I'm not to Blame

spen666

I'm not to blame
Feb 15 2008 by Sophie Doughty, Evening Chronicle

WITH her silver hair and benign smile, she doesn’t look like a motor menace.

But choir singing spinster Constancia Glavina has just been banned from the road for jumping a red light and hitting a girl of four on a pedestrian crossing.

Michelle Grey had always told daughter Emma it was safe to cross the road when the green man was lit-up.

But the youngster was knocked off her feet when 80-year-old Glavina went through the red light and collided with her as she drove to St Mary’s Roman RC Cathedral, in Newcastle, for choir practice.

Emma was left with cuts and bruises, and a permanent scar close to her eye.

And while Michelle, 29, from Scotswood, is just thankful her daughter was not seriously injured she said the youngster has been left frightened.

But instead of stopping to help her young victim, Glavina got out her car to berate Michelle for not keeping her child under control, before driving off without leaving her details.

Today, as she begins a driving ban, after pleading guilty to careless driving, Michelle has spoken of her shock.

“I just couldn’t stop shaking and Emma was screaming and crying,” she said. “At the time I was too shocked to be angry. But I’m glad she has been banned from driving.”

Emma was hit as she used a pelican crossing with her mum, on St James’s Boulevard, in Newcastle city centre, in November, the city’s Magistrates’ Court heard.

Fiona Varley, prosecuting, said: “Michelle Grey was in Newcastle with her four-year-old daughter and at about 5.45pm they approached a pedestrian crossing and Miss Grey pressed the button. When the green man came on they crossed the road, then a car came across the crossing and hit the child.

“As a result, the child fell on to the floor. The driver got out of the car and said: ‘Sorry, but you should have had a hold of your child’s hand’.”

A driver who had been travelling behind Glavina and stopped at the red light took a note of the pensioner’s registration and passed it on to police.

Emma suffered bruises to her back in the fall and was bleeding from her left eye. She was taken to Newcastle General Hospital for treatment.

Tim Gregory, defending, said Glavina, of Milvain Close, Deckham, Gateshead, who suffers from arthritis and osteoporosis needed her car to get about.

He said his client did not see the red light because she had been distracted by Emma, who Glavina said was misbehaving and jumping at the side of the road.

“This lady was driving very slowly her attention was distracted by a young girl on the side of the pavement waving her arms around, which to her mind was not being properly supervised by her mother,” he said. “She accepts driving without due care and attention but that was caused by the behaviour of the young girl.

“I have no doubt that she is of robust and sound mind. Anybody of any age can be distracted by that movement. She was very shaken by this herself.”

For the offence of careless driving Glavina, who told the court she could not remember how many points were on her licence, was fined £100 and disqualified from driving, for an unspecified period. She will not be allowed back until she has passed an extended driving test.

Afterwards, Glavina was unrepentant, and said: “I was distracted by the child because I wondered why she wasn’t being supervised by her mother. I didn’t see the red light.

“I was going to choir practice when I saw her waving about at the side of the road and not paying attention, which her mother should have been doing.

“There was nothing I could do. It all happened so quickly. I realised I was on the crossing but it was too late.”

But Michelle insisted her daughter had not been misbehaving.

“We were at the crossing and the green man came on. I said Emma could cross the road because the green man was on. I wasn’t holding her hand because I had my hands full of bags. You always teach your children that it is safe to cross when the green man in on. You just don’t think anybody is going to keep driving.”

And Emma’s grandmother, Jennifer, 48, added: “Even if Emma had been jumping around, kids do jump around, but she should have been concentrating.”

Source

The victim clearly got in the car and drove it carelessly forcing this blameless motorist to have an accident.

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

Hopefully she will never regain her licence.
Also a fortunate wake up call for the mother to teach her daughter how to cross the road safely.

spen666

MattBlackBigBoysBMX wrote:

Hopefully she will never regain her licence.
Also a fortunate wake up call for the mother to teach her daughter how to cross the road safely.

At a pelican crossing perhaps?
when the green man is showing perhaps?

meagain

An "...80-year-old.... who suffers from arthritis and osteoporosis...." simply should NOT be driving. Full stop. That's it. Enough said. Even if they do have silver hair, a benign smile AND sing a choir.

graeme_s-2

I can't believe that she drove off without leaving her details, leaving a bleeding child lying in the road. Under those circumstances you worry about whose fault it was later and make sure the child's ok - offer to drive the mother and child to hospital, or wait around with them until an ambulance turns up.

breszh

I remember being told when I first started driving that whatever you do, never admit liability in the event of an accident, even if its your fault.

I often wonder if every other motorist gets told this by someone and in the end rather than not admitting liabilty or fault, they really do believe they can do no wrong and that any damage caused by their driving really is someone elses fault.

