A sad documentary I just heard. One realizes the Importance of driving carefully and how its not just your own rights but rights of others which obligate you to drive safely.
Anatomy of a car crash
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:14 AM on 25th October 2008
A driver fights for survival, his brother lies dead, and the life of the woman who caused the smash is in ruins... the victims of a car crash tell their own stories
Lives can be changed in a split second: more than 30,000 people are killed or seriously injured on the roads each year, yet most incidents merit barely more than a few column inches in the local newspaper.
In Anatomy Of A Car Crash, Radio 4 attempts to trace the chain reaction of one fatal collision, which received barely any coverage yet has left many scars.
On a warm June evening last year, near Truro in Cornwall, 22-year-old nursery nurse Holly Hambly made a fatal error when she tried to overtake a slow-moving crane on a single carriageway. But, instead of pulling back into her lane when it became clear she would not pass the vehicle in time, Hambly kept going and smashed into the side of an oncoming car, The fallout was fatal and devastating.
The collision with retired policeman Dave Braddon led to him suffering serious injuries and the death of his brother, Michael, while Holly lost her job and suffered a breakdown as she awaited charges of causing death by dangerous driving. Here, those involved, from the victims to the paramedic, relive the events of that night.
Victim: Dave Braddon
THE VICTIM
Dave Braddon is a 55-year-old retired police officer from Cornwall
With 35 years in the police service, I'd dealt with thousands of road traffic accidents over the years, but I had no idea what it was like to actually be involved in one, or of the trauma it causes.
Of course, you don't see it coming. 18 June 2007, was a glorious, sunny day. I'd been retired for five weeks, my two daughters had left home, and my wife, Chris, and I were looking forward to an enjoyable life.
My brother, Michael, a hospital worker, had come over for the day, as we were all going to a neighbouring village for a feast day celebration. Chris was sitting next to me, in the front passenger seat, and Michael was behind her. We were travelling west on the A30 and had arrived at the brow of a hill when I saw the other car coming towards me.
I remember braking, then Chris saying to me, 'The car's on fire.' I opened the door and stumbled out, then fell to the floor. Blood was pouring down my face. Then I must have passed out. The next thing I remember is hearing a voice. Despite everything, I realised it was someone I knew.
It was the paramedic, Mark, who happened to be a friend; I'd worked with him on road accidents. It was a very strange quirk that he turned up at mine. Soon after that I must have slipped into unconsciousness because I have no other memories.
In hospital, six days after being admitted, I had an operation, intricate brain surgery, which lasted ten and a half hours. I had a craniotomy: my scalp was peeled back and titanium plates were fixed to my skull. They also rebuilt my eye socket out of titanium too. Sixty-three pieces of glass were extracted from my body.
I remember Chris telling me that Michael was dead before I had the operation. I felt numb - Michael didn't have a bad bone in his body. I was in hospital for five weeks, and bedridden for three months. At Michael's funeral I had to use walking sticks as I could hardly stand.
It was tough, but I didn't have a problem with going to court and seeing the driver who caused the accident. As far as I was concerned, she was facing up to her responsibilities, but I could see no point in giving her a prison sentence. She didn't set out that evening to cause mayhem.
We had a daughter the same age and we knew how heartbroken we would have been if the situation was in reverse. It would have served no useful point in inflicting that same injury on that person and their family.
At the same time, the consequences have been farreaching. Sixteen months later, people say, 'You're getting over it now', but you live with the trauma for the rest of your life.
Victim's wife: Christine Braddon
THE VICTIM'S WIFE
Christine Braddon married Dave in 1982
I remember it was a lovely evening and we were in no particular hurry. And I also remember seeing the car coming straight at us on the wrong side of the road. Dave braked and, just for a moment, I thought we'd made it. But we weren't that lucky. We were hit, and spun, and hit again and spun again.
The bonnet was up in the air, the horn was going off and there was smoke filling Dave's side of the car. I looked at Dave and all I could see was blood. He was saying, 'I think I've gone blind, I have to get out.' He got out of the car and lay on the verge. I laid down beside him and held his hand - he was pretty mangled.
By this time, I realised that Michael was in a bad state too. Someone was giving him the kiss of life. Even though he was seriously injured, he started making sounds - he was trying to talk - and I remember the man who was giving him cardiac resuscitation saying, 'Thank God, he's back with us.' But then we lost him again.
At the hospital, the doctors told me Dave needed brain surgery, but they didn't know how he was going to react. They said they might have to remove his eye, but, even if they could save it, he could well be blind.
They monitored him for six days, keeping him stable, before they could operate. Before he went into theatre, I wheeled Dave into a private room so that I could tell him that Michael was dead. He was so heavily sedated I don't think he took it all in, and he didn't know that I'd suffered broken ribs and very severe bruising.
Michael didn't live in Cornwall - although he had been talking about coming back - so, at his funeral, we draped a Cornish flag over his coffin. We think about him every day and miss him terribly, but we are starting to move forward. I'm just so glad we're still around. Things could have been so different that night.
