Fatal Accident In Stalham

[Hylander]

Watching the local news this morning,  it was awful to hear that a young girl was killed while walking in Stalham  yesterday.   Her friend was injured.   The culprit has been arrested as he/she did not stop.     Apparently went on to wrap the car around something else further on from Stalham.       I just feel for her family.

 

https://www.norfolk.police.uk/news/latest-news/man-arrested-after-pedestrian-dies-collision

[Vaughan]

It is reported on the EDP website this morning.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Very sad news,my thoughts  go to family  and friends. 

[Hylander]

Looking at the photographs taken of the road,   I have often thought you take your life in your hands when you cross to go over to Tescos.      So very sad.

[FlyingFortress]

43 minutes ago, Hylander said:

Looking at the photographs taken of the road,   I have often thought you take your life in your hands when you cross to go over to Tescos.      So very sad.

It didn't happen near Tesco.

It was further towards Wroxham.

I was on the road shortly after this incident but did not know what had happened. No emergency services were on scene when I passed and TBH I thought someone had hit a deer which is not uncommon on that road.

Feel a bit bad now for not stopping to offer my limited first aid skills.

Didn't see the car involved as I had turned off before the Tesco junction.

[Andrewcook]

It's a very sad day for these Two young Girls in this tragic accident my thoughts & Prayers are with Family & Friends at this very sad time 

[Meantime]

I've never really understood why that stretch of road is a 50mph limit. I know the road is fairly straight and with good visibility, but you have a number of busy junctions onto the road and the one by Tesco's in particular is a 20mph zone straight out onto a 50 mph road. Then you have the pedestrian island where you can cross from Stalham staithe into the town centre. There are no barriers around the island and you can end up standing there with traffic going past in each direction at 50mph. I'm sure there's a case for dropping the limit to 40mph from Stepping Stone Lane to somewhere past the Richardsons turn, with a pelican crossing installed to cross the road from the staithe.

[BroadAmbition]

I’d agree with all of the above

Griff

[FlyingFortress]

4 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

I’d agree with all of the above

Griff

Town Council has been pushing for a Pelican Crossing for quite some time now.

Wouldn't have helped in this case as it happened further out of town.

[RumPunch]

They should have bulit a roundabout by Tescos - getting out of there is never easy if heading to Wroxham because of traffic turning in ( however this is irrelevant to the accident )

Until we see the full details, let's not jump to hasty conclusions. That is a major road, taking a lot of traffic. Many of us use it for commuting. It has a good footpath to Wayford Bridge, so pedestrians should be safe. I'd agree with barriers on the island though.

[Turnoar]

Unutterably sad, having lost friends to road incidents, in some cases on the same road albeit different stretches, there are no words for the sorrow family and friends must feel.

As RumPunch says wait and see, in the interim I do wish the media would check what they are reporting, one article is stating 60 mph speed limit, probably by someone who doesn’t know the road. At best sloppy reporting, at worst highly insensitive.

[ChrisB]

Reported in the news this morning. A 68 year old man from Hoveton has been remanded in custody until Sept. To appear at Norwich Crown Court on charges of causing death by dangerous driving and injury by dangerous driving.

[Hylander]

https://www.northnorfolknews.co.uk/news/family-tribute-fenella-hawes-a149-crash-stalham-9183186

[ChrisB]

8 years in jail, and the life of a young woman lost.

 

[Andrewcook]

That Driver should have got Life as to 8 years having a Road License as that is not a License to kill innocent people where ever they are living in the UK.

[Wonderwall]

10 hours ago, Andrewcook said:

That Driver should have got Life as to 8 years having a Road License as that is not a License to kill innocent people where ever they are living in the UK.

It's such a sad and tragic story. Sadly not unique.

I've often thought , that the punishment for drink driving should be an automatic prison sentence, rather than the lottery that if you don't actually  have an incident  then a slap on the wrist and lose your licence for a wee while is all you will get.

It's the potential of your crime by which you should be judged. If the authorities were really serious about eradicating driving , they would go down my route of suggestion. 

Nobody is suggesting this person intended to kill anyone, their crime was driving while intoxicated. 