Anyhow, this woman really needs to take a step back and look at her driving, re-read the highway code, retake the test just to be sure she understands reality and not the current twisted view she has of it.

When I walk to school with my daughter, we pass a large junction with crossings, we always play the red light game, see how many vehicles or bikes run red lights. As part of it I keep her looking when the green man is on, just in case, seems to be teaching her a good awareness of the reality of the road i.e. that although there are rules they are constantly broken.

Parkey

Ahh. Outward blame transference. An important skill for modern society.

nwallace

Just because the Green man is steady doesn't mean it is safe to cross,because arseholes ignore red lights, operate un-roadworthy machinery and have brake failures, misjudge things etc etc.

For that the mothers advice was wrong.

Stop
Look
Listen
Think

Applies when crossing the road, regardless of whether the man is at green or not.


Where is that annoying red squirrel when you need him.

I think what has already been said about the driver covers what I would say too.

Random Vince

i've yet to be injured on a crossing


yesterday in london a cyclist was trying to slowly ride across a crossing while the green man was on, a business man kept telling him to wait.

was quite amusing.

back to the point i was gonna make,

when i was younger my mum would let me press the button, we'd wait for the green man, then look and make sure cars had stopped, then cross

my gran always used to reach out and grab my arm just before crossing,
she stopped doing it when i was 17!!!

my gran stopped driving only because the throttle stuck in her car as she was backing off the drive, causing her to crash.

due to this she and my granddad are housebound, she is fit to drive, she just daredn't get behind the wheel again

to some people it's a life line being able to drive

but they should be assessed every couple of years to ensure they are safe when driving

despite my gran's arthritus and her accident and not driven for a few years, i'd rather her driving than the local chav's

briank

An "...80-year-old.... who suffers from arthritis and osteoporosis...." simply should NOT be driving. Full stop.

Oh yeah? Funny this: up till here I was completely against this stupid driver: If she really noticed a young child out of control beside a Pelican crossing she should have slowed down so much she was almost stopped anyway! Then we get the remark quoted above. What the hell's osteoporosis got to do woth fitness to drive? As to arthritis, if her range of movement is restricted by pain or adhesions to the point she can't operate the machinery, then fair enough - get her off the road. But if it just makes her more aware of her limitations so she drives more slowly and carefully then - so long as she doesn't reduce busy traffic flows too much - where's the problem?

top_bhoy

Graeme_S wrote:

I can't believe that she drove off without leaving her details, leaving a bleeding child lying in the road. Under those circumstances you worry about whose fault it was later and make sure the child's ok - offer to drive the mother and child to hospital, or wait around with them until an ambulance turns up.

Harsh as it may sound, as a punishment, I believe she should have been jailed/tagged (even for 1 week), not necessarily for the careless driving but for what happened afterwards. The driver has shown no remorse, tried to blame 4yo pedestrian behaviour at a pelican crossing and for the above reasons of conciously driving away and leaving no contact details, there has to be a more severe punishment than what was meted out. There are choices in life - she chose to drive off. Benign smiles won't help her victims.

She should be banned for life anyway from driving, not even given a scintilla of a chance to obtain her licence back!!

Crapaud

nwallace wrote:

Where is that annoying red squirrel when you need him.

This one?



We must be about the same age! "Look right, look left, look right again."

Afterwards, Glavina was unrepentant, and said: “I was distracted by the child because I wondered why she wasn’t being supervised by her mother. I didn’t see the red light.

So the old bat was watching the girl as she ran out in front of her? The red light is irrelevant here - she should have been preparing to stop anyway.

Going slightly off topic again...

“As a result, the child fell on to the floor. The driver got out of the car and said: ‘Sorry, but you should have had a hold of your child’s hand’.”

Who's been laying carpets / lino / other flooring on the roads? Since when has any piece of ground been refered to as a floor? Have floors been renamed as well? I need to know.

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

spen666 wrote:

MattBlackBigBoysBMX wrote:

Hopefully she will never regain her licence.
Also a fortunate wake up call for the mother to teach her daughter how to cross the road safely.

At a pelican crossing perhaps?
when the green man is showing perhaps?

Or how about when a car isn't driving towards you?
Just because it was entirely the old bag's fault doesn't mean that it wasn't avoidable. :idea:

OffTheBackAdam

And the lesson here is, even if the green man's showing, it doesn't necessarily mean it's safe to cross.
Doubtless the old bag knows that God is on her side and will protect her.

nwallace

Crapaud

Yep that red squirrel, still going apparently
http://www.rospa.com/tufty/

Tourist Tony

Wasn't this what is normally called a hit and run?

andyfromletchworth

'i was distracted by the child'

So i decided to run the little f&cker over.

PRICELESS