Duke of Edinburgh’s Road Accident

[SirGawain]

AIBU to ask why on earth is the Duke of Edinburgh driving at the age of 97.

GoFiguire

So if they’re made by the same company and both end in Rover, what’s the difference?

No, they do not both end in “Rover”. They are different MODELS. Argh......

It doesn’t matter is he was driving a golden chariot drawn by unicorns.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Sorry. Playing catch-up here...

Just to say the RANGE ROVER is the one with the highest spec!!!!

I don't give a stuff about him being a member of the Royal family. None of us were there when this accident happened. The police are collecting evidence and when they've done that, they will decide how to proceed. It's the lynch mob that are blinkered, not me. The lynch mob that has acted as judge and jury, based purely on a load of speculation, prejudice against the Royal family and judgement on a man's driving on account of his age.

This^ absolutely Bluelady There are none so blind.....an all that...the hatred and speculation lies goes on...

No hatred I agree. EXCEPT he will not be dealt with the same way as an ordinary 97 year old man involved in a car crash.

Even the Queen is not ablove the law but perhaps her old man thinks he is;?

He kind of is above the law though. Lets not pretend he will be prosecuted for this, even if it is found he should be.

More speculation @marymarkle. Why don't you just put a sock in it and let the legal process take its course?

Oh come on! Of course he is not going to be treated the same? Do you really expect us to believe that?

I don't know. You don't know. Nobody does. And won't until the police come to a decision. Unless you have a crystal ball, of course. In which case, could you have a quick squint at the next winning lottery numbers?

No hatred I agree. EXCEPT he will not be dealt with the same way as an ordinary 97 year old man involved in a car crash.

I think some do get different treatment, each case is dealt with on its own merits, but how can we possibly know the actual merits of each case? Certainly there are many appalling things that are not brought to full legal consequence. Was it David Beckham that got off with speeding in the recent past? I think it does happen, and I think it could be more likely to happen bearing in mind DofEs position.

We do not know , and can't know - we canly speculate about that.

*can only

The police must know him very well, more so than any other random in an incident such as this, and, at the end of the day, lots of accidents happen due to sun dazzling drivers eyes.

Any that drive on private lands a lot do not have a seatbelt 'habit'. One would have to remind at the point of crossing the boundary from private to public roads to stop and put seatbelt on. No excusing being on public roads without one, but all that drive only on public roads, put a seatbelt on as a habit without even thinking, in fact would feel hard not to.

My car beeps like a bastard if you don’t have a seatbelt on.

It does it if my bag is heavy enough to register as a person in the passenger seat.

And it keeps beeping.

It’s a Ford KA, not a fancy vehicle like the DofE’s.

Any that drive on private lands a lot do not have a seatbelt 'habit'. One would have to remind at the point of crossing the boundary from private to public roads to stop and put seatbelt on. No excusing being on public roads without one, but all that drive only on public roads, put a seatbelt on as a habit without even thinking, in fact would feel hard not to.

And he is 97 so probably doesn't have the memory he used to have...

Why would you not just put your seatbelt on to drive on private land, even if the law says you don't have to? Particularly if you've just been in a nasty accident? Makes no sense to me. And as for then forgetting to put in on when you're on the public highway, well, forgive me if I don't break out the violins.

Most modern cars beep if you do not put your seatbelt on. And I am from a farming family, we all wore seatbelts driving on the farm.

So by ignoring the beeping, he was both breaking the law and taking no notice of the technology designed to warn him not to break the law.

You can disable a seat belt alert quite easily. And its not illegal to do it.

How do you even know that bluelady?

Google?

Yes, I've got this great thing called Google. I think everyone's got it.

You're all assuming he can actually hear the beeping! At 97 I doubt his hearing is especially acute. A piddling little warning light on the dashboard isn't going to bother him.
He's either made a conscious decision not to wear a seatbelt, which is bad, or he's forgets to put it on, which is also bad.

Very few 97 year olds drive. Those that do still drive are the fitter ones and they may limit their driving to familiar roads.

The duke will not be able to hear high pitched sounds but there is no evidence he's deaf.

The police spoke to him about a report he wasnt wearing a seatbelt. The report may not have been accurate or he may have been on a private road.

Both drivers were breathalysed, as is standard practise.

While I'd also tend to assume he was at fault since he pulled out onto a main road it may not be entirely his fault - just how fast was the other driver going if they could turn over a vehicle that has been said to be specially enhanced for security, something that adds considerably to the weight of the vehicle?

The duke will not be able to hear high pitched sounds but there is no evidence he's deaf.

He wears hearing aids doesn’t he? I’m sure I’ve noticed them in photos.