- 3 months ago
Traffic Cops S12E31 (Mar 17 2025)
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00:00It's gone straight through the red line.
00:03It's got damage.
00:05It's got damage.
00:08Derbyshire traffic cops.
00:10It does have warning markers for potential firearms.
00:15Turn over!
00:16You under arrest.
00:17Intent supply class to be a drug.
00:19Police a thousand square miles.
00:23It's a crash, crash.
00:25Have you got any other injury other than your head?
00:27With some of the UK's most dangerous roads.
00:30Oh, nobody's been killed out of this. I don't know.
00:33Do you know how fast we're going?
00:35It's scary when stuff like this happens.
00:37In life and death situations.
00:39Get on the ground, you'll be tased!
00:41We've got runners.
00:42Face down.
00:46Yes, yes, successful stink.
00:49Around every corner.
00:51Great acting, mate.
00:53There's a new challenge for the traffic cops.
00:57Step out of the vehicle now!
01:00I'm going home.
01:01David!
01:02Stop grabbing me like that!
01:06Crash, crash, crash!
01:09Coming up...
01:10The car's on its roof.
01:11Collisions changing lives.
01:14It's easily a 25-foot drop.
01:16Involving the young.
01:18If you went over there, it would most likely have been a fatality.
01:22And the old.
01:23I am a total idiot.
01:26And a serious motorbike crash.
01:28Can we get someone to go and get the calculator?
01:30Leaves the traffic cops searching for the truth.
01:34I went to go put my brakes on and it just was not working.
01:38As an elderly man fights for his life.
01:40Right.
01:41New bag of fluid going in.
01:58Tagging the CF4, Stephen?
02:00Mate, we're just leaving Ripley now.
02:01We'll be about five minutes.
02:02Every year, Derbyshire's traffic cops deal with over 300 life-changing and fatal collisions.
02:14Police emergency.
02:16At force control...
02:18Whereabouts are you?
02:20There's a report of a serious crash.
02:22Are there any injuries?
02:24Involving a motorcyclist and a pedestrian.
02:27We'll get officers there as soon as we can.
02:30Hello, Tango CF4.
02:31They're good.
02:32They're good.
02:34We've got a report of a vehicle RTC.
02:36Injuries are reported.
02:37EMAS are travelling.
02:38If you can, start travelling.
02:39Immediate response, NA.
02:41Oh dear.
02:42Where was that?
02:43They'll pull over and have a look.
02:49NA Tango 4-3.
02:50Pop me to that RTC as well.
02:52PC, Alex Head and Sergeant Scott Riley respond to the call.
03:01We're getting quite a few multiple reports.
03:04So, normally when you get multiple reports, you take it...
03:09It tends to be a bit more serious.
03:14Almost weekly, we are dealing with a fatal or serious collision.
03:17It's something that changes you as a person.
03:22To see what families go through when they are the victims of a fatal collision.
03:27It's stuff that I will never ever forget.
03:30But we have to be on top of our game to deal with the next one.
03:34And the one after that.
03:37NA Tango 4-9, I'm coming free now.
03:39So I can make way to that.
03:42PC Chris Wells-Jackson is also responding.
03:45From the sounds of it, they've got quite a serious head injury.
03:50You do get a bit of a funny feeling when you go into a possible fatal collision
03:55because in the back of your mind you're always thinking that
03:58essentially someone's actually going to die.
04:00So essentially informed some family members as well.
04:03Which is not very nice.
04:08Scott is first on scene.
04:12Just come off for one sec.
04:14One every five seconds, mate.
04:19As other officers and paramedics fight to save the 92-year-old casualty's life,
04:25Scott takes charge of the investigation.
04:28We've got a serious, critical RTC where the pedestrian is still in cardiac arrest so far.
04:37When I'm told that the pedestrian's in his 90s, I know from looking at the scene that the injuries are going to be really difficult for him to survive.
04:47We've got everything at that scene or coming to that scene that we need to give him the best opportunity of life.
04:55But ultimately, I do look at the investigation as if it is going to be a fatality.
05:01That really focused on my mind.
05:04Right, new bag of fluid going in. Thank you.
05:07Scott's asked us to go straight down, which we're going to do.
05:10Just going to grab some scene tape so we can have another cordon on.
05:13And obviously, the air ambulance needs to land somewhere as well, which I don't know where it's going to be.
05:19We've got to go and assist with witnesses, et cetera, to start off with from the sounds of it.
05:24We've only got here for a little bit. They've seen it. They've been right behind it.
