SSSimon
10-11-2010, 08:24 PM
Doctors should report dodgy drivers
28 October 2010. It should be mandatory for medical practitioners to report patients whom they know are unfit to drive, but defy advice and stay behind the wheel, Coroner Gerald Bryant has recommended in his Inquest into the death of bike rider, Scott Peoples.
Peoples died when struck from behind by a driver who, as a result of a stroke, had little or no left side peripheral vision, but had continued to drive.
Tragically, the same driver had struck another rider in similar circumstances on the same road two years earlier.
It was not until the rider involved in that collision, who survived, alerted the Police to the previous crash, that authorities became aware of the link between the two events.
Coroner Bryant was severe in his criticism of the Police for not realizing the importance of the connection, and for not alerting the Coroner.
Peoples, aged 20 and from Shepparton, was an outstanding young rider who had just won a scholarship from the Victorian Institute of Sport and had been accepted to ride with a professional cycling team in Europe in 2007.
The driver involved, 73 year old Kenneth Blay, of Wagga Wagga, had been diagnosed with impaired vision following a stroke in 2003. Repeated visits to eye specialists confirmed the deficiencies with his vision.
The truth of the ugly reality of his death would have been buried but for the courageous action of his family who fought to have the matter fully investigated by the Coroner.
The family proposed a number of reforms to the Coroner, including mandatory reporting requirements on police and health care professionals; drivers with high risk medical conditions being required to demonstrate their fitness to drive; and police being given the power to suspend a drivers licence where they believe the driver is unfit to drive due to incapacity or impairment.
The Coroner sought the views of VicRoads, Victoria Police and the Monash University Accident Research Centre on the mandatory reporting issue. None were in favour.
Bicycle Victoria strongly supports Coroner Bryant's recommendations on this issue.
There was another death of a rider in 2005 where the driver was impaired by prescription medication, but had been allowed to keep her licence.
The VicRoads policies on fitness to drive have tragically failed bike riders, yet it continues to defend them.
The findings of the Peoples Inquest should be the trigger for a comprehensive Government review (in all jurisdictions!!! - sc).
28 October 2010. It should be mandatory for medical practitioners to report patients whom they know are unfit to drive, but defy advice and stay behind the wheel, Coroner Gerald Bryant has recommended in his Inquest into the death of bike rider, Scott Peoples.
Peoples died when struck from behind by a driver who, as a result of a stroke, had little or no left side peripheral vision, but had continued to drive.
Tragically, the same driver had struck another rider in similar circumstances on the same road two years earlier.
It was not until the rider involved in that collision, who survived, alerted the Police to the previous crash, that authorities became aware of the link between the two events.
Coroner Bryant was severe in his criticism of the Police for not realizing the importance of the connection, and for not alerting the Coroner.
Peoples, aged 20 and from Shepparton, was an outstanding young rider who had just won a scholarship from the Victorian Institute of Sport and had been accepted to ride with a professional cycling team in Europe in 2007.
The driver involved, 73 year old Kenneth Blay, of Wagga Wagga, had been diagnosed with impaired vision following a stroke in 2003. Repeated visits to eye specialists confirmed the deficiencies with his vision.
The truth of the ugly reality of his death would have been buried but for the courageous action of his family who fought to have the matter fully investigated by the Coroner.
The family proposed a number of reforms to the Coroner, including mandatory reporting requirements on police and health care professionals; drivers with high risk medical conditions being required to demonstrate their fitness to drive; and police being given the power to suspend a drivers licence where they believe the driver is unfit to drive due to incapacity or impairment.
The Coroner sought the views of VicRoads, Victoria Police and the Monash University Accident Research Centre on the mandatory reporting issue. None were in favour.
Bicycle Victoria strongly supports Coroner Bryant's recommendations on this issue.
There was another death of a rider in 2005 where the driver was impaired by prescription medication, but had been allowed to keep her licence.
The VicRoads policies on fitness to drive have tragically failed bike riders, yet it continues to defend them.
The findings of the Peoples Inquest should be the trigger for a comprehensive Government review (in all jurisdictions!!! - sc).