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 with this. People should be more aware of the dangers. Someone told me once that if a car with a more ‘tapered’ front hits a child, there is a higher chance they will go over the top of the car, with a higher chance or survival. In a car with a high squared off front, there is a higher chance they will go under the tyres, with a lower chance of survival. Obviously there is also the question of the size and weight of the car.

This is in no way a scientifically accurate stance but I do think it’s worth considering.

Why is it only now that it’s being reported the driver had an epileptic fit at the time of the crash.

Because presumably she has a diagnosis now and prior it might have been the case only been pretending to have had a fit - which would be a matter for a trial had it got to that stage.

Details like that would usually come out at trial, which could be a long time after the event.

This could literally happen to anyone - you can just get a seizure out of the blue. It happened to my boss many years ago but luckily he just drove through a red light and hit a wall, he didn’t hit anyone else and he was the only person injured. He had never had one before, had felt absolutely fine and then suddenly, he woke up in the wall wondering what had happened.

there were tests done and it was determined that he had most likely had a seizure.

in this case I understand the parents grief and anger but there’s really nothing anyone can do. It’s just one of those incredibly hard situations but no crime has been committed.

If it was her first seizure and she did nothing to prompt it she is a victim of this horrible accident too. Since the police are not pursuing legal action they obviously have no evidence to suggest she is in any way responsible.

Justice is about restorative action and rehabilitation.

What justices is there sending someone to jail or charging them for a medical event they had no prior warning of or control over?

Will sending her to jail or charging her rehabilitate her to not have a seizure again?

I doubt anyone involved in this will ever live life the same again. There's no justice to be had though. Just 3 families who lives have been wrecked by something no one had any control over.

I think what they want is a chance to look at the evidence, as they are being told something and they want to know if the decision is the right one. But I assume they cannot, as they have no right to see the drivers medical records etc. Eg did she have some symptoms and ignore them and keep driving. As it sounds it was the first seizure and so it is just a very unfortunate accident. Perhaps the families will get a chance to review evidence at the inquest. I understand their anger, they have lost their children and feel justice hasn’t been served. Maybe if their solicitor could review the then they’d accept it but given no case to answer that won’t happen. I feel for them so much but I think they have to accept that the police have reviewed the evidence and consulted medical professionals and this lady couldn’t have done anything to prevent this terrible accident.

I think it was her first epileptic episode, wasn’t it? So sadly she discovered her condition through this accident. Horrendous for everyone involved.

She had brain scans by neurologists and it was confirmed. She was already unconscious by the time the car hit sadly. She’s also never had a seizure before.

it can happen. My aunt developed epilepsy in her 40s.

It seemed to me at the time it was either a deliberate attack or a medical episode. I couldn't see how losing control in a careless driving kind of way could result in the vehicle being where it was.

Presumably, the investigation has covered all of that.

I can understand parents' frustration if they haven't been able to see the evidence, which they would have done if there'd been a trial.

No this isn’t the case. It was absolutely the definitive cause. It has been confirmed by her neurologists.

I feel it is the correct decision.

However, I think had it been a standard size car and not an SUV, the children might be alive today.

SUVs and cars such as Land Rovers should be heavily taxed and have a separate category of licence. You want one, you take your test in one. Numbers would reduce greatly as a result.

The damage that one of those fits leaves in your brain will be easily identifiable to doctors, after the relevant tests are done.

My mother had her first epileptic seizure at 72. She's never been the same again

I developed epilepsy completely out of the blue at 33. Thankfully I was at home and not driving, but I could quite have easily been driving to work when I had my first seizure.

It’s such a freak accident and I feel so awful for the parents. But with certain seizures you get basically a second of warning before they happen. And if you’ve never had one before you just think you feel a bit strange, or have a weird sense of deja vu before you are completely unaware.

Such an awful situation for everyone involved.

The other sad thing about this is it won’t change people’s habits about buying SUVs or parents dangerous driving around schools.

We don't know that. In any event, unless we are going to make driving this type of vehicle an offence, that takes us nowhere.

We do know that pedestrians hit by those vehicles are more likely to be killed.

If there's action to be taken, perhaps it is a review of what to do about them.

I should imagine that this lady is being punished every single second of every day, knowing that she ended the lives of 2 beautiful young children, albeit not intentionally. I'm not certain I could live with that for my whole life x
As my mother used to say, count your blessings while you can x

@MultiplaLight "It could have been her first seizure. We don't know"
It says in the news report that it was.

This is only true for some. My Dd had her first seizure at 13. She is now diagnosed epileptic. Her seizures do not cause damage to her brain.
Epilepsy is diagnosed through a combination of brain scan and medical history. You have to have had 2 seizures and abnormal electrical behaviour in the brain. Many people show abnormal activity in the brain with no epilepsy.
And many epileptic people are cleared to drive. You have to have been seizure free for 12 months and then you can apply for your license back.

There's still something that doesn't sit right with this story. There has been endless delays for the family and it's taken, what a year, for them to now says she had a seizure. They would have known this a long time ago and been able to give the families some information. I've watched those parents, destroyed on TV just wanting answers and not being given any at all. This sounds fishy, I don't buy it at all.

Right..... So what do you think happened then?

They may well have known some time ago that it was likely that she had a seizure, but they would have taken further medical tests to be absolutely sure of that, and also to be sure that the driver had never had one before. It is always right to be cautious in cases like this.

It's definitely the right decision. As somebody with epilepsy I got no warning when I had my first seizure and diagnosis is through an mri, eeg and seizure history. They won't just diagnose someone with epilepsy because they've had a single seizure.
Also you are allowed your driver license back after 12 months of being seizure free. She is will have to live with herself forever, I know personally I would have to.

@Hazeby

from what I read/saw the parents are not convinced it's the truth & it has been mentioned that it's down to her husband position.

I hope you're never a driver who has some sort of medical episode and causes a crash, heart attack, stroke, siezure, faint.

I think people think this wont happen to them judging by some of the responses on these threads (and at the time).

This could be you that everyone is talking about, think about that each time you get in your car