The driver in the Wimbledon school accident won't be charged?

[RiverF]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw4448xx4keo

It sounds like a unavoidable and unforeseeable medical incident led to the tragedy, but the families wanted justice.

I can't begin to imagine their pain, but this is the right decision?

I agree it's not right to prosecute. The poor woman will never get over this.
I understand the parents grief and need for some form of justice, but unfortunately it was just a tragic accident.

Nope, it can start at any time. One of my friends had his first seizure at 18, now lives with the risk of seizure but is on medication and has only had one since (early 40s). He rarely drives as he lives somewhere you don't need to.

That's why we have the police to gather evidence and the Crown Prosecution Service to assess the likelihood of a realistic prospect of conviction (and the public interest in pursuing a conviction) rather than relying on grief-stricken families to make the decision about what to do with the person who unintentionally caused the death of their children.

Interesting to read her own statement. She doesn't say she's been diagnosed with epilepsy.

@CreateUserNames - but they are hurting and lashing out. Just because they think something, that doesn't mean it's true. They are looking for something or someone to blame for the loss of their children.

Errors do occur, pretty unthinkable big ones too, hence recent inquiries in the news.

It can happen, it’s awful. A colleague had a seizure in a car and shunted the car in front thankfully at about 5mph in traffic. A few minutes earlier she’d been at 60 on a dual carriageway. Took her over a year to get to the bottom of what caused it because they’re infrequent - I think there’s some hormones or similar which show you’ve had one and take a while to dissipate but it’s not always clear what the cause is

Her lawyer does in his. I imagine she's been told to tread very carefully because the parents may try to bring a private prosecution against her.

Its taken so long for a few reasons - due process ie investigation, gathering of information (medical records) having to sort out what happened to the driver and get her to see relevant specialists and have relevant testing to evidence medical episode and just the courts and cps are overloaded and can't cope so everything taking a long time. People would have had to do witness interviews as well. So they have done a thorough investigation, there is no case to answer but the families lawyer is still talking about getting justice - so what are they going to do flog her for not knowing she had epilepsy even though there was no medical history and no recognisable signs of it prior to the accident. I feel desperately sorry for them but the reality is they can't point a finger at the driver who was unconscious at the time.

Really? What's your justification for this? Surely if she has a fit then a cheap lawyer would have been able to prove that just as easily as an expensive one?

I wonder whether the reactions and witch hunt would be the same if she'd been a single mother in an Amazon delivery van.

I don't mean simply in response to this case. I have thought for years that big vehicles should not be for personal use. It is very wasteful in terms of resources- to make them as well as fuel. They are generally not required at all by those who own them - status symbols or 'show-off' vehicles. They pollute the environment more. They cause more serious injuries in an accident where they hit pedestrians and greater damage to smaller cars.

Clearly buses/lorries/ambulances/fire engines are not 'for personal use'.

I would support legislation that was much stricter about size of vehicles, size of engines and limiting the number of new cars produced every year.

Yes, I agree.

I also know of someone who had a seizure, blacked out and crashed (no one was hurt). It was the first indication she had that she had cancer.

I agree, @Bookmark1111 . I thought her statement was very carefully worded to avoid her taking the blame, among other things.

This thread makes me petrified of ever being tried by a jury. A good proportion of the general public completely lack critical thinking skills.

This wording is odd:
“Significant inquiries carried out by specialist officers into the events leading up to the collision established that the driver suffered a previously undiagnosed seizure which caused her to lose control of the vehicle

I'm not sure where that quote came from, but if correct I'd agree it seems odd, especially when the BBC article went on to say "Ms Narwal (chief crown prosecutor) said the CPS had considered Ms Freemantle's medical records and received evidence from neurological specialists who agreed it was the first seizure she had experienced"

Clearly the two statements don't match, but of course it's impossible to draw any conclusions when we weren't part of the case and don't have all the facts

"is the right decision?"

Yes, it would seem so.

Year ago a friend was found dead in her car, huge brain bleed having previously been in good health. She was due to drive in to London to a meeting. The only bit of comfort in the situation was that she wasn't in traffic when it happened. A teacher in primary schools husband had a heart attack when driving, ploughed across the pavement into a wall. My younger brother saw it happen as he was a few yards behind and seconds could have meant a different outcome

The truth is terrible things happen where noone is actually at fault and all the indications seem to be this was one of them. My heart goes out to the families of Nuria and Selena, but also to the woman who will have to live with this forever.

My DH had his first ever seizure at the age of 68 (turned out to be autoimmune encephalitis which caused it, no previous history). A few hours before he was driving back home from getting his flu jab. Lucky it didn't happen then.

There is a lot of misinformation about seizures and epilepsy on this thread. There are lots of different kinds of seizures- focal seizures, abscence seizures, generalised tonic clonic seizures (the type that most of people think of when they think of a seizure). You react differently post-ictally depending on the type of seizure.

Sometimes epilepsy can only be seen on an EEG when a seizure actually occurs during the EEG, sometimes inter-ictal (between seizure) EEGs can pick up abnormal brain patterns that suggest the person has epilepsy.

Epilepsy can occur at any age. Sometimes there is an underlying neurological cause, eg brain tumour, neurological disorder eg brain damage, but often there is no known cause.

It’s a huge tragedy for the families, and if it is correct that she suffered a first seizure whilst driving it is the right decision not to prosecute her, but I can imagine it’s a difficult decision to accept if it’s your own child. Awful all round.

3rd paragraph here.

"Jaswant Narwal, chief crown prosecutor, said the CPS had "carefully considered this complex and sensitive case, taking into consideration all the material gathered as part of the lengthy and detailed police investigation".

“Because there is nothing to suggest the driver could have done anything to predict or prevent this tragedy, it is not in the public interest to pursue a criminal prosecution," she said.

Ms Narwal said the CPS had considered Ms Freemantle's medical records and received evidence from neurological specialists who agreed it was the first seizure she had experienced.

She added the CPS had kept the families informed on the progress of the case and explained the decisions made."

Blimey this thread has taken a turn - I have a Landrover. My DP has a double cab pick up. His is a work truck and I have working dogs and need an off road car out shooting etc. I obviously should think about a Fiat 500 in case I have an unforeseen medical emergency!

Obviously I can't know, @Bookmark1111, but* *if the driver's own lawyer has referred to her being diagnosed with epilepsy, maybe this took place after the fatalities?

We all know that too many hide conditions and never pursue diagnoses for fear of losing their licence - though we can't say if this driver was one of them - but after such an incident assessments would clearly need to be done