Speaker recommdations

Hungryhalibut posted:

Very briefly, and thanks for asking, it's very thoughtful of you: damage to frontal lobe with impaired executive brain functions. Highly unlikely that I'll be able to return to work. Still waiting to hear about compensation. No income, so no upgrades for me!! Able to drive again, though it's really scary. Prefer the bus.

I hadn't seen any follow-up on your accident for a while, Nigel, so I was hoping that things were better for you. I am really sorry that you have been left with this injury. As a fellow cyclist I find it alarming out on the road that many car drivers are so careless of the consequences of their impatience. I hope you get adequate compensation from the insurance company. One day I hope to join you as an SL2 owner (in place of my current SBLs) but they are exceedingly rare!

Clive 

The guy who hit me was 89 and pretty well blind as a bat. He'd had diabetes for seven years and should have been told stop driving - but somehow feel through the net. So it wasn't carelessness or impatience in this case: he should not have been on the road at all, plain and simple. The thing that gets me is that there must be hundreds of older people trundling around putting other road users at risk, whether they be cyclists, pedestrians or indeed other car drivers. 

Sorry to the OP for this slight diversion.

Not a problem HH .. I'm glad your on a road to recovery 

Hungryhalibut posted:

The guy who hit me was 89 and pretty well blind as a bat. He'd had diabetes for seven years and should have been told stop driving - but somehow feel through the net. So it wasn't carelessness or impatience in this case: he should not have been on the road at all, plain and simple. The thing that gets me is that there must be hundreds of older people trundling around putting other road users at risk, whether they be cyclists, pedestrians or indeed other car drivers. 

Sorry to the OP for this slight diversion.

Nigel, couldn't agree more I was diagnosed with Diabetes six years ago and have developed associated eyesight problems despite over thirty lots of laser treatment and major surgery to my right eye my eyesight does not meet the required standard to drive.

Ironically it is up to the individual to report this to the DVLA and being a retired Transport Professional realising the implications of defective eyesight I did inform the DVLA of my problems they revoked my driving license, as you say there are thousands of people with various medical conditions that should not be driving.

Although retired I still am a member of The Institute Of Road Transport Engineers and get monthly updates likewise from VOSA.

VOSA are putting into place an electronic system whereby you will be able to notify them of medical problems  electronically it is hoping that this will extend to the medical profession at some time.

Trust you continue with your recovery.

On this diversion to the topic I would emphasise that is the duty of the driver to report their health issues to DVLA. Only in very extreme and exceptional circumstances can a doctor inform DVLA/Police against the patients wishes or without their knowledge. I did this once for a school bus driver who had a problem and was still driving but that example gives you an idea how high the hurdle has to be before professional confidence can be broken. Even then the fallout and challenge to what I did was considerable.

So blame the driver not his docs. He might have been advised to stop but he is responsible for taking that action, or not.

Hope you are doing OK

Bruce 

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

On this diversion to the topic I would emphasise that is the duty of the driver to report their health issues to DVLA. Only in very extreme and exceptional circumstances can a doctor inform DVLA/Police against the patients wishes or without their knowledge. I did this once for a school bus driver who had a problem and was still driving but that example gives you an idea how high the hurdle has to be before professional confidence can be broken. Even then the fallout and challenge to what I did was considerable.

So blame the driver not his docs. He might have been advised to stop but he is responsible for taking that action, or not.

Hope you are doing OK

Bruce 

 

There's truth in that Bruce, the story of the bin lorry driver in Glasgow at Christmas time  who lied to his doctors to enable him to keep his job with disastrous consequences..

Sorry Bruce, I wasn't entirely clear in the way I expressed it. In my view there should be compulsory testing of sight, reactions or whatever. The cost of this could be funded by the road tax or directly by drivers. A while ago the cost of a KSI (killed or seriously injured accident) was put at over £1m. In my case there were road closures, door to door police enquiries, occupational therapy, neuropsychology, ENT tests, physiotherapy, not to mention time in the ITU and in hospital generally. The cost to date would very likely pay for a Statement. Then there's loss of tax revenue, SSP, ESA..... Repurposing this money could pay for the compulsory testing if it was too unpalatable to make people pay themselves. But at the moment yes, it's down to individuals to do the right thing. Unfortunately, many don't. 

Again apologies to the OP but I would like to pass my best wishes to Nigel. As we have heard little recently about your accident I wrongly assumed things were improving slowly on the way back to work. I am very sorry to hear this is not so. I had to intervene with my mother and 'take her off the road'. Her eyesight was fine but she was just too frail and lacked the alertness to drive safely. Old age creeps up on us slowly but surely and there must be many on the roads who are unfit to drive. It is up to us all to take stock of our capabilities to drive at a certain point in our lives. I am sorry you came across a gentleman that had not been responsible enough to admit the inevitable to himself. Of course it is you and not him who has paid the cost which is simply unjust. Let's hope the insurance company recognises this and compensates you, impossible though it is to compensate for the loss of work and any ongoing resulting health issues.

All the very best from one Nigel to another.

Thanks Nigel, that's very thoughtful. I've  only mentioned anything here because someone asked, and of course one thing leads to another. I've just had to accept what it's done to my life and am focusing on what I can do rather than on what I can't. It could have been so much worse and I'm very fortunate compared to many others.

If you want to know what executive dysfunction actually is, here is a link to a summary: https://www.headway.org.uk/abo...ecutive-dysfunction/

It would be great if Richard would leave it in, at least for a while. 

And now I must apologise to the OP even more...

Honestly HH it's fine 

With a £2k budget, there are the usual suspects from Kudos, pmc, atc, spendor, ProAc and neat. The new kid on the block which is garnering high praise is the Totem Sky. Ignore at your peril.

Hoping some of the loss of function can come back Nigel. That's a very difficult and frustrating situation.

Best wishes,

Frank.

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

On this diversion to the topic I would emphasise that is the duty of the driver to report their health issues to DVLA. Only in very extreme and exceptional circumstances can a doctor inform DVLA/Police against the patients wishes or without their knowledge. I did this once for a school bus driver who had a problem and was still driving but that example gives you an idea how high the hurdle has to be before professional confidence can be broken. Even then the fallout and challenge to what I did was considerable.

So blame the driver not his docs. He might have been advised to stop but he is responsible for taking that action, or not.

Hope you are doing OK

Bruce 

 

Ah! so you haven't left the forum then!

You can tell that because he didn't finish mid sente