To actually feel sorry for the woman driving the car in the Wimbledon car accident

[bagpuss90]

I’m sure I’ll be flamed here . I totally sympathise with the bereaved parents- I can’t stress that enough. I can understand them wanting justice . As we know the driver of the car suffered an epileptic seizure at the wheel - she had no history of epilepsy. I don’t see what she could have done differently. She has to live with what she did although it wasn’t her fault. AIBU to feel quite sorry for her ?

It's a horrible, awful situation all round. Imagine waking up to the horror of that situation? I can't imagine the trauma, I'm sure they are absolutely devastated.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/wimbledon-school-crash-nuria-sajjad-selena-lau-metropolitan-police-b1168572.html

I feel horribly sorry for the parents of two young girls who had their entire lives ahead of them. I think a review isn't a bad thing in this case.

YANBU. It's an awful situation for everybody involved.

I would like to see a review of the availability of these massive cars or their suitability for urban and suburban areas, though. If she'd been driving a Punto, this might not have happened. That's not to blame her - she made a perfectly legal choice of vehicle - but I don't think it's unreasonable to question whether they belong in densely populated areas.

I do feel sorry for her. This could happen to any driver. The only way to guarantee you don't have your first ever epileptic fit on the road is to never drive again.

YANBU but from what the parents said in the media the police were VVVVV unreasonable for not keeping the families in the loop whatsoever for months.

RaspberryIce
Exactly

It's a tragedy for all concerned. She couldn't have known she was going to be taken ill at the wheel (unlike the Glasgow bin lorry driver who I believe had a history of heart issues and shouldn't have been driving it) and I feel for her and for the victims families.

Totally agree but I suppose the parents are still at the anger stage. It's a very difficult situation and I feel for everyone involved.

It could happen to any of us. Of course I feel sorry for her, any decent person would. The only people who don't are conspiracy nutters and revenge driven simpletons who think if a bad thing happens someone must pay for it.

I lived on a road where a driver had a seizure out of the blue. They crashed through a fence, but there were no people around so no injuries. You don't have to be a person with epilepsy to have a seizure, sometimes it can just happen. I don't think the driver will be having a fun time knowing the accident killed two children. I don't think you'd get over that. Someone can't be prosecuted because they took ill though. People have heart attacks and strokes whilst driving as well.

That isn’t the woman’s fault, though.
I also feel sorry for her. It could happen to any one of us.

Yes, I do. Sympathy with the parents (of course), but this black-out was a first. Nothing that could have been predicted. Thoughts with all affected.

It’s nobody’s fault at all just a terrible terrible accident . It did make me think though - we need more checks on people’s health and suitability to drive. The current system relies on drivers reporting changes or new conditions. It should be mandatory to submit a yearly eye test and perhaps every 10 years to have some sort of assessment then after age 75 make that more regular.

edited to add I know it wasn’t a pre existing condition in this case but in other cases it could be

I was pretty disgusted that the BBC chose on Election Day to headline an interview with the head teachers of the school, who are naturally traumatised and looking for someone to blame. I know they couldn't talk politics but I didn't see what the point was to use such a tragedy to fill airtime.

I have so much sympathy for the parents and the teachers who are naturally looking for someone to blame in the face of such a tragedy. I also feel so much for the driver who has to live with what happened for the rest of her life. The media should leave it alone or focus on the police communication.

I saw the interview on BBC news with the former and current headteachers who both expressed surprise at the driver not being charged which made me wonder if they had access to other information that wasn’t freely available in the public domain. They also were very disappointed in the way the Police handled the situation. But the interview with the headteachers made me pause, they said they hadn’t seen evidence that the driver wasn’t responsible for committing a criminal act and a lot of their ire was directed at the Police, who have since opened up an investigation into how it was handled.

Terrible twist of fate😢 awful for everyone

I think it's a very convenient diagnosis - human brain is so complex, they can't prove she didn't have a seizure. Never heard of a person diagnosed with epilepsy at 40 though - I believe if you have it, it starts at the childhood.

This driver lives in a detached house in Wimbledon (worth millions in that area) and her car was not the cheapest one so apparently she could afford good lawyer and suitable diagnosis.

Absolute rubbish! Epilepsy can start out of the blue at any age! In fact people can also just have a random seizure and then never have one ever again at any age!

You are sadly ill-informed.

I think it's just one of those very tragic for everyone involved accidents isn't it.
The parents need a lot of support to overcome this and grieve appropriately, there is no justice here, just a very hard truth.

You very clearly know nothing about epilepsy, so I'm not sure why you are spreading misinformation, very irresponsible.

My mum had her first seizure aged 44.

I've been wondering about that call for evidence too. I honestly don't know what evidence the police could show the families or headteachers - for example it'd be very wrong for them to show the ladies medical notes. If they've told the families it was a seizure and that it is the first time it's happened and there was no warning, and that medical experts agree with that conclusion, then I don't see what else is reasonable for them to share.

Has there been an inquest yet? If not, then some of the evidence will surely be presented there.

I don't see why the head teacher would be privy to the internal police evidence.