05:37We was literally right behind the bar that we smacked into.
05:45With life-threatening injuries, the victim needs urgent hospital treatment.
05:50His condition's not changed from when we've arrived.
05:52Scott's focus turns to evidence gathering.
05:58In the black car, there is a key witness.
06:01And that key witness describes him as travelling with excess speed.
06:06We need to secure CCTV. We need to secure the area for our forensics team.
06:11We need to clear the area of the public, but we need to keep those public somewhere where we have an element of control.
06:17Unless you live on this street, you need to be the other side of that blue line.
06:19Because they are the very people that could tell us exactly what's happened.
06:24Hello. We'll come and speak to you very shortly. What are your plans now?
06:28Because I can see you've got some customers in. You've cancelled, have you? That would really help us.
06:32I'm going to ask this officer, if you rang the initial job in and you've got CCTV, I'm going to ask this officer to come and speak to you.
06:37All right. Is this the driver? Yeah. Does he need treatment as well? Yeah, he will do. He's got an injury to his ankle.
06:45Hi mate. That's your bike? Yeah. All right. Just very briefly tell me what's happened.
06:49I was coming down the street. Which way? From up there? Yeah. And I went to go put my brakes on and it just was not working.
06:58Okay. Front and back. Yeah. I just got it booked in to go in for a service. And my brakes just was not going to work. Yeah.
07:08Right. So we'll get a collision unit when they come to get that statement almost immediately. Yeah.
07:15CCTV from the building just there, which I'm just going to go and have a look and see if it's active.
07:20Because that will show this junction here. Okay.
07:25With the scene locked down, the victim who remains in a critical condition is transferred to hospital.
07:31So the early information is that the motorcycle rider there is coming down here at excess speed.
07:44He's made an unsolicited comment that his brakes weren't working. He knew his brakes weren't working because he was going to take it to a garage to get it serviced.
07:53So if that is the case, then it's dangerous driving.
07:55Do the roadside procedure, drugs, drink, and then when I give you an update, go from there, please.
08:02Alex, can you stick with Chris?
08:04From a police perspective, if he's riding that motorbike knowing that his brakes didn't work and that he needed to take it to a garage,
08:14then he's known he got on that bike when it was in a dangerous condition.
08:17I'm going to take a sample of your saliva onto this device, which takes up to eight minutes to come back with a result. Okay.
08:35Okay, that's fine.
08:37So I'm going to require you to provide me with a sample of breath for analysis. Okay.
08:39Same rules applies to the drug swipe at failure or at refusal of any allowed to arrest and prosecution. Okay.
08:44Just create a nice tight seaweed lips, blow until the tater stop.
08:48Blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow. Thank you.
08:51That's it, done.
08:53So at the moment that's showing as negative and the breath test negative.
08:57So if it's a case of black casualty ends up taking a term for the worse and it turns fatal, then this chap will end up being arrested for causing death by dangerous driving.
09:13Both are negative. They're saying he's going to have to go to QMC because it's closest and given his injuries, I don't think it's going to be anything to accept it.
09:19It's just legs at the moment. So he's got some grazing to his legs and potentially a foot injury.
09:25We need officers to be with him.
09:27Yeah.
09:28So Chris, you follow down or managing him as a suspect.
09:33Yeah.
09:34With a view to arresting him once we get a casualty upleg.
09:36Okay.
09:37And once he's cleared of his injuries.
09:39Okay.
09:40We'll get on to the family now and then I'll give you a ring and see where we're at with that.
09:43Okay.
09:44Worth just arresting him now just because he's got some powder.
09:46Yeah.
09:47For serious injury dangerous.
09:50I'll do it.
09:51Doing everything else.
09:53Yeah.
09:54And then we'll be re-arrested if that changes day.
09:57Yeah.
09:58That's fine.
09:59Yeah.
10:00Lovely.
10:01I don't know if the update to you, he's not insured on it either, which is admitted to.
10:03Arrested for the insurance as well.
10:05Yeah.
10:06I'll do everything.
10:07Yeah.
10:09I'm going to arrest you on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
10:13Okay.
10:14And for driving without insurance.
10:15Yeah.
10:16All right.
10:17So you don't have to say anything.
10:18But it may have an offence if you do not mention when questioned something which relates
10:20with a line in court.
10:21Anything you do say may be given in evidence.
10:22Do you understand that?
10:23Mm-hm.
10:25Forensic collision investigators are now on scene.