Such a sad waste of a life 😓, through an act of selfishness.

[jeffbroadslover]

Driving license should be removed from the offender and stored in an incinerator. 

Just my opinion of course.

Jeff 

[ChrisB]

I agree with the above, but I also believe that there should be more education with regards to alcohol consumption

it starts to leave the body after one hour and thereafter at 1 unit per hour. A pint of 4% beer or lager is 2.3 units so the first drink takes 3 hours 20 minutes, then 2 hours 20mins per pint.

It is easy therefore if you can sup 6 pints or so to be well over if you have an early start next morning. And a weekend of celebrations could see you unfit till Tuesday.

Given the huge social and health costs and family problems caused by alcohol, if it had not been around for thousands of years and it were to suddenly burst on the stage now.  It would be a class A drug.

[Gracie]

I don't know if people realise I enjoy the odd glass of wine or two  But I do drink responsibly and know when to stop like many of us I am sure. Getting behind the wheel after even just one is something I would never never do. Unfortunately there are some who think it perfectly acceptable. I agree with a forever licence ban and an automatic custodial sentence. How this man got only eight years is beyond me. The girls family won't be suffering eight years, they will suffer a life time x

[Cheesey69]

Strange.

Part of my job is to clear up after accidents on the motorway and have seen the utter chaos left by drink drivers.

My employer enforces a zero alcohol policy (apart from natural background).

Very easy to comply. You just don't drink and you know no level is safe.

simple. lives saved

[floydraser]

It would be interesting to hear his side of the story. He knew what he was doing when he had extra drinks, knowing he was going to drive home; he wasn't just over the limit, he was virtually legless. Was it a local pub where he usually had a few and drove home? I know people who have done that in the past and I should think there are still those who risk it. I wonder how his friends and family feel about it, especially if they've seen him do it before.

Several families lives affected.

We need to know why it happens before we can stop it.

We all joke about drinking but drinking and driving needs to become a massive social no-no such that people wouldn't brag about getting away with it.

How about making it standard that when visiting a pub/restaurant/etc the driver has a breath test before leaving? By "standard" I mean why can't we agree to do it without someone having to make it law that we have to do it?

[Meantime]

3 hours ago, Gracie said:

How this man got only eight years is beyond me.

Sadly, whilst I agree it's not long enough, it has to be pointed out that with good behaviour it is likely to be reduced by 50% so he will serve a minimum of 4 years with more than likely 4 years on license out of prison.

I also don't understand how the judge reached the sentence of 8 years. They are obviously privvy to a lot more information than us when making the decision, but for drink driving they can award up to 14 years, which again would only be 7 years in prison for good behaviour.

[Gracie]

23 minutes ago, Meantime said:

Sadly, whilst I agree it's not long enough, it has to be pointed out that with good behaviour it is likely to be reduced by 50% so he will serve a minimum of 4 years with more than likely 4 years on license out of prison.

I also don't understand how the judge reached the sentence of 8 years. They are obviously privvy to a lot more information than us when making the decision, but for drink driving they can award up to 14 years, which again would only be 7 years in prison for good behaviour.

I agree with you totally and of course know they are privvy to much more information than we are but it's still disgusting that he may only serve four years of an all ready pathetic sentence after killing a girl with her whole life in front of her and robbed of that life because he made the decision to get in his car having had far too much to drink

If, god forbid, it was one of my children I know what sentence I would want them to have x

 

[Meantime]

Our current PM has stated that he fears for his daughter's safety walking the streets alone and that we need to put more people in prison, to which he has stated that we need to build more prisons. I suspect it is a lack of prison spaces that largely influences whether a custodial sentence is passed, and if it is, how long it should be.

Personally, I would create 100% extra capacity overnight by just adding another bed to each cell. Prison is meant to be a deterrent. It shouldn't be comfortable, and the rights of the people who have been robbed, attacked or hramed should always come before the needs or overcrowding of prisons. 

[Ray]

It should also be humane otherwise you have no hope of improving the reoffending statistics. Maybe this has steered a little toward the political arena?