Car crash

[dwynnehugh]

I was wondering if anyone else here was aware that the Duke of Edinburgh has been involved in an accident – there’s been so little TV coverage about it.

Just wondering!!!! ?????

There goes my OBE!

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[JayCeeDee]

There was a news flash last night and later on more coverage on BBC1. Then it was on BBC News, throughout today – we have been catching up on recorded programmes today as it was a slow dog day.

Doesn’t seem to have been hidden. They even interviewed the chap that helped him out of the overturned ( on its’ side ) car.

[The Duke]

Mrs told me last night. She said he was fine. So I was said, why is it news then? More an advert for 93 year olds to not drive huge Rangrovers.

[Ed P]

The consensus in this area is ‘Silly old sod, he should be jailed for dangerous driving and his licence confiscated, as he could have killed two women and a baby’.

Do a trawl around the country’s local papers to read the bits that the Nationals and Beeb dare not say due to their editors angling for a knighthood. There are quite a number of eye-witness reports which suggest that the woman driver was in no way responsible for the accident.

[PlaneMan]

It was in my news feed, it was a small paper reporting on it. It said that it was the gits fault. OFC I can’t find the report now as it’s probably been pulled or ‘lost’.

Nothing will happen about it because of who he is, everyone must know that.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if in a few months there’s a not very well publicised statement released stating that he’s quit driving.

[Richard]

Every news organ I have seen has reported it with prominence given to all of the angles. The believable contributory factory was said to be the low and very bright sun on the day in question. While not a valid legal cause of misjudgement, i.e. errors leading to accidents or not, I found the sun challenging on the day in question and thus requiring extra care. The incident is still making ‘front page news’ on ‘Nationals’ today and yes, even on the BBC News website. I cannot understand how anyone could have missed it, unless they did not see or hear Specsavers calling them, perhaps are HRH DOE himself or another caught out driver, (I saw a few of them).

One report suggested that the speed limit in the area was under review and that other steps were under consideration, i.e. automatic tax collectors.

[Ed P]

One report I read said that the silly old Git hurtled across the main road before overturning and hitting the other car, so did the low sun result in him not seeing a ‘Stop’ sign — not if he were travelling at an appropriate speed!

In a quite separate interview Giles Bandreth said that the Git likes to drive cars fast.

Other papers publish a lawyer’s opinion that he may be able to avoid prosecution if he surrenders his licence, but it would all depend whether the victims of the accident feel that a lesson needs to be made.

[dwynnehugh]

I hope you all spotted the touch of sarcasm in my original posting!

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Richard]

If that was what the report said then I call fantasy; why would the Duke’s vehicle turn over prior to impact? The version which makes sense is that the Duke failed to stop continued out and was hit in the side by the other, (innocent) car driver causing the Duke’s vehicle to overturn and slide and spin before ending up off the road. The Kia, the other car made a more graceful upright passage to the same side of the road.

That he has emerged as very likely the guilty party, (sorry sub judice rule applies I should be careful) is not in dispute, the allegations of a lack of reports were being disputed, those allegations were clearly not supported by reality. Several reports today continue to analyse the scene in great detail backed by witness statements.

As for your concern about the comment about the sun, I wrote that, ‘While not a valid legal cause of misjudgement’; note, I accept that it can cause errors to be made and errors are what cause accidents and legal cases. For my part I would and did slow down for the conditions so error 1 might have been not adjusting speed for the conditions and error 2 was likely (sorry sub judice rule again applies) passing a stop sign, that familiarity should have made a driver aware of.

However, the matter should and needs to be decided by a court according to law not by declamation by the partially briefed, -that includes me.

[Richard]

@dwynnehugh, I don’t know, you might get one for honesty!

[The Duke]

Wether he was at faulf of not, sure its his duty to admit fault. Its not like he pronaly pays for his own insurance anyhow.

The sun being low is irrelevant. As fa as I’m away it’d in the same place for everyone.

The road that leads to my road, the sun sets in Teh winter band on behind it. It’s a tigh road with double parked cars and kids playing. It’s a 5mph job as its scary in the summer, with the kids darting in and out. In the won’t you just can’t see from 2pm to sun set.

I don’t buy the papers, so the only place I’ve seen that he crashed was via my wife telling me about it. It hasn’t crossed my.news feed. But I think I have it set to no royal stuff. So I’ll have to depend on my wife to inform me when she pop her cloggs too. Not having live tv and all.

[JayCeeDee]

That stretch of road is a blackspot – 5 accidents recently ( can’t remember the time period.) Council already had a meeting agenda’d for the following day to discuss reducing the speed limit from 60 to 50.