10:28We're trying to get all the available evidence from CCTV, from the shops, the street side
10:35of the street, from the residents.
10:37We've got several residents that have seen the collision that we'll be getting statements
10:41from.
10:42And we've got several drivers that have seen the collision that we'll also be getting statements
10:46from.
10:47The crew have assessed the motorbike rider and he's got some injuries that are potentially
10:54a fracture to his leg or his foot.
10:56So he's got to go off to hospital to get checked before we can take him into our custody.
11:01So we're going to follow the ambulance down.
11:04The elderly victim has been admitted to hospital.
11:08I've just had an update from Swifty.
11:11Yeah.
11:12The chap's gone for a scan.
11:15Okay.
11:16But he's unlikely to survive.
11:17Okay.
11:18So I've told Swifty to hang on there until you arrive.
11:20Yeah.
11:21So we can see where we are with him.
11:22Okay.
11:23Nice one.
11:24The horrifying point to this scenario is that it could have been anybody that was walking
11:36down that pavement.
11:38It just so happens that the victim in this case is a chap in his nineties who lived through
11:43a world war and he gets run over by a motorbike just walking to the shop.
11:49So it really puts things into perspective that it doesn't matter where you are, who you're
11:55with, how young or old you are, that anything can happen at any time.
12:00And your whole world can change just like that.
12:06Coming up.
12:07We'll be able to absolutely see whether that bike's got any brakes or whether it hasn't.
12:12The suspect faces charges.
12:14Just take your necklace off.
12:17Yeah.
12:19And the traffic cops respond to another crash.
12:22She's coming round the corner.
12:23She's obviously lost control.
12:24Hit this wall.
12:26Involving a young, inexperienced driver.
12:29Official license holder.
12:31Oh, no one with her?
12:32No.
12:33Yeah.
12:34Yeah.
12:35Yeah.
12:36As long as we've got the contact details and we'll contact them later.
12:38Brilliant.
12:40At the scene of a serious collision between an elderly pedestrian and a young motorcyclist.
12:55Our brakes just was not going to work.
12:56Sergeant Scott Riley is leading an investigation.
12:58So he's riding a bike at excess speed with no brakes.
13:00Moving the investigation forward after today, the bike will be examined so we'll be able
13:02to absolutely see whether that bike's got any brakes or whether it hasn't.
13:04I've asked that the phone is seized so we can examine that to see if he's sent a text disclosing
13:11that he's fully aware that the brakes don't work or if he's booked that bike into a garage,
13:17which we believe he has, and he was on his way to having that bike serviced today.
13:34Lee?
13:35I'm going to ask for him to be arrested for dangerous driving.
13:39As Scott remains on scene, PC Chris Wells Jackson makes his way to the hospital.
13:46I think the motorbike riders started to realise what's occurred.
13:53He didn't seem horrendously panicked by the scenario to start off with.
13:59He seemed quite calm, but that's shock.
14:03I think shock affects everybody in different ways.
14:09The rider has been checked over at hospital.
14:12But with the elderly pedestrian in a critical condition, the rider is taken into police custody.
14:19Right, so unfortunately the other chap has died, okay?
14:26So I'm going to further arrest you on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, okay?
14:30Just remind you that you are still under caution, do you understand?
14:33Okay.
14:34This rider's world has just collapsed in front of him.
14:38He could essentially go to prison for 15 to 20 years for causing death by dangerous driving.
14:46Also, he's got to live with it for the rest of his life knowing that he's killed someone
14:51because of a decision that he made that he shouldn't have made.
14:59Go on, Mum.
15:02Just watch your lace.
15:03As a result of what's happened, you've been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving,
15:15driving without insurance and driving otherwise in accordance with your licence.
15:20Do you have any physical illnesses or injuries?
15:23Oh, there is a broken ankle.
15:25Broken ankle.
15:26Which ankle?
15:27My right ankle.
15:29Just take your necklace off.
15:31Yeah.
15:35At some point this evening, there will be a decision sought for a charge for those offences.
15:40It might be that he gets bailed, it might be that he gets charged tonight and remanded into custody.
15:45Our main priorities now is essentially to put a good evidential case together to make sure that we've got everything we need for a prosecution.
15:56So whoever's at fault for this collision sees some justice.
16:15Excess speed contributes to around a quarter of deaths on the UK's roads.
16:23Some of the most at risk are the young and inexperienced.
16:27It's a bit windy tonight.
16:31Traffic cops Andy Swift.
16:33Hello from Porter.
16:34Have we got any details that are needed to do so far?
