Prince Philip back on the road

[Widgeon]

I'm annoyed to read that he allegedly has a brand new Range Rover bad is back on public roads without a seatbelt today.

With elderly parents I know it's difficult but he's being a fool. OP post edited by MNHQ

I’m sure the other driver will be looking for some sort of recompense but that does not negate the fact that hrh doe caused the accident even if the speed of the other driver exacerbated it.

She didn't really go "straight to the papers", I think she was hoping for something like a nice signed letter and flowers, and when they didn't arrive, she thought "Sod it." She would have been better saying nothing, though, because there will probably be a backlash as already said.I think the Palace could have handled the whole thing a bit better.

The point I’m trying to make is that it is enough to know that he pulled out of the junction in front of her. This obviously makes it his fault.

However, in bad light, on a difficult junction I’m sure most drivers could have done the same. People are saying that this is an accident blackspot and that the speed limit is being lowered to correct this.

The passenger making a big deal about the speed the car was travelling and the information she gave leads me to believe that the second car was speeding. This would have made the accident much worse. There is a massive difference in the damage caused hitting something at 20mph and hitting something at 50 or 60.

Why should she expect flowers? Would she expect that in a normal road collision? No sensible person would be sending flowers when fault hadn't been decided. Apparently the D of E wanted to speak to them on the scene but was told not to.

I am sure I read in DM online this morning that the Kia was 100 to 150 yards away, and doing no more than 50 when the DofE pulled out. I am not saying the D of E wasn't wrong, because he clearly must have pulled into the path of oncoming traffic but if they were really over 100 yards away, they could have reduced speed significantly, and probably stopped.

I see other posts mentioning this distance.

A lot of drivers seem to take offence at the thought that they should ever slow down for pedestrians, let alone cars.

The Kia driver is probably lucky she isn't been done for due care and attention.

Doesn't matter if she was doing 50 or 60 as long as she was within the speed limit. Whoever is at the junction has to give way and allow for the speed of oncoming traffic.

I've had someone at a junction in Sainsburys car park write off my car when she, to my immediate left, failed to give way at a junction as I was driving past the junction at 4mph. Even when she hit me she kept going...

Her - are you allowed to drive down here?'
Me - yes, you were at a junction, there is also a big red STOP sign at the junction.
Her - but I've been coming here for years and I've never had to look right
Me - You do know the layout of the car park has been changed and all the signs?
Her - Oh, I can't believe I just done that, I just kept driving even when I hit you
me - I know

Irrespective of age people get impatient and pull out. She was about 50 in a BMW M Sport and I was 35 in a Polo. No vehicles from the Landrover family. No elderly nor boy racers.

If Philip had waited at the junction for her to drive past he would not have hit her.
When you haven't allowed enough of a gap between oncoming traffic and you joining the road you don't pull out.
When the sun has blinded your vision you don't pull out.

For the sake of argument, you could say even if the other car was speeding, the D of E still misjudged it by thinking it was safe to pull out. If it's an 'accident black spot' you surely need to be extra cautious.

I think she was hoping for something like a nice signed letter and flowers,

I must say, when a car drove into the back of mine a few weeks OK, it never for a moment occurred to me to expect the driver's wife to write to me, let alone to send me flowers.

Saw her on the news earlier and I believe anything she says even less now. She's milking it as much as she possibly can.

Doesn't matter if she was doing 50 or 60 as long as she was within the speed limit. Whoever is at the junction has to give way and allow for the speed of oncoming traffic.

At 50 and with 100 to 150 yards of stopping distance she should have been able to come to a complete stop.

Which suggests speeding.

Locals have already said that it is an accident blackspot because of speeding and the difficulty of the junction. She must have hit him at over 30mph to roll the car twice.

To be still going over 30 with that amount of stopping distance suggests a speed well over 60mph.

Here is the stopping distance calculation.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=stopping+distance+uk&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#

At 50 and with 100 to 150 yards of stopping distance she should have been able to come to a complete stop.

Which suggests speeding.

Locals have already said that it is an accident blackspot because of speeding and the difficulty of the junction. She must have hit him at over 30mph to roll the car twice.

To be still going over 30 with that amount of stopping distance suggests a speed well over 60mph.

He was stationary at a Junction. He doesn't need to proceed. If he hadn't jumped the junction he wouldn't have been hit.

Others have pointed out the road is partially obscured from the junction. Making it difficult to pull out safely if someone is speeding.

He shouldn’t have pulled out. But if she was speeding it is a contributing factor to the severity of the accident.

Everybody knows that you don't apologise - ie admit culpability - after an accident. So not sure what the Kia passenger is expecting from the royals. Any apologies, flowers etc would be interpreted as an admission of guilt.

Do people think the matter is over now then? I can't imagine that normally, there wouldn't be some sort of prosecution.

60 is fast we don't know she was speeding.

Incidentally that woman that pulled out of a junction in Sainsburys car park wrote my car off. She managed to not only jump the junction, hit my car but also continue pushing my car across the road infront of all the other cars leaving the car park. I wasn't speeding. I was doing 4mph. Her name was Susan too

Poor vision at a Junction means you don't pull out. He's been in the news today for not wearing a seat belt. He's not a responsible driver.

60 is fast we don't know she was speeding.

We only know what her friend is saying. 150 yards is brought stopping distance at 60 or 50.

The Duke’s car rolled in full twice. It wasn’t just pushed across the road.

People make mistakes. What is annoying me is that while he shouldn’t have pulled out on to the road, which was his driver error, the story as presented by the passenger if the car is either wildly inaccurate or implacets her friend for speeding well over the speed limit. Which should itself be investigated as part of the accident.

I’m sure you don’t think my name is actually Susan. Because i’m Positive you couldn’t be that stupid.

She didn't really go "straight to the papers", I think she was hoping for something like a nice signed letter and flowers, and when they didn't arrive, she thought "Sod it."
She sort of did.
Who seriously days after an accident would go to the press because the other party in an accident didn't send them flowers or make a fuss of them? She even said her self she fancied a phone call from the queen.
It's known to not say anything (on either side) that could be taken as an admission of guilt.

There is nothing to be gained from going to the press other than 5 mins of fame and an attempt to get some cash.

I couldn’t agree more, @MaisyPops.

A pp has suggested that, if someone is speeding, it could look clear at the junction when you pull out, then get hit by.a speeding car you couldn't see. There have been five fatalities in six years on that road.

Ffs @Craft1905, take your patronising condescension somewhere else, will you?

MaisyPops - which do you think is more likely:

a) she went to the press and volunteered all the comments that have been reported

or

b) the press tracked her down, persuaded her to give an interview and asked her all sorts of leading questions. For example questions like

"did you feel like the royals were ignoring you?" and
"would something like a bunch of flowers have made you feel better?"

could have resulted in a, "well I dunno, I suppose so' response which can then be reported as .....

"Passenger is really upset that she has been completely ignored by the royals and thinks they could at least have sent flowers".

My money's on b. She's obviously not used to dealing with the press and doesn't appreciate how manipulative and duplicitous they are.

The police would have known by now if she was speeding by her tyre marks on the road.

The police are well aware of the facts and who is implicated as they were at the scene. They have also kept an eye on his driving 48 hrs after the accident. He hasn't heeded their instruction the first time round and has since been pulled over and told. That speaks volumes.

If you're being dazzled by the sun, then you shouldn't fucking be turning onto an A road.