Glasgow bin lorry crash

I really don't understand why there won't be a prosecution. It seems that the driver lied about his health. That would seem to be basis for prosecution in my eyes.

any thoughts?

[Dipper]

If it's true that he's had blackouts before and he's not informed the DVLA then yes I agree, an example needs to be made especially in a high profile case like this, people need to know that you cannot get away with driving if your health could pose a danger to others.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Amadeus

I really don't understand why there won't be a prosecution.

Because he has been told by the Crown he won't face charges. Hence he cannot now be prosecuted. bit like those IRA terrorists who had their trial stopped because they had a letter saying they were not wanted for anything. Quick Google got me this (yes I know its the Daily Record but seems quite factual)

Now I don't agree with this and I'm only stating the facts, to me he should be done and rightly so. He lied and as a direct consequence he killed 6 people.

The idiot in the CPS (or Scottish equivalent) who told him he would not face charges needs serious disciplinary procedures too, as this seems a massive error of judgement.

Can I blame Alex Salmond?

Glad it's not just me who thinks he should be done!

[Red Herring]

I suppose you need to balance the public desire for "something to be done to him" against the need for "something to be done to stop it happening again".

If he had not been given immunity would he have told the enquiry about his medical history? You can bet your last £ his brief would have told him to exercise his right to silence. The object of the exercise is to understand why this happened and to get all of the information available so that we can try and identify and put in place ways of stopping it happening again. Sometimes that desire for the truth has to come at a price.

Nothing we can do will bring back those six people.

[ophic]

I think the CPS would have to prove beyond doubt that he blacked out at the wheel and the crash was a direct consequence of this.

The fact that he was unconscious after the crash is no surprise - and having no memory of the event is pretty normal as well.

I don't think "most likely to have been caused by" will cut it here. So you're left with doing him for a lie on his application which is a very minor thing.

[Biker Biggles]

I read somewhere that he had been seen by his GP and the Bus Company occupational health doctor after his previous episode and been pronounced fit for work. Now he may well have underplayed the problem and possibly convinced himself as well as others that nothing serious would ever happen,or he may just be a bit dim,but I doubt he ever thought his problem could result in what actually happened.
I suspect that the DVLA HGV/PSV licence health monitoring system is the real hole in the system.Proper annual medical assessments including an ECG should be done to identify these issues.Maybe they should be required for all drivers?

[NTECUK]

Whatever you do to the perpetrators won't bring the people back.
A better system to prevent this occurring again is the only thing that we can hope to get out of it.
The thing is that the people who let it slip through and the driver will have to live with the consequences of there actions.
That's hard to wake up with I'd like to think unless you are a very callous b4a$£ard

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by Biker Biggles

I read somewhere that he had been seen by his GP and the Bus Company occupational health doctor after his previous episode and been pronounced fit for work. Now he may well have underplayed the problem and possibly convinced himself as well as others that nothing serious would ever happen,or he may just be a bit dim......

Or it could be that his previous episode was very mild and the medical opinion was that it was unlikely to impact on his driving, especially if combined with appropriate medication. There are a significant number of people out there (including a few on here) driving and riding around with medical conditions that "could" impact on their ability to drive, yet under the current guidelines are allowed to continue to do so.

Remember the press are just trying to sell a story, it's very rare for all the facts, or even a balanced summary, to be reported.

[ophic]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

Remember the press are just trying to sell a story, it's very rare for all the facts, or even a balanced summary, to be reported.