16:36And Alex Head are responding to reports of another crash ten miles north of Derby.
16:44It's Tango 4-3, we're sitting in 4-7.
16:48Go ahead.
16:50I'm just a summer coat, it's on 38, so I'll be a bit behind you.
16:54There's been a report of an RT sitting up to cars on its roof.
16:57It says it's skidded.
16:58I thought I've seen lots of blue lights.
17:06As Alex arrives at the scene.
17:09NA Oscar Tango 4-3.
17:11Hello, you all right?
17:13A fire crew has freed a teenage driver from her overturned car.
17:18Yeah, that's also stage six.
17:20Do you know who the driver is?
17:21The driver is just by the extra fire engine man.
17:23Right, OK.
17:25OK, thank you.
17:27Despite the extensive damage...
17:29Hello there, you all right?
17:30Yeah.
17:31How are you doing?
17:32..the young girl appears unharmed.
17:35Who's in the car with you?
17:36Me.
17:39You got a licence?
17:44I don't know, Ben.
17:46So the rules are, when you're a professional licence holder,
17:48you can only drive a vehicle when you've got a qualified driver
17:52who's sat next to you, and your vehicle must be showing L plates.
17:55In this case, neither of those things were complied with.
18:00So I've come to a single car collision.
18:02It's quite extensive damage, because it's just a single car RTC.
18:05The female driver's just lost it at some point, I don't quite know how.
18:10But she's ended up rolling and flipping the car.
18:14Luckily, she's only got minor injuries.
18:16There's just a few scratches to it, but that's about it.
18:17The problem, though, probably might explain why she's crashed,
18:22is that she's a provisional licence holder,
18:25and she didn't have anybody with her.
18:27So she's taken the choice to drive the car when she doesn't have a licence.
18:31Probably not trained, and doesn't have the skill to drive the car on her own.
18:33And this is the result.
18:36So it's a silly life choice.
18:38It's now...
18:39She's going to have lots of points on her licence,
18:41and the chances of her getting a licence and all insurance after it
18:44are very, very slim.
18:46Andy arrives on scene.
18:49Hello, you all right?
18:51Yeah.
18:53Alex, have you sought a recovery?
18:55Official licence holder.
18:57Oh, no-one with her?
18:58No.
19:00I'll get my brush, and I'll brush up,
19:01and then I'll see if I can hump my car up the side of the kerb,
19:04and then... you all right?
19:08Going 50 miles an hour.
19:10I genuinely...
19:12I could not tell you how that happened.
19:14We'll let the Prime Minute just check you over,
19:18and then we'll just take it from there.
19:19All right.
19:21How old are you?
19:2217.
19:2317, okay.
19:24Because you were technically classed as a child.
19:26Can I speak to you, Mum?
19:27I'm going to need to speak to her.
19:32Hello, there's a piece of head from Derbyshire Police.
19:35She's fine.
19:36She's absolutely...
19:37There's no issues whatsoever, we don't believe.
19:39She's got a few grazers to her hand.
19:41It's a good job.
19:42I think she was wearing a seatbelt,
19:43and she's got a bit of a ringing in her ears,
19:44like you'd imagine from being in the collision.
19:47Are you obviously aware that she shouldn't be driving?
19:50She's not got a licence.
19:52She's not passed the test.
19:53And they ask a Tango 4-3, if you can just let the highways know.
20:02I don't know if it'll be their responsibility, but there's a brick wall,
20:06which has been partially demolished.
20:08I think we'll need looking at her.
20:11She says she's come around the corner at a normal speed.
20:14She's obviously lost control.
20:15Hit this wall.
20:16And thankfully, thankfully, it's bounced her off, back into the carriageway.
20:22Because if you look over the drop over this wall, it's easily 25-foot drop.
20:27So she's a very, very lucky girl.
20:31Hopefully there's going to be some life lessons learnt,
20:33especially considering she shouldn't even be driving in the first place.
20:37If you went over there, it would most likely have been a fatality.
20:41Look how close it was.
20:42Yeah.
20:43Your bumper was literally resting on that piece of log down there.
20:49Right.
20:50You just come with me and we'll take a seat in the back of my car.
20:53So you're going to be reported for the consideration,
20:56prosecuting you for the offences of driving without a licence and driving without a chance, okay?
21:00You'd be looking at at least two.
21:19I say this a lot, but I don't often deal with criminals.
21:22But I do deal with people who make silly life choices.
21:26Are you aware it's a silly thing you've done and obviously how lucky you are?
