Advice please guys

the wopster · 19 Apr 2016 at 22:55

Any advice would be great please guys, my friend had quite a bad accident(still in ICU-HDU) a few weeks ago and his wife is worried he is going to lose his license and job, here is what he told me happened -
he was traveling along the A69 single carriage at around 3-4am(pitch black)on his way to work he came up behind an lorry and looked ahead to see if he could overtake, he pulled out to overtake then out of nowhere another car was coming towards him, he had a head on crash with the other car, he freely admits it was his fault and he says he honestly didn't see the car( I travel that road quite a lot and it has a lot of dips so I'm wondering if he didn't see his headlights because the car was in n a dip at the time).
The police questioned my friend while he was waiting to be cut out of the vehicle where he told them it was his fault he didn't see the car coming, now the police have told his wife that when he comes out of hospital they want to question him and possibly charge him and you can probably understand she is worried sick. I have been looking on line and it seems to fall in between careless and dangerous driving but I'm not sure, does anyone have any advice?

hurfdurf · 19 Apr 2016 at 22:58

Never talk to the police would have been my advice, but its too late for that now.

the wopster · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:01

hurfdurf said:
Never talk to the police would have been my advice, but its too late for that now.

I don't think he knew what he was doing, fluid in the lungs, broken sternum, 6 broken ribs, broken tib and fib and broken femur.

Skeeter · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:05

hurfdurf said:
Never talk to the police would have been my advice, but its too late for that now.

Being on the wrong side of the road and causing a head on collision probably overrules anything he has or hasn't said to the police.

Speaking to him is probably just a formality, he's getting done for one of the above offences regardless.

kindai · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:07

Best bet would be to get a solicitor to go see him in hospital asap.

He could probably withdraw any statement given at the scene due to shock or disorientation at the time if it was so serious.

the wopster · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:09

Skeeter said:
Being on the wrong side of the road and causing a head on collision probably overrules anything he has or hasn't said to the police.

Speaking to him is probably just a formality, he's getting done for one of the above offences regardless.

Yeah I know, I just trying to work out which one they will hit him with, because dangerous Carries a mandatory ban as far as I'm aware

the wopster · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:11

kindai said:
Best bet would be to get a solicitor to go see him in hospital asap.

He could probably withdraw any statement given at the scene due to shock or disorientation at the time if it was so serious.

Yeah it was quite bad, it happend on the 2nd and he's still in ICU/HDU

the wopster · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:12

I know we have a few resident police officers in the forums, so I'm wondering if they could chime in

hurfdurf · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:15

woppy101 said:
I know we have a few resident police officers in the forums, so I'm wondering if they could chime in

As nice as some individual officers are, their success (pay) is now largely based on convictions, they are not looking out for the people but for their careers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc - this is worth watching, its american but the same principles remain.

Even if you are innocent, say very little to the Police.

Ask Stephen Lawrence's family how talking to the Police works out.

delta0 · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:19

Hard to tell. Dangerous driving normally means your actions are likely to cause injury to others. This has happened so it puts it in the dangerous driving category. However looking at other cases when this has happened some convictions were for careless driving.

DereksDontRun · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:19

guess the condition of the other injuries might play a part - if he's that badly injured then I fear the oncoming driver (and any passengers) aren't just claiming for whiplash. Any idea what they're like as I really hope they're ok? god forbid there's a fatality as I guess he could be looking at manslaughter too?

the wopster · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:22

DereksDontRun said:
guess the condition of the other injuries might play a part - if he's that badly injured then I fear the oncoming driver (and any passengers) aren't just claiming for whiplash. Any idea what they're like as I really hope they're ok? god forbid there's a fatality as I guess he could be looking at manslaughter too?

He was fine, out of hospital 3 days after the crash

DereksDontRun · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:42

woppy101 said:
He was fine, out of hospital 3 days after the crash

Wow, ace and a massive relief. Hope your friend recovers quickly too.

I grew up in an area with a couple long straight roads with a number of "hidden" undulations - they're truly lethal and catch out a lot of people.

Scania · 20 Apr 2016 at 00:24

I'd hazard a guess he was too close to the truck and pulled out into the on coming car before seeing it, I've had this happen to me (as the driver of the truck) awful to see, you know what the car behind is going to do as he's too close but there's not much you can do to prevent it, always stay back from large vehicles if you want a view past them....

Clearcut · 20 Apr 2016 at 05:57

kindai said:
Best bet would be to get a solicitor to go see him in hospital asap.

He could probably withdraw any statement given at the scene due to shock or disorientation at the time if it was so serious.

It was his fault, why should he try and withdraw statements and possibly blame the other driver?

vanandjuanunited · 20 Apr 2016 at 06:24

Pitch black on a road he drives frequently and didn't see the headlights. Something not adding up to me.
Hope your friend makes a speedy recovery.

the wopster · 20 Apr 2016 at 06:33

vanandjuanunited said:
Pitch black on a road he drives frequently and didn't see the headlights. Something not adding up to me.
Hope your friend makes a speedy recovery.

No I said it was a road I drive frequently

teenwolf · 20 Apr 2016 at 06:57

Well whatever happened he caused an accident that could have been fatal by the sounds of it. Accept what punishment comes and then move on.

VincentHanna · 20 Apr 2016 at 07:02

hurfdurf said:
As nice as some individual officers are, their success (pay) is now largely based on convictions, they are not looking out for the people but for their careers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc - this is worth watching, its american but the same principles remain.

Even if you are innocent, say very little to the Police.

Ask Stephen Lawrence's family how talking to the Police works out.

That's absolute rubbish. My sister's partner is a sergeant in the MET and in no way do they get bonuses for convictions.

It's up to the CPS to prosecute somebody, the police only handle the arrests.

iaind · 20 Apr 2016 at 07:07

I really hate people on the internet sometimes.

What happened happened, nobody died and your friend is hopefully making a recovery. The accident was his fault and all this talk about withdrawing statements and not talking to the police is unhelpful and frankly downright idiotic. Admitting fault won't have changed the outcome as he was on the wrong side of the road anyway - all it will have done is make things easier for the other party who suffered as a result.

My understanding of the distinction between careless and dangerous driving is that they both apply when your standard of driving falls below that of a competent driver but to be classed as dangerous it would need to be considered obviously dangerous by a competent driver. That distinction will really come down to the courts, I don't know the road myself but cars rarely come out of nowhere - especially in the dark. Was there a clear stretch of dotted lines where he overtook, or were there signs that overtaking would have been dangerous such as solid lines? If the road undulates enough to not see headlights ahead then would a safe driver view an overtake as dangerous? How close was he to the lorry? Lots of questions to be answered but his case would rest on proving that a competent driver would not view his actions as dangerous.

I don't want to judge as I don't know all the answers, but I do struggle to see a scenario where that accident would happen in a way that was simply careless but I might be wrong.

His best bet is to focus on his recovery for now, I know driving is seen as essential by most but it's not normally - the important thing is that he's alive and recovering. When he's out of hospital, finding a good lawyer would be a wise move if he can afford it

Advice please guys

Sgarrista