The real problem is cyclists on the footpaths though.
Another killer driver walks free.
As we have have a rapidly aging population, there really needs to be more legislation brought in to ensure the medical competency of elderly drivers. There should be medical sign offs for drivers over a certain age. The elderly regularly see GPs anyway, a medical competency and eyesight review should be part of the process of retaining a licence.
On the other side of things there’s a fair amount of evidence that younger drivers should have a graduated licence, for instance restricting passenger numbers for the first year or driving curfews (though I don’t personally agree with the latter measure).
We are still, statistically, one of the safest countries in the world for driving. With some of the lowest road deaths per capita, per car, and per unit distance. But that has flatlined over the last few years whilst various European countries are still reducing road deaths.
Cool so they took her liscense off her right, and put her Into full time nursing care?
Because if she’s cleared of this for being demented she’s also too demented to be out and about or on her own unsupervised and unattended. She is one “momentary lapse of concentration” from putting a tin of beans in the microwave or tumble drying a duvet for three straight days and causing a house fire that kills her neighbours too.
“During the trial, James Leonard, defending, said Mrs Robertson was “ill-equipped to negotiate” the junction due to her dementia”
So why was she behind the wheel?
Also there’s no mention of the van driver that hit the mother and baby. Was he prosecuted for manslaughter?
What about the van driver? Are they okay?
This case haunts me. He was such a beautiful baby. And to have it all taken away in some freak accident. Those poor parents. They weren’t the youngest so they were waiting for him for a long time.
That said I’m not sure how the van driver was ‘forced’ to mount the pavement. It was always impressed on my during driving lessons never to swerve for an obstacle on the road or an oncoming car, because that was extremely dangerous.
If she gets off for being mentally impaired then the person who allowed her to get into a vehicle needs to be charged with manslaughter. If she can’t drive then someone else has been managing the car (mot/tax/insurance) and is on them
What a joke, this is just the defence looking for a reason rather than this being the reason.
I hope she gets put into care now and watched 24/7 because she has caused the death of a child and is a danger to the public. She showed no emotion at all.
And this is why old people need to have regular driving tests. She shouldn’t have been on the road. I hope she’s forced to stay in a nursing home for the rest of her life as she’s clearly a danger to the public.
The vast majority of people of this age shouldn’t be driving. We need far stricter testing on them. The whole reason they’ve got their bus pass is to make up for the loss of driving.
…which with the state of our busses is a problem. For many people this is a far inferior substitution.
As well as controlling elderly drivers this is also another blow against car centric development and the way our country is setup where most people absolutely have to have a car or else.
An accidental death is still manslaughter. What a terrible verdict. Send a message to all old drivers not to bother handing in their licence because they can literally get away with murder.
Absolutely dumb.
We don’t want age discrimination, so make it mandatory to get retested every X years. The outcome would likely be a disproportionately large amount of older drivers failing.
This would also stop people passing their test pre-20, deciding not to drive for a number of years, and then getting a car when they haven’t driven in a number of years and so would not be competent.
I would argue every 3-5 years would be appropriate. Driving is a privilege and not a right.
This would likely shift our focus from cars being a priority to pedestrians and public transport being the focus. Reduce dangerous drivers, support more public transport, update our roads to reflect this shift, and maybe people will make healthier choices with walking and cycling.
She should of been banned/ flagged way before this, surely a relative must of noticed she was unfit to drive. In the comments here I see folk saying their parents are unfit, get a grip and get em banned.
I also use Linux, design systems and it seems in my dotage!
From my experience as a 68 year old, the young write us off too quickly. All of my older friends are great drivers! In fact, we are all better drivers than when we were young. Every day I see youngsters racing/running red lights, driving at break neck speed & dangerously overtaking, even driving on the wrong side of the road past bollards. I think if you look at the statistics; young drivers between 18 & 25 make up more than 25% of all serious accidents.
We do have to re apply for our licence after 70, and then 3 yearly after (I believe) perhaps a doctor should have to make comment on the form, I wouldn’t object, I know for a fact that we older drivers drive more slowly, more carefully, especially with grandchildren on board. A 68 year old today is different to a 68 year old 50 years ago, headline accidents make the news, but you never hear the percentage of retired drivers out there or their % accident risk. I suspect it’s low.
What a useless article – so many questions left unanswered, so many incongruencies.
What about the lorry driver? You can’t just drive on the pavement to avoid an accident, that is illegal. Why was her condition not assessed until much later? Why does the police recommend that people “check they are competent to drive”, when the defence in this case is that people with dementia are unable to judge their own competence.
It is such a tragedy, but it seems that no lessons are being learned.
