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Twenty one passengers have been seriously injured and two are in a critical condition after the train on which they were travelling collided with a sewage tanker at a railway crossing.

The accident happened at approximately 5.30pm on Tuesday, 17th August 2010, near the small village of Little Cornard, Sudbury in Suffolk when the two-carriage train hit a large sewage tanker lorry which was stationary on a ‘user-worked’ railway crossing.  A total of 21 people suffered injuries in the accident and two of these have been taken to Colchester General Hospital with serious injuries, one of which, a 58 year old man is in intensive care and it is not yet clear whether he will survive his injuries. The other 19 injured passengers suffered less serious injuries in the form of cuts, bruises, back and neck pain and broken ribs.

It is understood that the sewage tanker split open upon impact causing sewage to spill over a wide area and the train was then de-railed however, it did not tip over. Witnesses described how they heard a loud bang when the collision occurred and then saw a number of distressed passengers wandering around the area in a daze covered in blood. One witness, a 65 year old man said “There was a very, very loud bang. I’ve never heard anything like it. I thought it was an aeroplane crash or a bomb going off.”
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Motorcycles can be dangerous vehicles; without the added protection a car offers, coming off of a bike can lead to serious injuries. And unfortunately, the police are often powerless to pursue thieves if it is deemed that the rider could come to harm – even when the concern is for a thieving menace to society!

Now, I’m not having a dig at the police here. This story from the Daily Mail can be seen from both sides of the coin. According to the report, police were ordered not to pursue thieves making away with £20,000 worth of motorcycles because a chase would put the lives of the criminals in danger.

Police had to watch them ride in to the distance for fear of their safety, given that the thieves were not wearing helmets or protective gear. The officers involved were reportedly following protocol and procedure in not initiating a pursuit after the robbery at the Manchester Motorbike Store in Altrincham.
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Paria and Galia Najmi, twin sisters aged nine, were on holiday with their parents in Spain when the fatal accident happened. The Volvo that the family were travelling in overturned on the motorway as the family were travelling along the motorway in the South of Spain. According to local Police the twin girls had not been wearing their seatbelts. Sadly Paria died at the scene of the accident and Galia later lost her fight for life in hospital.

The twin’s parents were also injured in the accident which happened yesterday evening near the city, Zaragoza which is approximately 200 miles from Madrid.

The girl’s father, Homayoun Najmi, is in the intensive care unit.  He is believed to be unaware of the death of his two girls.

Farzaneh Heidari, the girl’s mother is in hospital being treated for shock and minor injuries. Relatives were at her bedside comforting her over her tragic loss.
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A cyclist has been accused of assault even though he claims the events of the incident are completely inaccurate. 39 – year – old Jared Kelly, a screenwriter, has been accused of assaulting a taxi driver in Oxford.

According to Mr Kelly, he was cycling west along Oxford Street on Tuesday 9^th March between four and five in the afternoon.  Mr Kelly reports that a taxi driver over took him and proceeded to cut up his path of travel when the taxi driver pulled over to pick passengers up, this resulted in Mr Kelly running into the back of the Taxi.
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I’m sure many of you reading this are aware of the Toyota troubles with several models of their vehicles being recalled over alleged safety concerns. For those of you who are not aware of this, Toyota has recalled millions of vehicles after concerns were raised over faulty floor mats, accelerator pedals sticking when depressed, and braking and steering faults. It’s a story that has worried many Toyota owners; but apparently not affected their sales too much from what I’ve heard in other recent press!

But returning to the story at hand, it would appear preliminary investigations have illustrated some unexpected results. According to sources from the BBC, the investigation suggests that the data recorders in 58 cars involved in such incidents indicate that the brakes were not applied in 35 cases. Essentially, it is being suggested that driver error may have contributed to the “unintended acceleration” cases that are currently being reviewed with the US National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (US NHTSA).
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I came across a very tragic story today on the Sky News website; it seems that a family have been destroyed at the expense on an incredibly dangerous driver, who was driving the wrong way on the A1 in Newcastle.

The family were travelling in a black jaguar and were hit by the dangerous driver who was driving a burgundy Jaguar. It is understood that a 40 year old mother was sadly pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, her daughter later died in hospital. The girl’s 37- year – old father who was driving the vehicle was later treated in hospital for minor injuries but it is not thought that these are serious. A six month old baby has also been treated at the same hospital for minor injuries. The accident happened at approximately 9:30pm on Sunday 08^th August 2010.
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Robert Whatley, a 70 year old retired business man, was stopped by Police after he had been caught driving without wearing his seatbelt.  The Policeman who was issuing Mr Whatley with a ticket walked around to the passenger’s side of the vehicle, Mr Whatley presumed that the Police had finished dealing with him so he left the scene to drive home as he suffers from a heart condition and was recovering from a Stroke he said he felt “frail and vulnerable” and was scared that he may suffer another stroke at the time of the incident.

Mr Whatley was then followed by the Police for 17 minutes, the Police had their sirens on as Mr Whatley proceeded keeping to the speed limit. Mr Whatley believed that the Police were escorting him home when he saw the blue lights from the Siren. Mr Whatley had to stop when the Police used a ‘stinger’ device which is used to puncture tyres of those people trying to evade the Police.

The ‘chase’ was filmed on the Police’s camera and the events after Mr. Whatley pulled over can only be described as shocking. When Mr. Whatley did stop, as his Range Rover’s tyre had been punctured, it can be seen on the video that one Police officer launched himself onto the bonnet of Mr. Whatley’s vehicle. It then appears that he proceeds to kick the 4×4’s windscreen, whilst the other Officer smashes Mr. Whaley’s driver window.
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An elderly woman of the age of 88 was dragged along the road as she attempted to get in a taxi in Westgate, Peterborough. Dozens of shoppers in the town centre watched on in horror.

The lady was waiting for a taxi, when it arrived she opened the door and attempted to get into the vehicle. The taxi started moving forward before the lady was safely inside the vehicle.

There were many people who witnessed the accident and a shop assistant, from the shop located near the scene of the accident, called an ambulance for the elderly lady. Witnesses reportedly said that the lady seemed to be in extreme pain and also she was shaking badly.
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Seven month old baby, Tavish Dabedeen, was very lucky to escape serious injury after he was thrown in front of a moving bus in an attack by two girls.

Tavish was in the arms of his sister when the brutal attack occurred, he was snatched from his sister by one of the girls and thrown into the road just as a bus was approaching. The driver managed to swerve to avoid hitting the baby; he was then taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

The girls were reportedly targeting Tavish’s sister who was accompanied by her mother. The two girls accordingly go to the same school as Tavish’s sister and seem to have targeted her as she suffers from Vitiligo, which affects the skin and causes patches to lose pigmentation and appear blotchy.
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It’s no secret that speeding leads to accidents. The speed limit is there for a very good reason, and breaking it puts the offender and other road users and pedestrians in serious danger. That’s why it’s against the law, and the consequences are there to prevent people from doing it.

But it appears there can be loopholes in the system; in fact, this next story shows how one woman got away without consequence for a considerable length of time by employing a rather disturbing smoke screen to cover up her road traffic offences. According to the Daily Mail, a company CEO avoided speeding fines by blaming them all on her deceased mother!  It’s an unbelievable story. A leading business lady, turned somewhat amateur scam-artist, evaded points on her license by claiming her dead mother was behind the wheel of the car at the time of the offence.
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