So it is OK to faint while driving .....

[mangaman]

For me, the most compelling evidence in this case is that witnesses reported seeing no brake lights at any time.

Anyone who has a collision is going to instinctively hit the brakes if they are conscious. This woman has hit a cyclist, then a car, then a lamp-post and *still* not touched the brakes.

I certainly hope she'll receive a medical ban and that the cause will be investigated by doctors.

Looking at the report it does say

'Consultant cardiologist Dr Adam Fitzpatrick produced a report in which he said she was likely to have suffered an abrupt episode of syncope at the wheel'
so I can't believe she hasn't been through tests already.

As you say, not using the brakes at all implies she was either asleep or unconscious

 

[lazyfatgit]

Its not the first time someone has hit the gas pedal harder in panic, rather than the brake. This happened with someone I know (they didn't injure anyone, fortunately).

 

[Crankarm]

Certainly strong enough to justify not making up aload of bollocks about it as Crankarm seems to be delighting in doing.

See, you're doing it again. You're making stuff up.

Certainly strong enough to justify not making up aload of bollocks about it as Crankarm seems to be delighting in doing.

And you haven't RT ................... made it all up based purely on anecdotal evidence .

Just one lorry driver eh. I thought you were going to refer us to a learned and trusted body of medical research highlighting numerous cases.

I wonder if the medical opinion that was provided was supported by evidence from her GP or a local specialist showing a history of fainting? Or alternatively the opinion came from a "specialist" on a list of "specialists" defence solicitors use? It would seem awful co-incidence for the Corless family if this woman has never fainted before and never faints again in her life and so gets her driving license back after one month or some similarly short time .

Only for you RT, only for you. What would I do if I couldn't post my b0ll0cks on here for you? No one else on here has quite the wit to charm me like you do .

 

[marinyork]

Freak things do happen crankarm. My mother is epileptic and fell the full length of the stairs once and miraculously survived. I'm guessing you'd be one of the people that'd be saying that was clearly a load of nonsense (just like the cops would be) and that one of the members of my family had murdered her (had she died which was not an unrealistic scenario).

These things aren't simple, if you believe the medics* my mother was driving around for over a decade whilst having fits and nobody knew about it.

*they have no evidence for this.

 

[thomas]

See, you're doing it again. You're making stuff up.

Certainly strong enough to justify not making up aload of bollocks about it as Crankarm seems to be delighting in doing.

Point is we really know very, very little so everyone should find out the real facts first .

 

[Crankarm]

Freak things do happen crankarm. My mother is epileptic and fell the full length of the stairs once and miraculously survived. I'm guessing you'd be one of the people that'd be saying that was clearly a load of nonsense (just like the cops would be) and that one of the members of my family had murdered her (had she died which was not an unrealistic scenario).

These things aren't simple, if you believe the medics* my mother was driving around for over a decade whilst having fits and nobody knew about it.

*they have no evidence for this.

So attempted murder then ? Blimey!

Of course one would investigate all aspects and all propositions as to how the accident with your mother came to occur given the strength of the evidence and how these factors combined to determine whether one proposition was more likely than another given the evidence.

There was an interesting piece by Bill Bryson Giants of Science in the Times Review this weekend passed. To my delight his first choice was that of the Reverend Thomas Bayes from Tunbridge Wells the father of modern probabilty although his famous equation known as Bayes Theorem remained undiscovered until after his death in 1761. Apparently a friend sent it to the Royal Society in 1763. It is a great mathematical tool for predicting how one conditional probability (such as the probability of a hypothesis given observed evidence) depends on its inverse (in this case, the probability of that evidence given the hypothesis).

It is routinely used in forensic work and population genetics in particular mapping the frequency of genes within a population. Likewise the Theorem could be applied to the instant case to determine the likelihood of different outcomes given the evidence.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co...tainment/books/non-fiction/article6979468.ece

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes'_theorem

 

[nilling]

not using the brakes at all implies she was either asleep or unconscious

No, it means she never pressed the brake pedal. You could also argue that she was just as likely to have hit the accelerator pedal instead.

The family have just been on BBC Look North and they certainly don't sound like they have received any answers

The medical experts told the court that the driver may have fainted at the wheel and therefore not in control of the car at the time of the accident. The driver has also not been stopped from driving, though the DVLA said they would be investigating.


Unforeseen fainting may now be an excuse for poor driving

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Point is we really know very, very little so everyone should find out the real facts first .

Exactly. I think.

 

[Bman]

All I know is that someone who killed a road user and seriously injured another, seems to have got away scott free.

It's just not cricket!

 

[classic33]

Or she did faint and her foot froze rigid down on the accelerator and she woke up just as the car came to rest. Hmmmmmm......convenient.

At the very least her license needs to be temporarily revoked preventing her driving pending further investigation. There is sufficent doubt in her fitness to drive.

You faint, the body goes limp. In a fit the body can go rigid. Can also happen if you panic, going rigid.

If it was a fit then the driving licence should be withdrawn. She should also be informing the relevant authorities of what happenned & be surrenderring her licence

 

[J4CKO]

So, she had never fainted before or since but had used a mobile phone whilst driving three minutes before, now, call me cynical but I think it was probably the phone.


Finished one call and then was starting another or composing a text, too busy looking at the phone, well done love, looks like you got away with it, why not treat yourself to an even bigger car, I see drivers using phones every day, have never seen anyone faint. Range Rover Sports tend to attract selfish, aggressive, self-gratification artists, so for me the type of vehicle points toward somone who would try such a defence to get away with it rather than fess up.

I wonder if she is actually sorry ?

 

[numbnuts]

Range Rover Sports tend to attract selfish, aggressive, self-gratification artists

So we are going to tar everybody with the same brush

 

[Crankarm]

So we are going to tar everybody with the same brush

Seems to be about the long and short of it .

 

[marinyork]

So, she had never fainted before or since but had used a mobile phone whilst driving three minutes before, now, call me cynical but I think it was probably the phone.


Finished one call and then was starting another or composing a text, too busy looking at the phone, well done love, looks like you got away with it, why not treat yourself to an even bigger car, I see drivers using phones every day, have never seen anyone faint. Range Rover Sports tend to attract selfish, aggressive, self-gratification artists, so for me the type of vehicle points toward somone who would try such a defence to get away with it rather than fess up.

I will grant you that point in general that it is worrying. Unfortunately if it was the phone the precedent was already set recently on Lord Ahmed . Ended up with the most generous interpretation in history and got 12 weeks in prison, a lesser charge, was supposed to serve 6 weeks, did 16 days.

 

[Crankarm]

I will grant you that point in general that it is worrying. Unfortunately if it was the phone the precedent was already set recently on Lord Ahmed . Ended up with the most generous interpretation in history and got 12 weeks in prison, a lesser charge, was supposed to serve 6 weeks, did 16 days.

Yes but AFAIK Lord Ahmed pleaded guilty to the charges and apologised. The circumstances in his case where somewhat different. This woman has done neither putting the Corless family through even more distress.