21:31I am.
21:33Just learn from this.
21:35Yeah.
21:36Okay?
21:39I'd say if she would have just been a little bit faster,
21:42the momentum would have taken her and carried her through that wall.
21:46I hope she understands what a close call she got,
21:49because you don't get any closer than that.
21:51I don't think there's much more I can do, to be honest with you.
21:58I think...
22:00I'm about done.
22:05Right.
22:07Let's go.
22:09With the crash scene cleared, Alex takes the young driver home.
22:13Coming up...
22:20I came in a hole.
22:21Yeah.
22:22And got caught out.
22:24Another narrow escape.
22:26I was driving down here and they pulled out and went straight into the side of it.
22:30And some shocking footage...
22:33The average speed is 61 miles an hour in a 30 mile an hour limit.
22:38Provides some answers in the fatal collision.
22:40It is like to go to prison for a quarter while.
22:52The day after a fatal crash involving a motorcyclist and an elderly pedestrian.
22:57Sergeant Scott Riley is leading the investigation.
23:07This is just the most horrendous set of circumstances.
23:11You've got an elderly gentleman in his 90s that's gone out to the local shop and that could have been me,
23:18could have been anyone of my family, my friends, and it's just really upsetting.
23:25Because you never know when your time's up.
23:29You can see this is the vehicle.
23:31It's going to be turning right in a second.
23:34Alex Head is reviewing some of the footage from the scene.
23:38Just pause it here.
23:39You can see the indicator for the Jaguar.
23:43That's highlighted.
23:45Wheels are starting to turn.
23:46We've got brake lights from the vehicle behind.
23:49You can also hear the high-pitched hum of the motorbike coming in.
23:55Which will be coming in from the right of the picture.
23:58Again, we've got brake lights from all these vehicles.
24:03So these vehicles are slowing down.
24:05And that one was stationary just before it started to turn.
24:08That's now started to turn.
24:11And this biker has now come down.
24:13He's travelling far too fast for the conditions.
24:17He's overtaking stationary traffic and not anticipating and not looking further enough ahead of him to see why these vehicles are slowing.
24:24Hasn't got time to brake.
24:25Hasn't got time to slow down to avoid it.
24:26So the only course you can do is to take avoiding action.
24:31But it's not enough.
24:33And he's actually clipped the front end of this Jaguar.
24:35So him and his bike are now sliding towards this pedestrian.
24:38They both slide down the road.
24:40And he takes the legs from under the member public.
24:45The force is so fast though that he's taking his legs from under him.
24:48And he's landed on the back of his head.
24:50And then we can just see that the motorbike has left picture.
24:54And this is very much how we find the scene.
24:58Chris Wells-Jackson reviews CCTV from a business opposite.
25:02It quite clearly shows the motorbike striking the pedestrian.
25:08And at the moment of impact it swivels towards the mirror that's on the wall.
25:16And that mirror for a couple of seconds just captures the impact.
25:22The motorbike has literally swept the pedestrian off the feet.
25:28And it's caused such an impact with that pedestrian into the pavement that it's broke his neck and caused some really severe head trauma.
25:35Which has ultimately led to his death unfortunately.
25:40He's 92 years old.
25:41The chap that's died.
25:43And he wouldn't have even seen or heard it coming.
25:46And in 10 years of policing, I've seen a hell of a lot of CCTV of incidents, of assaults, of collisions.
25:52And there's not many that send a shiver down my spine as to when I see the pedestrian get hit by that bike.
26:01So I've spoken to collision investigators who interviewed the suspect last night.
26:06He's been bailed with conditions not to ride or drive or be in any motor vehicle so we can safeguard the public.
26:15And he's been bailed for quite a short time span, just of three weeks.
26:19So that we can do that initial investigation into the mechanics of the bike.
26:23To see if that's in order or if there are any mechanical defects.
26:27Is there any truth in what he's saying?
26:29Do the brakes work or don't they work?
26:31I understand there's no insurance on the bike.
26:33We can't find any record as a police force that he's got a CBT.
26:38Which is a test certificate which he needs to ride a motorbike.
26:42So we'll be applying to the DVLA to see if that has or hasn't been taken.
26:47And we'll also be looking at any previous incidents of him riding to give us a pattern of behaviour prior to this collision.
26:54And it's going into that detail which will take us from a due care and attention to a definite death by dangerous driving.
27:04But it is the right thing to do that the person responsible is dealt with robustly and correctly.
