Escort police knock down 80 yr old woman

[4plusthehound]

Escort police, protecting Sophie Wessex, knocked down an 80 year old woman yesterday.

Why does SW need a police escort? Motor bikes surrounding her car?

AIBU to think this is madness?

People that have an injury collision, unless there’s a belief that the injured person will die or the driver is over the limit do not get arrested.. They are usually just NIP’d at the scene and then voluntarily interviewed after witnesses are spoken to and then summonsed if there’s sufficient evidence. It’s not safe to assume anything.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0010vm0

Not all 80 year olds use the crossing.

I question if the escort is needed. But it is a question that will likely go unanswered as it falls under "security - therefore we cannot tell you anything at all'.

Most posters at the begining of this thread found it reasonable that a royal would have an escort in order to be on time. I don't.

If the security risk is so big put them in a helicopter?

The more police escorts there are the more likely it is that accidents will happen.

Where do you get the idea thats a thing??? Emergency service drivers drive on their own licence. Any accidents, speeding fines etc go on their personal driving licences.

Now, yes. It was not always so.

I have been in an ambulance when exactly that happened - quite a few years ago now. And as you say - now it is cleaned up. But it was not always thus.

No @Elvis1956 that is not my concern.

I do question the need for police escorts for certain people and the urgency of the journey in question. However, we do not know and will not know if it was to get somewhere on time or if there was a risk. We will never know. So there is that to think about.

Of course it was an accideent - nobody suggests that the motorbike officer knocked the poor woman down for fun.

'The more police escorts there are the more likely it is that accidents will happen.'

So these incidents are a regular occurrence?

Where is your ire when boy racers, taxi drivers and delivery drivers knock pedestrians down?

Aren't you angry about this, or are you sanguine because a member of the royal family isn't involved?

You asked this already.

Clearly in those situations the end result is someone knocked down but we would view the cause differently.

So the boy racer we presume had a callous disregard for the potiential harm he could cause in his selfish quest for fun, right?

But a delivery driver or a cab driver you would pause a moment and presume it was not due to callous disregard etc.

In this case - we do pause and let the investigation run it's course in terms of the officer in question.

In the meantime I question if that type of travel was needed by that person in question in the first place.

I question it because that type of travel can sometimes create danger for those around it.

If the danger is that great then just use a helicopter?

This is a grim read

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-custody-deaths-uk-car-crashes-pursuits-victims-a9092561.html

'You asked this already.'

I did, but you didn't respond.

'But a delivery driver or a cab driver you would pause a moment and presume it was not due to callous disregard etc.

In the meantime I question if that type of travel was needed by that person in question in the first place.'

Sorry, I've transposed your response slightly but regarding questioning if 'that type' of travel was needed, there's probably very few types of travel 'needed' - the van delivering a computer game or 3 new dresses, the food delivery bike with a pizza on board - we're not talking blood or organ delivery services here.

In this case - we do pause and let the investigation run it's course in terms of the officer in question.'.

Well I would hope so.....

I think a police escort, driving fast (yes they were) through West London is somewhat different to delivery services.

I also think it is fair to question if the escort was neccessary.

There was a story on this evening's news about a driver who was done for travelling up the A1 and various other roads at 140 mph. He was eventually stopped by a stinger. Went to court, received a driving ban, left court and drove off in his car.

The police have a really tough job in these scenarios. Let the tosser continue to drive up a motorway at double the speed limit? As the judge said, he spent quite a bit of time driving up the hard shoulder - just imagine if there'd been a family whose car had broken down waiting on the hard shoulder for a tow truck. Do the police try and stop him? Let him continue on his merry way?

'I think a police escort, driving fast (yes they were) through West London is somewhat different to delivery services.'

How do you know they were driving fast?

Why is it different? Delivery services spend all day every day driving around. If they're not doing that safely they can cause havoc. And we've all seen delivery drivers doing stupid things. Why is that OK?

Why is it different? Delivery services spend all day every day driving around. If they're not doing that safely they can cause havoc. And we've all seen delivery drivers doing stupid things. Why is that OK?

This is just silly buggers now @Coxspurplepippin.

Nobody could read this thread and think anyone here is advocating that.

We've been told for years that 'Twenty's plenty' in most of London's roads.

I don't have a problem with Sophie/ other public figures having some kind of security escort.

I do have a problem with these escorts breaking the speed limit. Every driver and motorcyclist is responsible for their own actions, and is supposed to ensure that they travel at an appropriate speed for the road/ conditions, and are able to stop in time rather than crashing into a more vulnerable road user like a pedestrian.

As a cyclist, even if a pedestrian were to step out in front of me without looking properly, I'm expected to stop rather than hitting them, and so it's up to me to be vigilant at all times, keep my fingers covering the brakes and constantly risk-assess the road ahead, and control my speed.

We all know that it takes longer to stop the faster we're travelling, and IMO there is no need for anyone to go faster than 20mph through busy residential neighbourhoods.

A previous poster @jcyclops said:
"The poor woman was knocked down on the Pelican Crossing that crosses the westbound A4 West Cromwell Road at the (blocked off) end of Nevern Road".

Anyone who's had any road safety training knows that you often have to slow down/stop for pedestrians crossing the road, and need to take extra care when approaching pedestrian crossings.

These police motorcyclists are supposed to be 'highly trained' and should be entirely accountable for any 'accident'. I hope that this incident is fully investigated by an independent person, not just by the royal protection squad themselves.

And hope the victim recovers full mobility - interesting that the headline talks about the "pain" suffered by Sophie rather than the literal pain presumably inflicted on the 80 year old.

It wasn't an emergency!

"Little Man Syndrome"

Or possible "Large Escort, Small Dick"

Either way I don't like it. We'd probably see that cr*p all the time if we had a republic.

I am definately not a journalist as you can probably note frommy spelling and general writing skills.

YOU'RE FROM THE GUARDIAN! ADMIT IT!

😂

*Grauniad, obviously, not Guardian.

Forgive me for mis-speldering them

Any fatalities?

If the danger is that great then just use a helicopter?

Using helicopters brings other risks and introduces other vulnerabilities.

They have limitations, for example due to weather, which means they can't be relied upon 100% of the time.

If there isn't a suitable area for landing at both ends of the journey within walking distance of the actual start and end point then you're back to using vehicles at some point - which potentially means you are going to be using police escorts anyway.

There are also very much PR/image/cost considerations.

Sad to see that Helen Holland (the woman who was knocked down) has since died. The IOPC are supposedly investigating.

Very sad. And only a couple of days after those poor kids were killed in Cardiff. What has happened to the police over the last few years??

No-one knows yet whether anyone was at fault here.
I read an eye witness account who said the lady tried to cross where a hoarding obscured her view of oncoming vehicles. She couldn't see the motorbike approaching and that would mean he couldn't see her either.

If that was the case then I'm afraid the lady should not have tried to cross there. She should have moved to a place where she could see the road and traffic approaching.

This is how accidents happen.

I feel sorry for her if course - she has died. But no-one should vilify the driver until the facts are known.

I don't have any experience in safeguarding high profile people so I'm not going to start commenting on whether or not she needs one.

Absolute disgrace a person going about her daily business is mown down to protect a total nonentity like Sophie Wessex. About time to put a stop to this. No wonder Harry has such a ridiculously inflated sense of his own importance. The system is to blame.