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 tradegy for everyone including the driver.

I think the parents are naturally enough wanting a more….robust case for not prosecuting, than ‘I blacked out and don’t have any memory of what happened’. I know I would, in their position. Absolutely not saying that she didn’t have a seizure, but has she been examined - neurological tests, brain scans etc? I get the impression that either the parents and teachers feel that her ‘defence’ hasn’t really been put to the test, or if it has, they haven’t been kept in the loop about the results. Is she still allowed to drive?

Are you a brain surgeon? Where did you train and which hospital Trust do you work for?

My mum had a seizure in her late 60s. She was in the garden and the neighbour saw her on the ground and called paramedics and said she was having a fit. The paramedics reported it to the DVLA as is their duty and she was banned from driving for 2 years. She has never had one since.

I think we need to review the size of cars. She wasn't doing anything illegal, but I can't help but wonder if the outcome would have been the same if it was a smaller car.

It concerns me a lot that there are so many big cars on the road. They are more of a risk to pedestrians, and to smaller cars. And they take up more space which matters in a city like London.

My son died aged 22 in 2022 after being hit by a car it was a complete accident and it is a really terrible thing to go through and my heart hurts for the person that has to live with this forever and my heart hurts for me because I lost my beautiful son, there are no winners but I do feel for the family in what I know is an awful thing to have to come to terms with

Are you perchance?

Desperately sorry for all involved.

I don't understand the doubts people have about the police decision - a medical event or mechanical failure seemed the most likely causes on the day to me.

Horrific for everyone.

I think it's understandable that the parents are angry, whilst the driver might feel very guilty she gets to go home to her children every day.
Absolutely heartbreaking

The headmistress told parents she’d made complaints about this particular woman speeding before and was shocked the police hadn’t investigated further. There was no evidence at the time of seizures or her passing out. The police have referred themselves for investigation so more info may come.

I think that is a fucking stupid and totally ignorant statement! You know nothing about epilepsy nor this case!

It doesn't sound like it's true she has epilepsy. Epilepsy is the tendency to have recurrent seizures - and she hadn't been diagnosed before this. They say it was her first seizure which doesn't make it epilepsy if it was just one. So perhaps she has gone on to have more and has now been diagnosed...but I doubt it. Seems really fishy. And there won't be any proof of it if it was just one.

Seizures can be caused by all kinds of things which can be avoided - excessive tiredness, hunger, thirst, stress etc. I think more investigating is needed.

She's not the one spouting crap!!

Cars are always a danger because people can be distracted while driving (very common) or people can be taken suddenly ill/have a seizure (much rather)

For both of those reasons, I strongly support much more physical separation of vehicles and pedestrians eg proper bollards lining the edge of the pavement in areas with lots of foot traffic (along shopping streets, outside train stations, around bus stops, outside schools)

It got very little publicity but two children on way home from school were injured near me when a car driven by an elderly man left the road and crashed into a bus stop. Luckily they survived with only broken legs.

You can't line every single road with bollards but you could start with key areas eg Oxford Street. It's single lane and cars aren't supposed to stop there so they just mount the pavement instead. Madness on one of the busiest pedestrian streets in the city. After the Westminster Bridge attacks, they lined major bridges with bollards to stop vehicles being used to attack pedestrians so they should do that in more major tourist destinations.

The pedestrian "fencing" used at some crossings is useless as a big SUV like the one being driven in Wimbledon are far too heavy and will just squash it. It needs bollards with proper deep foundations (see World Bollards Appreciation Society on twitter for examples of them stopping huge lorries)

1. first seizure
2. had a history of speeding on that road (according to headmistress)
3. some parents suggested she couldn’t park her car. She was known to them.
4. police involved have referred themselves for investigation.

Google "critical thinking" love.

So let's say the woman was jailed for X years. It doesn't bring the children back. It destroys another family (potentially).

Perhaps a better legacy would be to have robust railings surrounding all schools so that if such an incident happens again, it's much harder for a car to get through. Or yes, ban those enormous 4x4s from suburban streets.

Perhaps the investigation was flawed. But whatever changes, I can't imagine it will make anyone feel better as those girls can't come back to life.

So sad.

No I'm not a brain surgeon and nor am I giving out diagnoses of brain conditions!!

I thought the headteachers sounded ridiculous. Of course they were terribly upset about the whole thing and have great sympathy with the families, but why should they expect to be shown any evidence, especially medical evidence about the driver?

If the police did not conduct the investigation well that is a different issue and not the driver's fault. But the decision about whether to prosecute is not made by the police.

I do feel sorry for her. Any of us who drive could have a medical crisis at the wheel at any given moment and have no forewarning, all we can do is hope that it doesn't happen and assess our own wellness to drive as best we can. From the article I've seen it sounds like the family are unhappy with the way the investigation was conducted rather than with the driver specifically so the review is more of the investigation than the driver to my knowledge? I may be wrong. But I think that's fair if you've been affected by any incident or crime and feel the police haven't done their due diligence and shared information appropriately regardless of whether or not it would change the outcome?

I once was at a cinema watching a horror movie this guy probably in his 30’s had a fit, I looked after him until the ambulance arrived. He gd never had one before.

think your comment about how wealthy she is is disgusting, this is a sad episode for all involved without people like you trying to make it out more than it was….an accident.

you obviously not medical in your diagnosis of the person driving the car so I would reflect on what you have said & try to be a better person.

Ahh...@Ozanj
I thought there was more to it when I watched the interview with the 2 teachers.

And your qualifications in neurology are…?

If they were just accepting her word, it surely wouldn't have taken this long to investigate? Would/ should her medical records be shared with people other than the professionals involved? Just questions. I don't know the answers or what should be the case. Horrendous situation.

Anyone can have a seizure at any time of life, the same as anyone can have a heart attack at the wheel. If she did have a seizure then there was nothing different that could have been done? I had a seizure when I was 14, have not had one since, I am allowed to drive but there’s always a small chance I could have another seizure….but anyone could.

I can imagine that anyone could have driven there car into children on purpose (not impossible I know).