27:08Helping Scott with the case is forensic collision investigator Lee Simpson.
27:16Part of my role is to analyse evidence.
27:22That's evidence at the scene, that's evidence from mechanical examinations and any other evidence that we've come to.
27:28Part of that evidence trail has been to collate CCTV footage.
27:32Lee's been examining further evidence of the motorcyclist prior to the collision.
27:38This one I'm about to show you, it comes from a public house which is three miles from the scene.
27:44So the riders seen here, using various software, I'm able to determine that his speed as he went through this area was 57 miles an hour.
27:53Which is in a, this is in a 30 mile an hour limit.
27:57It then progresses from this.
28:00This set of footage is approximately one and a half miles prior to the scene.
28:04And it's travelled over these marks, which I've used for analysis.
28:08I determined his average speed over these marks to be 54 miles an hour.
28:14The next footage that I analysed is from a premises, which is approximately 150 metres prior to the scene.
28:21And again using the same principles as previously.
28:26His average speed through this particular place was 61 miles an hour in a 30 mile an hour limit.
28:33He then continues, this is a built up area, hazards everywhere, pedestrians, members of public, cars.
28:41Then he's approaching a queue of slow moving cars, which at this point he would have a view of.
28:49At this point, his brake lights are just illuminated.
28:53So he's seen the Jaguar, trying to react to it, but can't.
29:00And then collided with the Jaguar.
29:01This is the prime CCTV footage that I've analysed.
29:08This is the scene of the collision here.
29:11The bike at this point has lost speed because we know he's on the brakes.
29:15And this area of analysis here is doing 52 miles an hour.
29:18The motorcycle hits the front offside of a Jaguar.
29:23He's become detached from his machine.
29:25The machine is slithing down the road surface and the rider himself has struck the pedestrian.
29:30As the pedestrian is walking with his back to us.
29:33I understand he's undocumented.
29:35So he's got no licence.
29:36He has no insurance.
29:38Shouldn't have been on it.
29:39Claims it had a mechanical defect.
29:40Yet, for reasons best known to him, he's chosen to ride at speeds well above a speed limit.
29:46And I know if my brakes were defective on a vehicle,
29:49A, I wouldn't be driving it or riding it.
29:51And B, I certainly wouldn't be doing twice the speed limit.
29:54So, who knows what his thought pattern was, why he would choose to put himself at risk like that.
29:59He's not only risking other people, he's risking his own neck.
30:02But nevertheless, he's done that.
30:04And he's going to have to explain that in court.
30:06As a young lad, done something very stupid, he's likely to go to prison for quite a while.
30:14And it's such a shame because it was wholly avoidable.
30:18And it's ruined his life.
30:20Killed somebody else.
30:22Crazy.
30:23With over a thousand collisions occurring across Derbyshire every year.
30:39N8, Tango 4.3.
30:40Claps perceived, thank you.
30:42Officers like Alex Head are the first to decide if a prosecution is necessary.
30:47necessary. There's a two car RTC. One car apparently on its side with leaking fluid. Not sure whether
30:58there's anybody trapped but it should be there. Probably there by now.
31:10As Alex reaches the scene, fire crews have freed an elderly couple and a male in his
31:15twenties from the cars. The crash, it looks like carnage. You know, there's a car on its side
31:22and alarm bells are ringing and everyone's thinking the worst.
31:34Hello there, you all right? Were you in one of these vehicles? You were in the red one.
31:40Who's in the white one?
31:42The blue top, the high vis in his chest.
31:46Right, it's okay. All right then, lovely stuff.
31:49What?
31:50Yes.
31:51Oh, er, were you in the east white vehicle?
31:54Yeah.
31:55Right, okay.
31:56The 87 year old man was driving the red vehicle.
32:00So, we've got these two guys that are from the red car and then yourself, the driver
32:05of that one.
32:05Yeah.
32:06Lovely, thank you very much.
32:07Yeah.
32:08So, what's been happening?
32:10Well, I was driving down here and they pulled out and went straight to the side of me and
32:15then I'm on the side.
32:17Okay.
32:18Any injuries for yourself?
32:20Er, I think just my elbow.
32:22Just your elbow.
32:23It was a bit funny, but...
32:24Okay.
32:25You're moving it at the minute?
32:26Yeah.
32:27Okay.
32:28As first on scene, Scott's been gathering statements.
32:32So, what an initial witness has told me is that the driver of the red car, with his
32:37passions there, come out of the junction, hit the young lad who's in the uniform, he's
32:43a single occupant, so we've literally got an elderly male that's pulled out.
