Cassie's Law epetition

pinkteapot

This is the CCTV from the seconds before the crash, posted online by Essex Police. The driver mounted the pavement and then got back onto the road as shown. The footage released is then cut off - moments later he mounted the pavement again and this time hit people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4zKUNTYmuU&feature=youtu.be

This happened in my home town. All my friends went to the sixth form college where the girl was studying. That is a slow-moving road normally; pedestrians wouldn't be looking around particularly or expect an out of control car (not that you would anywhere, but you know what I mean).

I don't think there should be some nebulous law about finding someone "medically unfit". However, in this case the driver had been stopped a few days before after driving eratically at a garage and failed the eyesight test when the police tested him. This is a black and white test - the same one you have to do on your driving test.

That being said, what's to say that the guy would have stopped driving even if the police had suspended his license?

Lum

Indeed, if it was just about the eyesight test then I wouldn't be objecting so much*, but that isn't what the petition says

the_petition wrote:

We would like to call on the Government to change the law so that the police have the power to temporarily suspend the driving licences of motorists whom they feel are unfit to drive. If this law was in place it would mean that my friend would be alive today.

This is not an objective test. It's about the opinion of someone with zero medical training who just happens to be a Police officer. It's a classic example of how overreaching knee-jerk legislation gets onto the statute books.

*It is, however, worth noting that you can pass the standard eyesight test but still not be able to see well enough to drive, and vice versa.

rdwarr

Unfortunately many of the people who are really unfit to drive will do so whether they hold a licence or not.