RE: Road Death Investigation Unit
RE: Road Death Investigation Unit
Wednesday 17th October 2007

Road Death Investigation Unit

New unit needed to restore Britain's safe roads



Calls are being made for a road deaths investigation unit to be created to restore Britain’s lost reputation for having the safest roads in Europe.

A study by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety recommends that the unit should be established by the Health & Safety Executive and should initially investigate the 1,000 deaths a year among people who are driving or riding in the course of their work

Road travel is the only mode of transport for which there is no specialist national team of crash investigators with accidents being left to police to investigate - and they are primarily concerned with identifying the culprit rather than drawing lessons for improving road safety.

The unit could recommend prosecution of companies that failed to ensure the safety of employees, such as by encouraging them to drive when tired.

The unit could also make broader recommendations about vehicle safety and traffic law enforcement.

Author
Discussion

sprinter885

Original Poster:

11,550 posts

258 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
1) That board seems to show significant improvement from Feb '06-Feb'07 !
2) A National Investigation Team "COULD" be a good idea --only if independant from Police/Govt. etc
3) Subject to 2) above it might shed light on real causes
4) WHY-only the 1000 or so deaths relating to work travel??

Edited by sprinter885 on Wednesday 17th October 11:41

Marki

15,763 posts

301 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
Yes thats what we need another department setting up hehe hurrah the gravey train now departing from platform 3 will be calling at lavish expense accounts, fully paid junkets, and terminates at Jobs for the boys

Mr Whippy

32,453 posts

272 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
Time to swap jobs, could do with a nice final salary pension scheme now I'll be taxed out of unhealthy foods and end up living ages hehe

Dave

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

286 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
More jobs for the boys....

Does this mean we'll get a Death Investigation Unit for accidental deaths at home...?

Domestic fatalities are more numerous than road fatalities, after all....rolleyes

Alex Gurr

420 posts

278 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
We don't need a new department to tell us what is wrong..............

1 - People are too stupid to drive safely
2 - Cars are lethal wepons of mass distruction and should be banned
3 - Roads should be made of jelly so that no one can fall down and hurt themselves on one
4 - People should be covered in bubble wrap and be accompanied by a designated Health and Safety officer at all times

Life is dangerous, alwayts has and always will be. No wonder people look for dangerous hobbies to make them feel like they are still alive. I don't want to live in a sanitised world. i want to live in one where my intellegence and natural instincts keep me alive, not a bloomin H&S officer

Ed.

2,176 posts

269 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
sprinter885 said:
1)
2) A National Investigation Team "COULD" be a good idea --only if independant from Police/Govt. etc
Edited by sprinter885 on Wednesday 17th October 11:41
Are you sure thats feasible wink

TripleS

4,294 posts

273 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
mybrainhurts said:
More jobs for the boys....

Does this mean we'll get a Death Investigation Unit for accidental deaths at home...?

Domestic fatalities are more numerous than road fatalities, after all....rolleyes
....and of course if you really want to live dangerously, you could always go into hospital for a spell.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

Digga

48,549 posts

314 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
Alex Gurr said:
4 - People should be covered in bubble wrap...
At which point, the state will then establish a case for creating a department to discover why so many people suffocate to death in packaging...

A good deal of this issue is the difference between having Police partol cars, out there, pulling the morons over on a regualr basis, as opposed to using scameras.

Nostrils

103 posts

258 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
And I was under the impression that speed cameras were working so well that deaths and serious injuries had reduced. Another waster of money, another quango and some company will no doubt earn a fortune with some fangled method of detection. This is just a screen cover for bringing in road pricing which will track your speed, location and any offences.

Breathe in, Breathe out....that'll 20p each please multiply by ? - That'll be £30 a day please - Thankyou for breathing

Brother Mycroft

843 posts

230 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
Not needed!

Just another 'jobs for the boys' move by a Government that pickpockets us at the pumps, trips us up on the road and cons money for nothing in 'car taxes' that have no justification.

Get rid.

Further useless bureaucracy that will in the end impose half-ahsed laws... drawn from half-ahsed conclusions... taken from half-ahsed incidents.

We'll pay in so many ways for this, yet more GITS [Government Introduced Traffic Scam] on the road!

mk1fan

10,918 posts

256 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
Does smack of spin this. And if they're only concentrating on 'Work drivers / riders' then what good is it to the vast majority.

