Re: Tragic Accident
I don’t know enough about the medical evidence in this particular case to comment specifically on it but in general terms, if a driver suddenly loses consciousness and had no prior health symptoms or reason to suspect he was not fit to drive, then I do not think he should be punished for the consequences of a tragic but unavoidable accident.
My son was a medically and physically fit soldier, with no previous health issues, when he suddenly lost consciousness while driving. He remembers leaving the barracks after lunch and driving along the road towards a roundabout, on his journey to a local town to do some shopping - the next thing he remembers is being in the car in the middle of a roundabout.
He had not been drinking, wasn’t feeling tired or ill at all but he has no recall of approaching or entering the roundabout. Fortunately, the traffic was light and his car did not collide with any other vehicles, although a driver on the roundabout had to brake suddenly to avoid a collision when my son’s car shot straight across her path without giving way at the roundabout.
She was the only witness to the accident and she said that, as the car passed in front of her, she could see my son’s body slumped forward over the steering wheel, head down, so it seems as if he must have lost consciousness before his car reached and entered the roundabout.
He was medically examined and blood tested afterwards to see if there was any underlying health issues that may have caused the loss of consciousness but nothing untoward was found.
In his case, nobody was injured and the only damage was to his own car, caused by mounting the roundabout and hitting a signpost.
However, in the absence of any medical evidence to show why he lost consciousness, he was charged with a careless driving offence and offered a choice of a fine and penalty points or paying for and attending a driver awareness course.
He didn’t want points on his licence, so he chose to attend the driver awareness course - as he had always been a careful driver with no previous accidents or driving offences, he felt rather aggrieved about being found guilty of a driving offence in circumstances he could not have foreseen, controlled or prevented.