Move along nothing to see here.
Noted in the article (its the Beeb so every word needs fact checking) is that the company won’t face charges either, and that dear readers, is why this bod travelling at 4 times the speed limit for the bend is walking free whilst the loved ones of the bereaved and the injured are delivered another bloody good kick in the ■■■■■■■■, in that they must assume they just weren’t important enough to warrant prosecuting the untouchables.
There is no justice in this country any more for the average Joe or Josephine.
“it is clear that this was an unintended and involuntary act”
Covers must crashes but others get bummed.
Det Supt Gary Richardson, of British Transport Police, said “every scrap of possible
evidence has been scrutinised”.
Am I understanding correctly that this accident was investigated by the British Transport Police who are largely funded by the train companies 
tachograph:
Det Supt Gary Richardson, of British Transport Police, said “every scrap of possible
evidence has been scrutinised”.Am I understanding correctly that this accident was investigated by the British Transport Police who are largely funded by the train companies
The Traffic Commissioners are funded by the road transport industry…but it doesn’t seem to work quite the same way…
GasGas:
The Traffic Commissioners are funded by the road transport industry…but it doesn’t seem to work quite the same way…
Are you sure about that, I was under the impression that Traffic commissioners were appointed by the Secretary of state.
Plenty examples of truckers who fell asleep at the wheel who got the book thrown at them.
I feel bad for the families of the deceased. A good royal ■■■■ you from the court because of a lack of evidence for a solid prosecution. Now they have to deal with the loss of their family members and knowing full well the person responsible doesn’t even get brought to justice. Really feel for them and the people who died, half of them had most of their life in front of them.
I got robbed on the street at knife point about 3 years ago, the ■■■■■■■■ got off with it because the court needed more than one witness. It was the middle of the night so nobody was about to see it, no camera’s etc. So they found cctv of him in the clothes i described at a shop 2 minutes away from where it happened with his mate. So the bright sparks bring his mate on as the only other witness to confirm that he left him after they left the shop, he’s hardly going to dob his mate in it, is he? So the case gets thrown out due to lack of witnesses.
About 2 months ago the same guy that robbed me was in the local paper, did exactly the same thing to three young lads on two separate occasions. Thankfully he got sent to prison that time but would that have even happened if he got done when he did it to me? Im telling you there’s too many technicalities that scumbags can use to their advantage now.
The CPS agreed that driver fatigue was “by far the most likely explanation of what happened” but said “it is clear that this was an unintended and involuntary act”.
“There was no compelling evidence that the driver had done anything which he ought to have known could adversely affect his concentration or make him susceptible to falling asleep,” they said.
So is that a defence we can all use now?
This reeks of…
Collusion and corruption.
I hope the families of the victims go for a private prosecution.
I’m not intending to fall asleep on the A1 today but, if I do, I can relax in the knowledge that’ll I’ll be absolved from any blame because I didn’t mean to nod off.
A truly bizarre decision.
If the driver wasn`t dozing, then he must have consciously driven too fast into the bend.
Extra safety features in the design of the tram could have meant fewer deaths and injuries. Some reporting at the time about the “dead man handle” being faulty, but I cant see anything more recent? Anyone?
But to stick with the idea that anyone who dozes off is not at all culpable, is bizarre.
It all does seem bizarre, I seem to recall the Police and CPS taking a dim view of drivers trying to use falling asleep as a defence, stating that this doesn’t happen immediately, there are warning sign drivers should take heed of and find somewhere safe to take a break.
There were reports of drivers falling asleep before this happened and subsequently other drivers have admitted it.
four current and former Croydon tram drivers admitted to the BBC that they had fallen asleep at the controls - and that a “dead man’s handle” safety device had failed to stop the vehicle.
Maybe the company should have been taking preventative action on finding out why the job seemed to make their drivers feel sleepy and why the “dead mans handle” didn’t seem to do its job.
Is it shift patterns? Or is it automation creating lack of stimulation in the working environment? Both are factors that the road haulage industry should also be looking at.
muckles:
It all does seem bizarre, I seem to recall the Police and CPS taking a dim view of drivers trying to use falling asleep as a defence, stating that this doesn’t happen immediately, there are warning sign drivers should take heed of and find somewhere safe to take a break.There were reports of drivers falling asleep before this happened and subsequently other drivers have admitted it.
four current and former Croydon tram drivers admitted to the BBC that they had fallen asleep at the controls - and that a “dead man’s handle” safety device had failed to stop the vehicle.
Maybe the company should have been taking preventative action on finding out why the job seemed to make their drivers feel sleepy and why the “dead mans handle” didn’t seem to do its job.
Is it shift patterns? Or is it automation creating lack of stimulation in the working environment? Both are factors that the road haulage industry should also be looking at.
Absolutely.
From bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-42253785
“The report said the most likely cause for the driver not applying the brakes was “a temporary loss of awareness of the driving task during a period of low workload, which possibly caused him to micro-sleep”.”
“Low workload” equals boring as ****.
Truck semi automation whereby a “driver” is sat there waiting to leap into action in case of emergency seems to be less talked of now.
In aircraft on autopilot, in straight and level flight, there is a minute or two for reaction before a plane hits the deck, in cars there can be less than a second.