
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/man-se...
Why, with the Land Rover case being so recent, is there no consistency over sentences?
Cheers 
Kevin http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Must admit this had slipped my mind.
Kevin http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Must admit this had slipped my mind.durbster said:
At home he has pictures of his mum and dad in his bedroom and we encourage him to talk or ask about them if he wants to. My sister wrote and illustrated a book that sort of explains how it all happened too and he loves that.
Whenever the subject comes up - which is fairly regularly - we talk about it as casually as possible. He still thinks they are somewhere so it's a tricky concept to explain. In fact the only time he has really got upset when discussing it was when the thought occurred to him that they'd gone because they didn't want to look after him any more. I think my angry reaction made it clear how wrong that was.
We do worry what will happen if he tells people at school what has happened. At the moment he probably doesn't realise how rare it is.
That has made me feel quite emotional. Whenever the subject comes up - which is fairly regularly - we talk about it as casually as possible. He still thinks they are somewhere so it's a tricky concept to explain. In fact the only time he has really got upset when discussing it was when the thought occurred to him that they'd gone because they didn't want to look after him any more. I think my angry reaction made it clear how wrong that was.
We do worry what will happen if he tells people at school what has happened. At the moment he probably doesn't realise how rare it is.
Its very rare that i read every comment and absorb every emotion in a 15 page thread, but having just found this, i must say, you sir are an inspiration. As a father of a recently turned 4 year old, it is both heart breaking and warming to know there are people out there like you and your wife!
You deserve all the best fortune in life!
You deserve all the best fortune in life!
I've just read this in one go, from start to finish, in 45 minutes.
All I can say is, I'm glad there are people like you in the world.
This is one of only 2 threads on PH which has actually made me really think about my driving... (Other one is 10penceshort's thread).
It was easy for me to just detach myself from it emotionally until I saw the picture of the little'un. That really brought it home to me just how many things I've done in 1 year of driving that could've ended in a horrible accident with exactly the same outcome.
I must thank you for doing this, I need these threads as a reminder to keep my over-exuberance in check.
All I can say is, I'm glad there are people like you in the world.
This is one of only 2 threads on PH which has actually made me really think about my driving... (Other one is 10penceshort's thread).
It was easy for me to just detach myself from it emotionally until I saw the picture of the little'un. That really brought it home to me just how many things I've done in 1 year of driving that could've ended in a horrible accident with exactly the same outcome.
I must thank you for doing this, I need these threads as a reminder to keep my over-exuberance in check.
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