PC guilty of girl's crash death.

[jumpy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/7990188.stm

Watch the film and keep an eye on the speed counter in the bottom right hand corner.

Having held a license for 15 years or so now, watching the last few seconds of the in car cctv made my stomach turn with the inevitability of what was going to happen next. You can see the group of kids on the pavement; the speed at which the vehicle is travelling means there's only a second or two between the car cresting the rise and the pedestrians coming into view and the collision occurring.

Had the officer driving used his blue flashing lights and the siren, there would probably have been no accident. Had he not been driving at almost 100 miles per hour in a built up area for the purpose of stopping a vehicle that was flagged by the anpr system, information that was later proved to be out of date, he would not be facing an almost certain custodial sentence and a teenager would be alive today.

Apart from the obvious tragedy of the situation, I can see it from the point of view that too much reliance on computers and the veracity of their information played no insignificant part in the chain of events leading to an unnecessary death.

What a waste.

[GoldenRivet]

I watched that at work... i tried to figure out what the big deal was right up til the end.

he must have been responding to some kind of major emergency... really no reason for traveling that fast in such an area even if he had lights and siren running

[Max2147]

he must have been responding to some kind of major emergency... really no reason for traveling that fast in such an area even if he had lights and siren runningThe article jumpy posted says the police car's license plate recognition system went off when a car passed, meaning that the passing car was possibly linked to a crime. It turned out to be a false alarm - the data was out of date.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/7990188.stm)

[GoldenRivet]

well I didn't read the article I just watched the video... Guess that's what I get.

[HunterICX]

horrible, just horrible.
lost for words here

HunterICX

[bookworm_020]

What a waste.....:cry:

[Schroeder]

Oh boy, how fu**ed up can it get.
He did not want to alarm the driver of the Megane by turning on his blue lights.... Now tell me how is a Megane supposed to get away from that police Volvo that obviously has a tremendous acceleration or how are pedestrians supposed to notice him on time (I think the second question has been answered in a terrible way)?
98 mph in a city, blast!!!

[Platapus]

What a terrible thing to happen. :nope:

But in addition to the high rate of speed, he was driving on the wrong side of the road!!!

oh :oops:
:D

[Iceman]

It was an accident plain and simple...along with a mistake in judgement.

I notice they do not say what happened next....which I "assume" since he is/was a police officer which was to jump out of his car and see what he could do along with calling in the medics.

It is a friendly fire incident....the officer should not lose his job over it...but let it serve as a reminder to all law enforcement around the world to keep the publics well being as the top priority in they're minds at all times...."To Protect and Serve".

[Schroeder]

Not really. He was careless to the extreme by going way to fast. It was within a city for Christ's sake. You have to expect people to cross the streets especially since he didn't use any means to warn them (sirens or even just the blue lights).
How did he expect to avoid a crash while going that fast without warning people? :timeout:
A car at that speed in a city is a threat to all the people on the streets and that is exactly what a police officer is not supposed to be.
Sure he has to go fast in order to stay in touch with the other car, but he exaggerated it in an irresponsible manner and someone had to pay the ultimate price for that.

[jumpy]

3 years.
Not sure if it ought to be more :hmmm:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8028666.stm

[AVGWarhawk]

I have to agree here, his speed and non-use of lights/siren were a serious lack of judgment. 91+ going after a car in that 'possibly' was involved in a crime was not justified. Felony crime committed or not, racing through the city streets at 91+ is never justified.

[Jimbuna]

I've been in similar situations on a few occasions in the past and must say this is a terrible tragedy. There was no intent....simply a serious breach of judgement and a failure to adequately assess the situation at the key moment.

Justice has taken it's course but sadly....that will not return the child to her family.

How very very tragic :nope:

[AVGWarhawk]

It happens a lot here in Baltimore City Jim. Not always a fatality but wrecked cruisers at intersections. No siren or lights going. For the most part it usually happens when a traffic stop is being effected and the driver attempts to run. In the city, let him go or there will be trouble driving high speeds through city streets. For the most part the driver is running because of some overdue parking tickets. This incident is a shame and truely, at the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Jimbuna]

Precisely.......when in built up areas with high volumes of traffic and pedestrian numbers just let them go, but not in an obvious way, they only highten the danger levels for what is usually a paltry offence.

On the open road it's a different matter though....keep em in sight because there's nothing been built thus far that can travel faster than a radio signal.