32:48Nobody's mentioned any intimation of alcohol or anything like that.
32:53I'll get recovery ordered.
32:55Yes.
32:56I think it's just one of those.
32:57Looks a lot worse than it is.
32:58Yeah.
32:59I'm not going to...
33:00Fire officers are doing a great job of looking after him.
33:02I'm not going to interrupt why.
33:03No.
33:04There's an ambulance coming for him, so we'll just get his details once all is sorted.
33:07Yeah.
33:08It's obviously his fault, isn't it?
33:10I think it was quite a slow speed impact, because both vehicles have pretty much remained
33:14in situ from this junction.
33:16I've been to numerous jobs since joining traffic involving old people, and you've got to have
33:25an honest and frank conversation with them about their ability to drive.
33:30You're going to have that subtle conversation.
33:32Yes.
33:33I don't know if now's the time.
33:34No.
33:35But I'll certainly...
33:36I might pop back either tomorrow, because it needs to be had.
33:41It doesn't really get much open and wider than this junction.
33:45No.
33:46No.
33:47I don't know.
33:48Drive me the red vehicle.
33:50Hello.
33:52My name is Alex, okay?
33:54I'm a police officer.
33:56I just wanted to find out a bit about what's happened.
33:59Can you remember?
34:00I am a total idiot.
34:02It's as simple as that.
34:04Okay.
34:05The red car is mine.
34:06Yep.
34:07It's leaving.
34:08Yep.
34:09I'll be waiting here, and there's got a lot of traffic going backwards and forwards.
34:16Watching there, a big long clear bit here, watching for a gap that way, saw a gap, hadn't
34:27looked that way, nothing.
34:30Okay.
34:31So, as I came in a hurry, and got caught out, I did.
34:39Alright.
34:40I feel scared.
34:42Okay.
34:43Well, it is just a chunk of metal.
34:47It's just a chunk of metal, and no one's been seriously injured.
34:50Okay.
34:51So, don't worry about it too much.
34:54Alright.
34:55So, two-car RTC, slow speed crash.
34:59The driver of the red Toyota, he's pulling out of this junction.
35:03He's probably under a bit of pressure to pull out, because it was quite a busy road.
35:07So, he's pulled out, he's collided with the VW up.
35:10He says he's not been able to see it, so what we'll be doing now is inform the GVLA he's
35:14had an accident, and then they'll get in touch with him and potentially want to put him through
35:17a test again, just to make sure he's fit and healthy and able to drive on the roads.
35:23Coming up.
35:28Can't just give him a free pass, because he's an elderly gentleman.
35:32Tough conversations.
35:34Hi.
35:35How are we doing?
35:36Are you okay?
35:38And the investigation into the fatal motorbike collision concludes.
35:42He could have had a collision anywhere on this road, had he not collided there.
35:47A few weeks after an elderly driver crashed into another car, as he pulled out of a T-junction.
36:06Alex Head is tasked with asking the man to voluntarily surrender his licence.
36:13He's 87.
36:15At the end of the day, I think it comes to us all.
36:17Your reaction's slow, your visibility changes, your ability to assess risk and danger changes.
36:25I've got a form for him to fill in if he wants, if he feels that appropriate.
36:29If he's still adamant he wants to be driving, then we'll look to prosecute him for driving without
36:34due care and attention.
36:35We can't just give him a free pass, because he's an elderly gentleman.
36:43Some people take it on board, others defend it and fight it, and will not listen to you.
36:50Which is extremely frustrating.
36:55How are we doing? Are you okay? Very good, very good.
37:04Failing to look properly contributes to over 40% of collisions involving drivers over the age of 70.
37:11All right then, take care. Bye-bye.
37:14Unfortunately, there's a lot of elderly drivers who just shouldn't be driving.
37:18That's the simple fact of it.
37:20It's a sad fact, but there's a time and there's a place for people to stop driving, and a lot of people don't know when that is.
37:29It's their last aspect of freedom just to jump in your car and go whenever and wherever you want.
37:35So people are very reluctant to give up the licenses.
37:38He still is adamant that he can drive that vehicle safely.
37:44And he's obviously still a very intelligent man who's got more about it than some of the 20 year olds that I end up dealing with.
37:53However, in his own admission, I don't think his body is running at quite the same speed as his brain.
38:01And I think this is where it starts becoming a bit dangerous, because he still thinks he's able to drive, and I don't think his body is in that position.
