{"id":15117,"date":"2023-07-10T10:19:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T09:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/?p=15117"},"modified":"2023-07-07T18:25:38","modified_gmt":"2023-07-07T17:25:38","slug":"speedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/?p=15117","title":{"rendered":"Speedy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I enjoy driving through the village at 30mph. Not because 30mph is the maximum speed limit (it is though), but because it annoys such a large proportion of other road users. I turn out of our little road onto the lane and rapidly (and I mean really quickly) get up to 30mph and yet, before I’ve travelled 100m, there’s a car right up my arse. They just appear as if from nowhere, these magic arse-sniffing cars. Perhaps they materialise from another dimension because as sure as heck they didn’t drive up the lane at the statutory 30mph because if they did it would be impossible for them to get right up my arse. I only pull out onto the lane when it’s clear and I have a good 50m view down the lane to check no vehicles are approaching and when there isn’t I (to reiterate) get up to 30mph really, really quickly. But once I hit 30mph the cruise control comes on and that’s the speed I proceed at. And yes, I do get a frison <\/em>from holding these other road users to 30mph. Well, here’s an interesting story about driving at less than 30mph and still being liable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge rules doctor was driving \u2018too fast\u2019 despite being under 30mph limit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy High Court Judge Dexter Dias warned about the dangers of driving at \u2018excessive and unreasonable\u2019 speed after a child collided with the BMW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A judge has warned about the dangers of driving at \u201cexcessive and unreasonable\u201d speed after concluding that a hospital doctor who was in collision with a 12-year-old girl on a pedestrian crossing was going too fast despite being under a 30mph limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy High Court Judge Dexter Dias heard that consultant physician Shanthi Chandran was driving her BMW i3 Range Extender at 28 mph in a 30-mph zone when the accident happened on a \u201cdark and rainy Monday morning\u201d on the Buckingham Road in Oxfordshire in January 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was also told that the child, who suffered a serious head injury, had stepped on to the crossing when the light was green for traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he concluded that Dr Chandran, who was on her way to work in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, was driving at an \u201cexcessive, unsafe and unreasonable\u201d speed and had failed to pay \u201csufficient attention to hazards and other road users\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a common misconception that if one is driving just below the speed limit, this is sufficient to be a reasonable and competent driver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge said there was a \u201ccommon misconception\u201d that it was \u201creasonable and competent\u201d to drive \u201cjust below the speed limit\u201d. He said that \u201cmay not be\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The girl\u2019s mother had sued Dr Chandran for damages \u2013 on the girl\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Dias outlined his conclusions in a ruling published on Wednesday after considering evidence at a High Court hearing in London in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the child, who had been left with \u201ccognitive and psychiatric problems\u201d, could not be identified in media reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge ruled that Dr Chandran was in breach of her \u201cduty of care\u201d towards the child and was 60% liable for the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the child had stepped on to a pedestrian crossing when the light was green for traffic and was 40% liable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile this case is not about a fatality, it shows yet again how dangerous it is to drive at excessive and unreasonable speed,\u201d said Judge Dias in a written ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a common misconception that if one is driving just below the speed limit, this is sufficient to be a reasonable and competent driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt may not be. The maximum speed limit is not a target or an infallibly safe measure. It is an absolute upper limit, only justified if conditions and the road situation are sufficiently good to permit it<\/em>. This, essentially, was the error that Dr Chandran fell into.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She alleged that the \u201cincident\u201d was caused by Dr Chandran\u2019s negligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawyers representing her argued that Dr Chandran was \u201cdriving too fast\u201d given the \u201cprevailing conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They argued that if Dr Chandran had been driving at a \u201csafe and reasonable speed\u201d, the collision would not have happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Chandran denied negligence and causation and argued that the incident was caused by the girl stepping out into the road when the \u201ctraffic light was green for vehicles to proceed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said she was driving at 28 mph, which was below the 30mph speed limit, and \u201cappropriate for the conditions\u201d and maintained that the \u201cliability\u201d lay fully with the girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge heard that Dr Chandran had not been \u201creported by the police for any criminal offences\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he had been asked to make decisions about liability \u2013 he has not made any ruling about the size of any damages award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I enjoy driving through the village at 30mph. Not because 30mph is the maximum speed limit (it is though), but because it annoys such a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stuff","two-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}