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?

This is my understanding.

She had very expensive top lawyers.

she may have indeed had a seizure, but the families are not satisfied and that makes me question this even more. And I thought it was very difficult to prove epilepsy after the event.

@fedupwithbeingcold that's just not true.

I've been epileptic for over 30 years and have had multiple EEGs and MRIs. They've never identified any 'damage'.

Of course it’s right. This could happen to any one of us who drives a car. It was a horrible freak accident.

The poor parents of the two girls are looking for somewhere to direct their anger and pain. It’s understandable but it’s not the driver’s fault.

it is good to hear that they have investigated her medical history so thoroughly as this is easily something others could use as an excuse

How is any of this conspiracy crap helping those poor families?
Sometimes life is desperately unfair.
This is a devastating accident. An accident.
None of those families lives will ever be the same again. Including the driver.
This has taken time because it takes time to diagnose new medical conditions.
So many people out here with damaging opinions but absolutely no knowledge or understanding!

CPS has to be confident they will win. Not necessarily just that they are right.

The only place a land rover is needed is on a field somewhere driven by a farmer. There is no place for one on small London residential roads.

This would be the equivalent of getting prosecuted and jailed because someone crashed into you. Is that what you want? We do away with trial by jury and merely start punishing people based on how bad affected people feel rather than based on a system of law? You get prosecuted if you were involved in an accident and broke the law by driving without due care, or under the influence, or without obeying traffic signs. Or some other legal basis. You don't get prosecuted because your car was metaphorically struck by lightning because it's insane to prosecute people for things that they have no ability to control or prevent.

So sad for everyone involved.

She doesn't appear to have bern diagnosed with epilepsy - they've just said it was an epileptic seizure. Perhaps she's gone on to have another.

This is my key takeaway. If she’d been driving even our car (an estate) it probably wouldn’t have crashed through the railing and the fence. It would be a terrible incident for her and no one else.

There are so many of those unnecessarily large ‘tanks’ on the streets of London. I understand more in rural areas where you might have to transport the occasional sheep in the back. But not Wimbledon.

I hope it makes some people think about their choice of car. But it probably won’t.

You could say that about many miscarriages of justice. If the families accepted it I’d say fine but they absolutely don’t.

If I was the mother I'd be wanting jail time/ justice. It's hard to accept for them. However as it's not happening to me I can agree it's the right decision. The woman that crashed will be living with the guilt forever - she'll never be the same either. It's so awful.

How do they know she had a fit?

Just wondering because my friend had a heart attack out swimming and they could tell afterwards even though it was over, but I know absolutely nothing about epilepsy.

@GingerScallop where does it say that? I've only seen it reported that they've concluded it was an epileptic seizure.

Of course they don't accept it. They want blame. They want a villain. They want someone to hate. That is a very understandable thing, psychologically. But it doesn't mean that they could or should get what they want. Or that them not getting what they want is a miscarriage of justice. Sometimes life just doesn't provide a convenient villain.

My sister had her first seizure at the age of fifty three,it was just just pure chance that she wasn't driving when it occurred.

I wonder if this will lead to restrictions on the size/weight of vehicle allowed to be driven in urban areas. If something like this - a totally unforeseeable medical event leading to the driver losing control of a vehicle - happened in a 'regular' car rather than an SUV, would the risks have been lower?

Where's the reference to a neurologist?

I know the point re: SUV is coming up again and again but actually, what should be being criticised here is the wholly inadequate fencing/boundary erected by the school adjacent to a junction/road. It was an SUV but could have been an HGV/workers van/bin lorry and a mechanical failure rather than medical incident. Unless every vehicle on the roads is a small hatchback it's not going to solve for this 'low chance of happening, high catastrophe' incident.

(I don't own a car so have no skin in the SUV's are ok/not ok debate).

About 10% of the population will have a seizure at some point in their life. Not all of these will be diagnosed with epilepsy.
Epilepsy is defined as recurrent seizures. Many people will have just 1 seizure in their life & sometimes without realizing and be perfectly fine. Someone who just has 1 seizure won't be diagnosed as epileptic unless there are obvious EEG changes etc.

It could happen to any of you - a sudden seizure or loss of consciousness, a sudden heart attack etc.

But they don’t know anything more about it than you do!
They know what they’ve been told and they know that they are heartbroken and angry.
Sadly, there is no one to be angry at. They thought they would get ‘justice’ but there is no justice to be had in this tragic accident.

I am assuming that something like this happened as it doesn’t make sense she just kept on driving, however my journalist instincts are triggered by 1) the families are not happy and they will have pored over the evidence 2) the wealth involved , a quick google shows this including a £3 million house - this gives access to top lawyers who can argue their way out of a paper bag.
If there is anything here, I hope a journo is on it.

Your post reads as though you think she's made it up/has got off on a technicality. The insinuation is awful.

I once knew someone who was jailed for causing death by dangerous driving because she recognised the signs of a condition that had caused her to black out in the past before she did (not epilepsy), but didn't pull over. She chose never to drive again.

I don’t think even top solicitors can force medical professionals to lie