Wish I were so lucky to get one of these faux jobs.

sprinter885

Original Poster:

11,550 posts

258 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
Ed. said:
sprinter885 said:
1)
2) A National Investigation Team "COULD" be a good idea --only if independant from Police/Govt. etc
Edited by sprinter885 on Wednesday 17th October 11:41
Are you sure thats feasible wink
Certainly Not !! Where do you think I live --Plot 22 Cloud Cuckoo Land ?? smile

streaky

19,311 posts

280 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
And no doubt the road will be kept closed until the Unit can get around to visiting the scene - Streaky

R4PID

1,060 posts

276 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
article said:
Road travel is the only mode of transport for which there is no specialist national team of crash investigators
Couple of big reasons I would have thought.

1) - Most are private motorists as opposed to rail and air which carry fare paying passengers.

2) - Train Drivers and Pilots are regularly assessed to ensure their ability to continue their profession.

Once we have the same level of ongoing training for private motorists to ensure they're worthiness to drive on the roads then we can worry about setting up useless shower of shits to umm and arr over why the poor innocent 14 year old walking home from the park was mowed down by the evil, wicked, law abiding, tax paying working class man on his way home from a late night at the office. Of course the driver was too tired and shouldn't have been driving, nothing to do with the victims intake of Diamond White or the fact she swayed into the road carelessly without looking..

peter450

1,650 posts

264 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
It all comes down to a simple fact, what price a life.

Is saving a life worth introducing a blanket 30 mph limit? At what point does saving lives come secondary to upholding the benefits of living in a motorised society?

You ban planes you end plane accidents, but is that a trade your willing to make? ultimately it's a cost/benefit argument, perhaps the most difficult of arguments to make because real lives are traded to the freedoms we all enjoy

dandarez

14,040 posts

314 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
TripleS said:
mybrainhurts said:
More jobs for the boys....

Does this mean we'll get a Death Investigation Unit for accidental deaths at home...?

Domestic fatalities are more numerous than road fatalities, after all....rolleyes
....and of course if you really want to live dangerously, you could always go into hospital for a spell.
Witch doctor required laughlaughlaugh


Hooli

32,278 posts

231 months

Wednesday 17th October 2007
quotequote all
Marki said:
Yes thats what we need another department setting up hehe hurrah the gravey train now departing from platform 3 will be calling at lavish expense accounts, fully paid junkets, and terminates at Jobs for the boys
rofl

jonathannealeuk

23 posts

262 months

Thursday 18th October 2007
quotequote all
All the HSE will do is prosecute companies for not having a driving policy that says "the company asks you to drive safely" on it. They will never be able to affect actual road safety (i.e. a dangerous road junction).

...and forget the expense accounts, etc. HSE inspectors get paid naff all - thats why they are so grumpy all the time - only joking Lindsey!

Digga

48,549 posts

314 months

Thursday 18th October 2007
quotequote all
peter450 said:
Is saving a life worth introducing a blanket 30 mph limit? At what point does saving lives come secondary to upholding the benefits of living in a motorised society?
Your argument is severely flawed; you assume that at 30mph, no accidents will ever occur!

Whereas I would stake my livelihood on the fact that, even with a 1mph limit, there would be at least one unfortunate or idiotic individual killed each year.(When things way 1 tonne and more, they have an enerring knack of squishing flimsy human beings, even if they're only moving slowly.)

IIRC, the highest road death toll in the UK was recorded during WW2, due mostly to the black-out (vehicles very poorly lit) and very heavy smog, so exceptional circumstance perhaps, but even prior to that, in the 1930's - with a lower population and far fewer vehicles - I beleive there were more people killed then than now. The very act of moving around - by whatever means - is fraught with danger, and I just wish people would be more accepting and pragmatic sometimes...

sprinter885

Original Poster:

11,550 posts

258 months

Thursday 18th October 2007
quotequote all
dandarez said:
TripleS said:
mybrainhurts said:
More jobs for the boys....

Does this mean we'll get a Death Investigation Unit for accidental deaths at home...?

Domestic fatalities are more numerous than road fatalities, after all....rolleyes
....and of course if you really want to live dangerously, you could always go into hospital for a spell.
Witch doctor required laughlaughlaugh
Oh the wit..rofl