The guilty driver: Holly Hambly
THE GUILTY DRIVER
Holly Hambly is a 23-year-old nursery nurse who lives outside Truro with her parents
It was just a normal day. I was just driving home from work and there was a slow-moving vehicle in front of me. I peered into the distance and it looked like nothing was coming the other way, so I decided to overtake.
I realised very quickly that I was in trouble. All I could think was, 'What to do now?' I was either going to have to drive into the lorry that was in front of me, or the car that was coming in the opposite direction, or onto the verge. My car juddered and came to a halt.
I remember getting out of my car, turning round and seeing the devastation in front of me. All I could say was, 'What have I done, what have I done?'
I was put in a police car with a constable. At one point he got out and when he got back in he said, 'I'm sorry to say Michael Braddon has passed away, and I'm arresting you on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.' I didn't know what to say, or do, or think.
I just sat there and tried to gather my thoughts. I couldn't believe that I'd caused an accident that had actually killed someone.
When I got to the police station I had my prints, DNA and photo taken, and then they put me in a cell on my own. I think I was there for about five hours, just hiding under a blanket. When they let me go home, I couldn't tell my parents that I'd been arrested, so the constable accompanying me had to.
My life stopped from then on. I wasn't allowed to return to work and all I could do was wait for the trial. Sometimes, I wouldn't even get out of bed, and I pretty much shut everybody out. I became very paranoid.
Somebody could say my name and I could turn it into something more: that they were talking about the accident, saying I was a horrible person and asking why I was the one who was still alive. If I could change that day, I would, with a click of my fingers.
In court I was so frightened. I remember standing in the dock and seeing the Braddons. That was hard, because I hadn't seen them since the accident. When I heard Mr Braddon's statement, in which he said that he saw no purpose in me going to prison, I remember thinking, 'How could he be that nice to me?' It's very hard to deal with. You expect someone in that position to be horrible, then you hear him making a statement like that - after all his family have been through.
I still thought I'd be sent to prison, so it was an enormous relief to be given a five-year driving ban, a £500 fine, a year's suspended sentence and 240 hours unpaid work.
I accept full responsibility for what happened - my decision that day caused the accident. Life is different for me now, because I'm always going to have the accident in my head. I've never spoken to the Braddons, but I'm sorry every day that they've lost a brother, and I'm so grateful for the forgiveness they've shown me,
because they've allowed my family to move on. Getting back into childcare will probably be my next step, once I've done my probation work, and if people are willing to give me a job now that I have a criminal record.
THE DRIVER'S MUM
Nikki Hambly is Holly's mother. She is a cleaner and lives just outside Truro
When Holly rang to tell me she'd been in an accident, my first question was, 'Are you all right?' Then I asked about everyone else. She said, 'Not so good, Mum.' That's when our little world fell apart.
Back home, she was okay for a while, but then, one night, she came home after being out with friends and had a massive breakdown, sobbing and crying. She was frightened, saying, 'I don't want to go to prison', and I was thinking, 'I can't promise you that.' By the November she had a complete breakdown. It was terrible.
To this day, I think a lot about the other family, about how they're coping and how sorry we are that they lost a brother. I wish I could change it: if only she'd been ten minutes earlier or later. But the bottom line for me was, I had to look after my daughter. It never occurred to me that we'd ever have to go through anything like this, but it could have happened to anybody. It's probably happening today to somebody.
The paramedic: Mark Fuszard
THE PARAMEDIC
Mark Fuszard is based in Newquay
As we approached the scene, I saw one particular vehicle, which was the centre of attention, and I could see that someone was receiving CPR. It was obvious that this patient wasn't breathing and was in cardiac arrest - in other words, we needed to get him into a resuscitation room as fast as we could.
Just before we left the scene to go to hospital, I quickly went round to the driver of the vehicle and asked the paramedic who was dealing with him what this patient's condition was. Then a voice said, 'Is that you Mark?' and I realised it was Dave. I was stunned - as a paramedic you have to take yourself outside the emotion of the situation, but knowing one of the victims made it become very real. I still had to be professional, though, and get on with the job.
We were working on Michael the whole time we were in the ambulance, then we wheeled him into the hospital where the doctors and nurses took over.
They worked on him for about ten minutes before they realised there was nothing more they could do. As I walked out, Dave was being wheeled in by another paramedics. I couldn't make eye contact; I had to look away. I didn't want to be the one to tell him that his brother was dead. I just couldn't have done that.
THE INVESTIGATING OFFICER
Nick Hamblin is senior investigating officer in one of Cornwall's roads policing unit
Because the offence was a very serious crime, the investigation needed to be very thorough to produce the evidence to support the charge. It lasted for five months, with my team systematically going over everything that had happened that evening, looking at positions of vehicles, taking statements, examining the evidence.
I think the outcome was fair for everyone. You had a young woman who hadn't set out to kill anybody, but, by the same token, Michael Braddon didn't expect to die that day. Holly made a grave error and got it horribly wrong, but she will live with that for the rest of her life.
Anatomy Of A Car Crash is on Thursday on BBC Radio 4 at 8pm.
Listen here:http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/
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