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AIBU?

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Original poster

Prince Philip back on the road

277 replies

Widgeon · 19/01/2019 19:53

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

OP posts:
NicolaStart · 20/01/2019 12:21

‘Lied about the weather’
The DoE was travelling West, she wasn’t, so she wouldn’t have seen the same low sun that the DoE would.

Bluelady · 20/01/2019 12:24

She said it was overcast. It wasn't. I was dazzled by the sun the same afternoon.

MissSusanScreams · 20/01/2019 12:24

find this cap doffing attitude that so many people seem to have towards the Royals really bizarre. As though they can't do any wrong.

Well either the laws of physics are different on that stretch of road or she is lying about the circumstance of the accident. Stopping distance at 50mph is 57yards.

No one disputes that he shouldn’t have pulled out or that he should stop driving.

But painting him as the devil for making a perfectly common driving error is a bit too far.

In other news: 97 year old man drives slowly in middle lane of the motorway.

Elderly lady like hats.

Woman gives birth.

birdsdestiny · 20/01/2019 12:28

The royals are not a section of society that needs protection from bias, people need protection due to sex, race age, etc not because they are royal. Therefore the rules about what you can say about the royals are different to other protected groups. Abuse is not acceptable obviously. Royals are not protected by equality law. If such law applied to the royals things may have changed more quickly in relation to women and the throne.

badlydrawnperson · 20/01/2019 12:30

find this cap doffing attitude that so many people seem to have towards the Royals really bizarre. As though they can't do any wrong.

And I find the automatic assumptions being made just as "really bizarre" as if they automatically wrong because they are old and Royal.

Let's just have some fairness, that's all - not cap-doffing at all.

MaisyPops · 20/01/2019 12:32

I dont get cap doffing attitudes but to my knowledge he was driving on private land.

So today's news is:
Man drives on private land following accident where he was deemed not to eb injured
Passenger in car accident goes to papers complaining she hasn't had a personal phone call from the queen

SillySallySingsSongs · 20/01/2019 12:33

She said it was overcast. It wasn't. I was dazzled by the sun the same afternoon.

There were eyewitnesses a few cars back from him who said the sun was really bad and they struggled.

ManicUnicorn · 20/01/2019 12:34

BlueLady you were driving on the same stretch of road at exactly the same time then?

Ariela · 20/01/2019 12:45

97 is not a ridiculous age to be driving. I'm quite sure HRH will have been assessed by not only masses of doctors (no difficulty in getting appointments) as well as by the police security/royal drivers.
My father was almost 93 and still driving till he died. He had annual advanced driving tests because he wanted to be sure he was as safe as possible in terms of correct driving and reaction times. Indeed when he died none of the doctors in the hospital could believe this fit active person WAS nearly 93. Don't forget HRH has led an active retirement, he's clearly not one for stagnating in front of the TV. As my father said if you don't use it, you lose it: whether that's mental capacity or muscular capacity.
I believe that he would have been driving cautiously but safely, however he could have made a mistake: we don't know. We don't know what caused the accident so it is foolish to speculate.

badlydrawnperson · 20/01/2019 12:49

We don't know what caused the accident so it is foolish to speculate.
Exactly.

Happydowninthemouth · 20/01/2019 12:53

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

NicolaStart · 20/01/2019 12:54

“No one disputes that he shouldn’t have pulled out or that he should stop driving. “

I have no idea whether he should stop driving. I am not his doctor, the police, and so have no idea whether any of the factors contributing to the crash were age related.

Plenty of people cause accidents pulling out of side roads WITHOUT having age related factors involved.

Bluelady · 20/01/2019 13:03

@ManicUnicorn, same time, same day 20 miles away. It was bright sunshine all over East Anglia that afternoon.

MorningsEleven · 20/01/2019 13:08

same time, same day 20 miles away

Twenty miles? You've shot yourself in the arse there.

MyOtherProfile · 20/01/2019 13:10

If he was blinded by the sun he was very stupid to pull out of a drive onto a main road. That's nothing to do with age and everything to do with driving badly.

MaisyPops · 20/01/2019 13:17

The thing is my, we don't know what caused the accident. Meanwhile the passenger (who had been told not to be speaking about it as there's an investigation) has gone straight yo the press, claiming she knew exactly what speed her mate was doing, talking about the weather being overcast so it couldn't have been sunny (despite witnesses saying otherwise), how nobody has spoken to her, how she was looking forward to a call from the queen and generally doing the standard compo face routine in the newspapers. I'm no massive royal fanily fan but however awful the accident was, the passenger smacks of someone wanting a quick buck.

The police need to investigate. Insurers will do their bit. The council are coming under fire to justify why they ignored police advice for speed cameras on that road. The passenger has shown themselves to be someone out for a quick buck and 5 mins of fame

Bluelady · 20/01/2019 13:26

Nice selective quoting there @Manicunicorn. The weather was bright sunshine ALL OVER East Anglia that afternoon.

MyOtherProfile · 20/01/2019 13:43

It's all hearsay. It certainly doesn't look like bright sunshine in the crash photos.

But nevertheless, as I said before, if he was dazzled by the sun he shouldn't have pulled out onto a main road.

Bluelady · 20/01/2019 13:47

Of course it doesn't look like bright sunshine in the crash photos, they were taken an hour or so after it happened when it was getting dark!

SaturdayNext · 20/01/2019 14:15

it isen't ageism to say the Prince Phillip is not safe on the road, it is quite obvious his reactions are slower

This is someone who has had one accident since he reached the age of 70, and with whom experienced police officers and guards are happy to travel. The evidence that he is not safe on the road is just a bit shaky.

NicolaStart · 20/01/2019 14:16

In at least one of the crash scene photos from the immediate aftermath there is blue sky showing amongst clouds.

It was a winter afternoon, in Norfolk. The skies often look grey or misty and low overhead with the low sun dazzling at eye level.

SaturdayNext · 20/01/2019 14:17

Twenty miles? You've shot yourself in the arse there.

I've got news for you, MorningsEleven, when the sun is low a distance of 20 miles really makes no difference at all in terms of the difficulties it causes to drivers.

Bluelady · 20/01/2019 14:23

Especially in a part of the country that's as flat as a pancake.

Riotingbananas · 20/01/2019 14:41

There were eyewitnesses a few cars back from him who said the sun was really bad and they struggled.

I thought he was pulling out from a private road. How many cars were behind him?

Orchidflower1 · 20/01/2019 14:43

Yes but saturday saying police guards etc are happy to travel with him is a huge assumption - it’s their job, they don’t have any choice. Unless they actually took his licence away, any “ advice” to the contrary would not be heeded. DoE is quite determined in most aspects of his life from what I’ve read and from what I’ve heard.