Who (if anyone) gets prosecuted?

Soot2006

Near me there was a serious accident involving a learner driver yesterday.

What is likely to happen next? Totally horrid situation for all three individuals involved in the accident.

anotherbaldrick

Not necessarily prosecuted but the adult qualified driver in charge of the learner vehicle is going to have a lot of questions to answer. I assume this was not an approved driving instructor.

When you are supervising a learner driver, you have the same legal responsibilities as if you were driving. For example, the drink drive laws and the ban on using mobile phone applies to anyone who is supervising a learner - you are deemed to be in control of the vehicle.
It is illegal to receive any payment for accompanying a learner driver, unless you are an Approved Driving Instructor and hold the ADI certificate from the Driving Standards Agency.

Soot2006

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Not necessarily prosecuted but the adult qualified driver in charge of the learner vehicle is going to have a lot of questions to answer. I assume this was not a qualified driving instructor

Thanks for your response.

Mark_Mark

You might want to read about sub judice as it could end up in civil or criminal court.

anotherbaldrick

As mentioned in my post " The instructing driver is in charge of the vehicle."

Soot2006

Mark_Mark wrote: »

You might want to read about sub judice as it could end up in civil or criminal court.

...
Thanks to both posters!

Just in case I removed any info not in public domain and have left only the link to the media article without additional details.

Mark_Mark

Soot2006 wrote: »

...
Thanks to both posters!

Just in case I removed any info not in public domain and have left only the link to the media article without additional details.

But with link you're still discussing a specific incident.

InsideInsurance

Didnt see what you removed and what is left is too high level to be able to really answer the question of what happens next

At an equally high level, the police will look into the criminal aspect to see if any party should be charged with any offenses. The insurers will look at the civil issues such as liability and deal with the damages to the vehicles, injuries and road furniture etc.

The news article doesnt speculate as to why they crossed into the oncoming traffic so no opinion can be given to who may be prosecuted or who may be deemed liable

The offence, if committed by the learner, remains the learners. The instructor however may be deemed to be aiding and abetting as per Rubie v Faulkner [1940]

mattyprice4004

I had a crash with a learner and instructor, silly sod didn't give way and I shunted them 10 feet sideways.
Everyone was OK, their car was written off (only a Corsa, so no great loss) and I got a fair whack in the form of a good valuation for the car, 10% to buy it back and then £23 to fix it and put it back on the road.
Plus I got a hefty chunk of whiplash compensation and expenses while I was without a car.

The claim was a non-issue, the driving instructor was at fault as he was in control of the vehicle. If the learner was at fault (as in my case) that's the way it'll go.

fivetide

As above. I did see the original post and if there was a reason for the learner car to move, that might be looked at but otherwise, it seems down to the "responsible adult" sat in the passenger seat at the end of the day.

I would hope, they have legal protection as part of their insurance as it may come in handy.

InsideInsurance

fivetide wrote: »

it seems down to the "responsible adult" sat in the passenger seat at the end of the day.

Obviously depends what actually happened, assuming the learner driver simply made a mistake and went to turn when there wasnt a big enough gap then no, the learner driver would be the one potentially prosecuted for driving without due care and attention/ dangerous driving etc.

The "responsible adult" may be prosecuted for aiding and abetting in these circumstances as per the previously quoted legislation. If you look at driving instructor forums there are hundreds of cases of speeding, drink driving etc where its the learner that was charged with a few instructors being done for A&A

Now, if the driving instructor is the one that told them to go when it wasnt safe to then it potentially is a different matter