38:10I'd question his ability should a child jump out in the middle of the road, and his reactions to be able to stop and do an emergency stop in time would be my main concern.
38:22So he's going to be reported for driving without due care and attention.
38:27We're going to be submitting a form to the DVLA for them to assess his eyesight and his medical records and see if there's anything on there which is ringing alarm bells.
38:37And he'll have to just live with some points on his license, and hopefully he'll take on board with some of the things I've said.
38:52Six weeks after a fatal collision involving a motorcyclist and a 92-year-old pedestrian, crash investigator Lee Simpson and vehicle examiner Rob Finch are investigating the rider's claim that his brakes were faulty.
39:11The rider didn't engage emergency braking. He left no locked tyre marks. Now that could be because his brakes were defective, or, which is more likely, is that his speed was such that he left himself insufficient distance and time to be able to engage emergency braking.
39:28So what Rob will do, Rob will check it now physically to make sure there are no leaks, nothing immediately apparent to suggest why the brakes wouldn't work.
39:35I can see that the front brake, all its components, the caliper, the brake pipe, there's no leaks, and the fluid level is satisfactory.
39:44Right, moving on to the rear brake, I can see there's no leaks, there's no hydraulic leaks whatsoever on the rear brake, and there's plenty of fluid within there.
39:55If the fluid drains out and then you get air in there, then it will not operate the caliper.
40:00I'll try the pedal travel. The fluid level is okay, the pipes, there's no leaks, the caliper's all dry.
40:09So this brake should operate. Pressing the pedal, the rear wheel is braking, as you can see.
40:22And the pedal travel is satisfactory. That's operating.
40:27So, his claim that he had no braking is false, and we've now proven that they were operative.
40:39With the case against the rider nearing its conclusion, Lee revisits the scene.
40:44I ride it as a young lad, for reasons best known to himself, has chosen to ride.
40:51At ridiculous speeds, he chose to exceed the speed limit grossly.
40:57I presented with a situation in front of him that he couldn't, or he had insufficient distance and time, to be able to react appropriately.
41:06We're now approaching the collision site. It's a 30 mile an hour limit.
41:13As you can see, we've got pedestrian crossings, junctions everywhere, residential premises, commercial premises, hazards everywhere.
41:21Nothing supports, ever. We would want to ride down here at 60 mile an hour plus.
41:26It's 30 mile an hour for a reason, to keep you safe.
41:30The collision site's coming up. We've got another pedestrian crossing, which continues at 61 mile an hour.
41:36So our rider, always his opportunity to brake and stop accordingly.
41:41The junction to our near side, garages, commercial premises on the off side, a pub, hazards galore.
41:48We're at the collision point now. Our rider was doing 52 miles an hour at this point.
41:53We can see it's a busy residential area.
41:58There's all sorts of other vulnerable road users, not to mention vehicles.
42:03He could have had a collision anywhere on this road, had he not collided there.
42:07And if it had continued riding at that speed in the manner that he chose,
42:11it's just a question of time for it as a collision.
42:14He should only ride such that he can stop at the distance he can see to be clear.
42:19He clearly couldn't do that.
42:21His speed has ultimately given him insufficient time and distance to react accordingly.
42:28And that's why he's collided.
42:30On average, five people are killed on the UK's roads every day.
42:45When you first come to your first fatal, it's one of those jobs, those incidents that you always remember in your policing career.
42:52But your training just sort of takes over.
42:56The thing I find difficult about dealing with fatal incidents is not necessarily the things that I'm faced with at the scene,
43:03but it's that emotional connection there, that somebody's loved one.
43:09And even if you do a really good investigation and somebody is found responsible,
43:16it's still not going to bring that person back.
43:18And it's still not going to change the upset and trauma that that family is going to go through.
43:24And it's that that I find really difficult to process.
43:31The young motorcycle rider involved in the fatal collision that killed a 92-year-old man pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and riding whilst uninsured and unlicensed.
43:50He was sentenced to six years in prison and an eight-year driving ban.
43:57I genuinely could not tell you how that happened.
44:03The 17-year-old girl who collided with a wall, flipping her car upside down,
44:07was charged with driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and driving without insurance.
44:14She received six points on her licence and a £300 fine.
44:20I didn't look that way. Nothing.
44:23And the 87-year-old man who pulled out of a T-junction and hit a young man's car, knocking it onto its side,
44:30refused Alex's advice to voluntarily surrender his licence
44:34and was referred to a driving awareness programme for driving without due care and attention.
44:39I'll see you next time.
45:07You