Death by Careless Driving!

[Saleen836]

I remember hearing about this when it happened last year and yesterday the accused was in court giving evidence...
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18816543.de...

In my driving lifetime I have never driven over any box/bag/other in the road as you never know what is inside!

[untakenname]

I've had to drive over debris on the motorway (plaster board in bin bags) in rushhour as it would have been riskier to swerve at the last second so I can sympathise with the man, you don't expect an OAP to be lying down on a wet road at 11pm.

[NWTony]

I hit something on the M65 once. It was dark and raining and by the time i saw it in the road in my headlights I made the decision to just lift off and hit it rather than swerve or slam on in wet conditions on a motorway. If anyone has driven an S2 Elise they will know how useless the headlights are.

Completely ripped the front clam to shreds and I called the police to report it as I didn't know what I'd actually hit.

Turns out it was the body of a dear. You'd think that would make it the dear owners responsibility but according to my insurance it doesn't

[Red 4]

NWTony said:

Turns out it was the body of a dear. You'd think that would make it the dear owners responsibility but according to my insurance it doesn't

Deer. With a double E. Hitting an Old Dear is a bit different.

I agree that the owners of both Old deers and Old Dears need to take care of them though.

[mac96]

He seems to have been very unlucky. I have once driven over a bag in the road- dark country road, black binbag which when I first saw it in the headlights I mistook for a shadow. Had no choice but to drive over it by the time I realised what it was.
I don't know how the unfortunate women got into the road, but that is where I would be looking to find who/what was resposible.

[Gameface]

Hope he gets off. Don't agree with him be prosecuted.

[Petrus1983]

Wowsers - I feel so sorry for him. If it happened to me I’d have done exactly the same thing, and subsequently would have felt horrendous. But a death by dangerous driving charge is ridiculous.

[bigandclever]

His problem, from reading a different article and the witness statement reported, is that the driver in front of him went around her, and the driver behind him went around her. He chose to go straight on.

Edited by bigandclever on Saturday 24th October 14:09

[Taylor James]

I'd like to see what he could see before passing judgement on that case but it was drummed into me to avoid swerving at speed. I have been with a few drivers who have almost put us off the road (and by the grace of God not into an oncoming car) swerving to avoid rabbits and other animals. It's a very dangerous thing to do. I remember hitting a large object on a darkened road a long time ago. There was no time to evaluate, just decide swerve or go straight on. Sounds like the guy in this case had to make a similar decision and it will be interesting to see how it pans out. On the face of it, it does seem surprising that he has been prosecuted.

[bigandclever]

Petrus1983 said:

But a death by dangerous driving charge is ridiculous.

What about careless, like it is?

[Gameface]

I don't consider his actions dangerous or careless.

[vulture1]

Errr why was a woman lying on the road?

[Petrus1983]

bigandclever said:

Petrus1983 said:

But a death by dangerous driving charge is ridiculous.

What about careless, like it is?

I don’t think it’s careless to do what you were told to do in every driving lesson - do not swerve. My father failed his first driving test for swerving to avoid a cat. Obviously I appreciate this is a person, but how could he have known that in that split second?

[Petrus1983]

vulture1 said:

Errr why was a woman lying on the road?

I would consider this the careless action in the whole case.

[AlexC1981]

It's a wide and well lit 30mph road going through town with shops and houses either side. I'm not so sure he should get off. If he saw the car in front go around her then he had plenty of time to slow down and go around or stop unless he was tailgating. Hitting someone collapsed in the road in these circumstances was bloody careless if you ask me.

vulture1 said:

Errr why was a woman lying on the road?

She was 71 years old, so probably not drunk and passed out after a night on the tiles.

Edit - actually the road is quite narrow in the busiest locations through the town centre, but you would be more careful in those areas.

Edited by AlexC1981 on Saturday 24th October 14:41

[bigandclever]

Petrus1983 said:

bigandclever said:

Petrus1983 said:

But a death by dangerous driving charge is ridiculous.

What about careless, like it is?

I don’t think it’s careless to do what you were told to do in every driving lesson - do not swerve. My father failed his first driving test for swerving to avoid a cat. Obviously I appreciate this is a person, but how could he have known that in that split second?

My point is the charge is by careless driving, not by dangerous like you said.

[bigandclever]

AlexC1981 said:

vulture1 said:

Errr why was a woman lying on the road?

She was 71 years old, so probably not drunk and passed out after a night on the tiles.

But she was over the limit, which seems to be a proxy for drunk in newspaper articles.

[Sheepshanks]

bigandclever said:

His problem, from reading a different article and the witness statement reported, is that the driver in front of him went around her, and the driver behind him went around her. He chose to go straight on.

Be interesting to know how old they are. Night vision is pretty poor in those over 60, and he's 71.

[Previous]

Without knowing more, its hard to say.

Wet country road late at night, or well lit 30mph road in town?

I've had the displeasure of hitting a pedestrian once - someone tried to make a dash across a busy slip road where a couple of lanes converge just off of a major roundabout.

In my case I braked and swerved as soon as I saw them. The combined time to realise what was happening, react and implement a decision ultimately played a part in the collision: a split second decision separates one outcome from another.

Its one of those things you replay over and over and think "if only I did 'x' at a certain time..".

Sympathies to all involved.

Edited by Previous on Saturday 24th October 18:05

[NWTony]

Red 4 said:

NWTony said:

Turns out it was the body of a dear. You'd think that would make it the dear owners responsibility but according to my insurance it doesn't

Deer. With a double E. Hitting an Old Dear is a bit different.

I agree that the owners of both Old deers and Old Dears need to take care of them though.

Quite correct and annoyingly, the exact same joke / play on words I've used myself recanting the story.