Re: UK Train Crash Manslaughter Case fails

["Michael Walker" <walker@hotkey.net.au>]

>In September 1997 a high speed train operated by Great Western Trains
>crashed, killing 7 passengers and causing 10 million pounds damage.  The
>London Daily Telegraph reports that Great Western Trains and the driver
were
>both charged with seven counts of manslaughter, but the case failed, the
>Judge criticising MPs for inadequacies in the law which made prosecution
>impossible.  The train was faulty as the AWC equipment was switched out,
and
>no second person was employed to compensate for the failure of this safety
>device.  The driver was not paying sufficient attention as he was packing
>his bag when the train ran a red signal.
>
>Interesting, I wonder if the situation in the law would protect our
>passengers against the negligence of a driver and/or operator if a similar
>scenario developed in Australia.  With our multiplicity of state laws and
>privatisation of our railways proceeding rapidly, have our pollies given
the
>matter a second thought?
>
The articles on this accident found at http://danger-ahead.railfan.net are
quite interesting. In actuality, a deal was done whereby 7 of the charges
against the operator had no evidence tendered by the prosecution in return
for a guilty plea for the 8th charge which potentially has an unlimited
fine. Charges 9-15 against the driver were given the same treatment with no
evidence tendered with the 16th 'recorded' I think the term was which
effectively means nothing will be done now but if further evidence arises,
the charge can be reopened. Also, the driver was dismissed and is now
unemployed 'and unemployable'. After further negotiation, the last charge on
the driver was also dropped due to the logic that he had been forced to
drive a defective train and his life had already been ruined and it was best
to let him get on with life and not be put through at least about 6 weeks of
more stress for no good reason.

Given that Australia's privatisation regime is similar to Britain's, what
provisions have been made for dealing with accidents and who is responsible?
Up to now, the government has been responsible and has been able to set its
own enquiries on itself (given all the complaints about companies regulating
themselves, I think most people have forgotten the government has done the
same thing for itself pretty much since settlement!), who does it now? Or
can we expect something similar to the Victorian situation and should we
start preparing for a railway 'Longford type' incident?

Also is it my imagination, or are there more major accidents in Britain
following privatisation?