16 comments
The real problem is cyclists on the footpaths though.
Another killer driver walks free.
As we have have a rapidly aging population, there really needs to be more legislation brought in to ensure the medical competency of elderly drivers. There should be medical sign offs for drivers over a certain age. The elderly regularly see GPs anyway, a medical competency and eyesight review should be part of the process of retaining a licence.
On the other side of things there’s a fair amount of evidence that younger drivers should have a graduated licence, for instance restricting passenger numbers for the first year or driving curfews (though I don’t personally agree with the latter measure).
We are still, statistically, one of the safest countries in the world for driving. With some of the lowest road deaths per capita, per car, and per unit distance. But that has flatlined over the last few years whilst various European countries are still reducing road deaths.
Cool so they took her liscense off her right, and put her Into full time nursing care?
Because if she’s cleared of this for being demented she’s also too demented to be out and about or on her own unsupervised and unattended. She is one “momentary lapse of concentration” from putting a tin of beans in the microwave or tumble drying a duvet for three straight days and causing a house fire that kills her neighbours too.
“During the trial, James Leonard, defending, said Mrs Robertson was “ill-equipped to negotiate” the junction due to her dementia”
So why was she behind the wheel?
Also there’s no mention of the van driver that hit the mother and baby. Was he prosecuted for manslaughter?
What about the van driver? Are they okay?
This case haunts me. He was such a beautiful baby. And to have it all taken away in some freak accident. Those poor parents. They weren’t the youngest so they were waiting for him for a long time.
That said I’m not sure how the van driver was ‘forced’ to mount the pavement. It was always impressed on my during driving lessons never to swerve for an obstacle on the road or an oncoming car, because that was extremely dangerous.
If she gets off for being mentally impaired then the person who allowed her to get into a vehicle needs to be charged with manslaughter. If she can’t drive then someone else has been managing the car (mot/tax/insurance) and is on them
What a joke, this is just the defence looking for a reason rather than this being the reason.
I hope she gets put into care now and watched 24/7 because she has caused the death of a child and is a danger to the public. She showed no emotion at all.
And this is why old people need to have regular driving tests. She shouldn’t have been on the road. I hope she’s forced to stay in a nursing home for the rest of her life as she’s clearly a danger to the public.
The vast majority of people of this age shouldn’t be driving. We need far stricter testing on them. The whole reason they’ve got their bus pass is to make up for the loss of driving.
…which with the state of our busses is a problem. For many people this is a far inferior substitution.
As well as controlling elderly drivers this is also another blow against car centric development and the way our country is setup where most people absolutely have to have a car or else.
An accidental death is still manslaughter. What a terrible verdict. Send a message to all old drivers not to bother handing in their licence because they can literally get away with murder.
Absolutely dumb.
We don’t want age discrimination, so make it mandatory to get retested every X years. The outcome would likely be a disproportionately large amount of older drivers failing.
This would also stop people passing their test pre-20, deciding not to drive for a number of years, and then getting a car when they haven’t driven in a number of years and so would not be competent.
I would argue every 3-5 years would be appropriate. Driving is a privilege and not a right.
This would likely shift our focus from cars being a priority to pedestrians and public transport being the focus. Reduce dangerous drivers, support more public transport, update our roads to reflect this shift, and maybe people will make healthier choices with walking and cycling.
She should of been banned/ flagged way before this, surely a relative must of noticed she was unfit to drive. In the comments here I see folk saying their parents are unfit, get a grip and get em banned.
I also use Linux, design systems and it seems in my dotage!
From my experience as a 68 year old, the young write us off too quickly. All of my older friends are great drivers! In fact, we are all better drivers than when we were young. Every day I see youngsters racing/running red lights, driving at break neck speed & dangerously overtaking, even driving on the wrong side of the road past bollards. I think if you look at the statistics; young drivers between 18 & 25 make up more than 25% of all serious accidents.
We do have to re apply for our licence after 70, and then 3 yearly after (I believe) perhaps a doctor should have to make comment on the form, I wouldn’t object, I know for a fact that we older drivers drive more slowly, more carefully, especially with grandchildren on board. A 68 year old today is different to a 68 year old 50 years ago, headline accidents make the news, but you never hear the percentage of retired drivers out there or their % accident risk. I suspect it’s low.
What a useless article – so many questions left unanswered, so many incongruencies.
What about the lorry driver? You can’t just drive on the pavement to avoid an accident, that is illegal. Why was her condition not assessed until much later? Why does the police recommend that people “check they are competent to drive”, when the defence in this case is that people with dementia are unable to judge their own competence.
It is such a tragedy, but it seems that no lessons are being learned.