The winter sun is the same for all, but it caught me out a few years ago, in a slow moving queue of traffic coming out from under a bridge. Blinded me enough to bump the rear end of the car in front that had braked before my eyes had had time to adjust.

 

[Bob Williams]

Fact: the nonagenarian Prince turned out of a minor road and into the path of a much smaller oncoming vehicle, a Kia. The Kia, being smaller, acted as a wedge and rolled the Freelander over. The Freelander continued its roll and the Prince was trapped by the legs, rescued by another motorist. During my days as a workshop foreman and Recovery work, I saw instances of a smaller car with a lower centre of gravity, having exactly the same effect upon a larger, higher vehicle. Including an early Range Rover being overturned by, of all cars, a Mini. The driver of the Mini did not survive, as the Mini was crushed by the impact. That proves (for one thing) that today’s vehicles have much better crash protection.

Fact: the Prince has stated that he “… was dazzled by the sun.” No excuse – every time I drive out of my parking space in our Close in mornings, I have to make a 3-point turn. If the sun is out, I am dazzled at both ends of the turn. When I reach the end of the Close to turn into a junction into a road which has priority over the Close, I am dazzled again.  At every stage, I adjust or move my sun visor so that I can see the road and any approaching traffic. This is complicated by the number of parked cars to my immediate left. Coming home from my son and daughter’s village, or the restaurant we like, in the evenings, I am driving into the sun and use my sun visor. However, I always manage to do what the Prince failed to do: obey the road signs and take care. It is a simple case of driving without due care and attention and he should be spoken to, with a view to removing his licence. That is what would happen to any ordinary citizen in the same circumstances.

When I worked in the garage, I had a neighbour who was 5 years older than I am now. One day he drove up to the garage in his lovely old Triumph Dolomite that I maintained for him, and handed me the keys. He decided that he could no longer drive with the same reactions and confidence. I sold the Dolly for him (actually got more than he paid for it, we had repainted the body and I rebuilt the engine a few years previously) and admired his decision. That is what I will do when I too decide that I can no longer drive with confidence in my abilities and reactions. I hope it’s a long way off, but I certainly do not want to be driving in my 90’s, or even my 80’s. Should I remain on my perch for that long, that is…??

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Ed P]

Probably because he attempted a very high speed right turn. According to one witness the Freelander somersaulted right across the road.

The other car involved was a lightweight Kia- very unlikely to come off second best to a heavy (no doubt bullet-proofed) Freelander, and cause it to overturn.

“Commenting on the circumstances of the crash, Mr Warne added: “I think there’s no doubt that it was hit (by the duke’s car). That’s my recollection.”

Speaking about Philip’s Freelander, he added: “I didn’t see it come from the side road, I saw it careering and tumbling across the road and ending up on the other side.”

In comments the mother(victim) made to a retired nurse who administered first aid to the victims the the 72-year-old from Norfolk told the paper:

“The passenger from the other car told me, ‘I always wanted to meet a royal – but not this way’.

She said the duke – who was found to have “no injuries of concern” after his check-up on Friday morning – asked about the welfare of the people involved in the crash.
“I told him the baby was fine – but we thought the passenger had broken her arm,” she said.

“He looked so worried and told me, ‘I’m such a fool’.”

Read those reports how you may, but it is hard to place any blame on the Kia driver.

[Richard]

Has anyone blamed the Kia driver? I specifically used the word innocent in respect of that vehicle; everyone is free to draw their own conclusion as to which out of the two drivers appears at fault. Though only the justice system can weigh evidence and assign judicial actions. (Special interest statement, I drive both Kias and Hondas, but not Land or Range Rovers.)

Your widely reported quotes confirm that no cover up has taken place; that was the original point at issue.

Drive to arrive alive and Drive to the conditions not your desires appear to reflect perhaps not widely enough shared ‘common ground’.

The police are reported as being unhappy that cameras are not installed in the area years after they were first requested.

[Ed P]

I was not complaining about cover-up by local press, just the very careful and somewhat misleading National Media.

[edit] imo the after crash pic tells its own story:

 

[Ed P]

Btw – he almost certainly is not insured. I’ll take bets that their affairs are handled such that the Royal Household is a private company and owns and self-insures all the cars in the Royal household by depositing a £500000 bond. Apparently this a a very tax efficient ploy for companies. link

[PlaneMan]

From a quick read of the link posted by Ed above the liability still exists though.

How much would the Kia driver take to keep schtum I wonder? More importantly how much would the injured lady take?

If I was in that position I’d be after a LOT of £ and negotiating with news agencies just in case.

[Ed P]

You are quite correct PM as the thread on insurance states being self insured does not remove liability. My guess is that would be small change to the Royals in comparison with getting into disrepute.

[PlaneMan]

Totally agree Ed. A few million well spent in their eyes.

[Author]

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