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 ?

‘Can be’ doesn’t mean it was. It is very, very unlikely that they based it on her words alone. There is a lot of work that goes into investigations like this. The inquest will make it all clearer.
If you stop, the thread will go away.

Are you a medical expert?
Some seizures may or may not be ruled out or dismissed. It’s not very very unlikely as you say. It’s facts.

However let alone her word, they can’t take the word of the medical professional alone either. If the case did go to court then the medical witness would be cross examined including into all the tests and their results. If the medical opinion had no back up evidence in terms of test results etc. other than her word then the jury would give that evidence less weight.

If the CPS had any other evidence, from all the forensic analysis they carried out at the crash site, from witnesses etc. that the driver was not in fact unconscious then they would still have taken the case to court. I am sure given the profile of the case and with the Mail at their backs and the need for restorative justice for the family that they would have put the burden of justice on the jury if they could, instead of having to take the flack they are getting.

The inquest will no doubt provide more answers and I just hope that helps the families and teachers.

I'm genuinely intrigued by your position @MaturingCheeseball. You appear to take the view that someone, particularly the driver of car, should be held in some way accountable and should be sanctioned accordingly. Yet you offer no reason for this, beyond pure emotion. Assuming the driver did have a seizure, why should they be sanctioned to satisfy your's or anyone else's emotions?

Having lost a sibling to epilepsy (I must have witnessed many thousands of seizures) and very close friends as driver, passengers and pedestrian in separate road traffic accidents, I understand that grief affects different people in different ways. Ive seen first hand the way different people react to very similar circumstances.

I genuinely don't understand your own need for vengeance and retribution and why you are so quick to judge those who do not share that desire as morally corrupt.

I guess because the victims are kids, they usual crowd can't blame the victims (if they had not gone to a fancy school they wouldn't have been in that garden - type thing)

I feel sorry for everyone involved - the driver, the parents of those girls and no one seems to be talking about children who saw their friends die. At such a young age, I hope they are getting help.

And yet still totally irrelevant to this case.

It’s an awful awful tragedy and unbearable to think about being in those poor parents position.

But even if the medical people and driver are lying / incorrect and it wasn’t a seizure - on the assumption they’ve checked phone records, alcohol and drugs - then even if it was a random moment of distraction and mix up of the pedals is that not still just an awful accident? I assume if she wasn’t negligent criminally (eg on her phone) and it wasn’t on purpose then it still wouldn’t mean a prison sentence?

It depends on whether they are taking her at her word, or whether there is actual evidence to support that she had a seizure doesn’t it ? And we won’t know that until the inquest verdict is made public. I think the real elephant in the room is the fact that so many people are determined to brand this woman a fraud and a liar without one single shred of evidence that she isn’t telling the truth. Nobody wants this woman to go free if she is culpable for the deaths of two little girls, regardless of race or anything else. But equally nobody wants to see her convicted of a crime if she was genuinely unconscious because of some medical issue beyond her control at the time of the accident. That would not only be unconscionable, but would set a dangerous precedent which potentially could affect any one of us.

I hope she doesn't get back behind the wheel, I think it's so wrong that epileptics are allowed to after X time without a seizure (that their doctors/the DVLA know about).

I remember there was a fatal car crash where I used to live caused by an epileptic who had been cleared to drive, and I know of an epileptic who kept their mouth shut about a "one off" seizure so they wouldn't have to quit driving for another year...

I think in those circumstances it would be at least a charge of driving without due care and attention wouldn’t it ? If a momentary distraction had caused her to accelerate instead of braking then she’s still culpable.

@Daftasabroom you misread my posts. At no point have I called for punishment or retribution.

I have repeatedly said I don’t understand how posters can so easily toss the incident off as an unfortunate incident, nothing to see here and how if the woman wishes to drive again, that’s all fine. I am simply saying that if I were the parents I would be devastated to think that she could feel it appropriate to drive again and that I would indeed feel beyond sickened to see her behind a wheel. I would think that’s a pretty normal reaction.

What a load of ableist nonsense. You can’t discriminate against a cohort of disabled people in this way. If someone doesn’t report a seizure, that’s an entirely different matter and nothing to do with people who do the right thing and abide by the law. A relative of ours had a one off seizure twenty years ago and couldn’t drive for a year. It was an anomaly and they have never had another. The checks carried out are thorough and if epilepsy is well controlled there’s no reason to ban sufferers from driving. Seizures can happen to anyone at any time - would you advocate no-one drive ever again because of the remote possibility that they may encounter their first seizure behind the wheel of a car ?

I would think that the number of posters challenging your opinion would be enough for you to realise it’s not a ‘pretty normal reaction’. The law is there to ensure justice. What you’re seeking is retribution. The inquest verdict will clarify the nature of any medical evidence presented, and if the driver is not culpable then for as long as the law permits those who are seizure free for one year to resume driving, it would be unlawful discriminatory and immoral to try to prevent her from exercising the same rights as anyone else, should she wish to. Can we stop with the moral outrage now, you’ve made your point several times.

@CammyChameleon if people with epilepsy abide by their legal requirements regarding medication and the length of time they need to be seizure free, they are legally entitled to drive and what you're suggesting is in fact extremely discriminatory. Not only are you using select events to profile an entire section of U.K. society you're questioning the integrity of them all as well. Absolutely disgusting.

@MaturingCheeseball you've repeatedly called for her to not be allowed to drive again. How is that not retribution?

What about all people who are yet to have an epileptic seizure?

How do you define "epileptic"?

I know what the law is, I'm saying I disagree with the law. I believe I am allowed to do that, so long as I don't take some sort of vigilante action or encourage others to do so?

I am not questioning the integrity of all epileptic people, I am pointing out that the ones who regain their license are incentivised to lie about having another seizure in order to keep their license.

That is not the same thing as saying that they definitely will lie if they have another seizure, I'm sure many don't.

Then you are sadly misinformed. It is not at all unusual to be diagnosed at any age through life. Let's hope it doesn't happen to you huh

What you've been saying has been continuously misrepresented.

@Rosscameasdoody - excuse me? I should stop ? Because you’ve ordered me to?

Not once have I suggested retribution. My position is decency and that is what many on here seem to lack. Of course the woman can legally drive when allowed, but are you honestly saying that if you spotted someone who had killed your child - albeit accidentally - driving along you wouldn’t feel upset and outraged?

@Sirine1708

I think that's why the parents are upset with the ruling - they are simply not convinced.
Good grief you keep digging don't you.

The parents have said that they are NOT saying she didn't have a seizure. They are saying that their team wasn't given the opportunity to see lots of the evidence and until they do they cant rest.
They just want their team to be able to review.

If this is what 'you think' maybe stop thinking as your thinking is terrible.

Why is it decent that a person who has done nothing wrong, either deliberately, or negligently, should have to obey a different set of rules to everyone else? That's retribution. Should everyone involved in traffic accidents be prevented from driving?

She didn't kill anyone.

I agree with you @MaturingCheeseball - I would be outraged also if I saw them. I might not say anything, I would probably turn my head and protect both of us from the emotion, but of course I would feel outrage.

This forum however is full of people who LOVE to goad a person who shows emotion and is honest about the human condition.

You've come out and said the reality that I reckon thousands would face, if they lost their precious DCs to a senseless accident like this.

I wish some people would be more honest about this.

Slamming a child's body between any car and a wall is going to produce fatalities

Someone above mentioned a fiesta going through a house.