Sleepy Driver (OSA Suspect) Kills Again

[James @ Intus]

Father (56), "was suspected to be suffering from a sleep disorder when he nodded off just 10 miles from home on their 200-mile journey back from Gatwick airport" and the resulting crash kills his son and his partner, baby survives.

"It is extremely likely that Steve fell asleep at the wheel and that's what caused this," said Cardiff coroner Mary Hassell.

Mrs Padden said: "As a qualified nurse, I believed that Stephen had some sort of sleep disorder.

She said: "I asked Stephen if he wanted me to drive but he said he was fine after the coffee.

"I fell asleep and the next thing I remember the car was rolling and there were loud bangs. It felt like a dream.

She told how Stephen would stop breathing for 12-14 seconds at a time when he was asleep before taking a "deep breath."

Mrs Padden said: "I kept on to him to see his doctor if there was a problem. If he went to the doctor he did not follow up any advice."

The inquest heard the family GP said Stephen had not been treated for sleep disorder.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-13923668

Tragic, but unfortunately quite typical. Witnessed apnoea, sleepiness and the guy doesn't seem to be doing much about it (or he did, and doctor didn't act accordingly). Now it's too late.

[Sparticus]

Its a sleep disorder, NOT!

I was about to start shouting. It seems everyone who nods off while driving has a sleep disorder. Then after reading on, it seems to be correct.

[Richard]

Sleepy Driver

What a dreadful tragedy, three people losing their lives through the driver falling asleep and two others not wearing seat-belts. Little Logan and his grandmother the only ones to survive.

We shall never know exactly why, but experience tells us that you need to visit the GP several times before being referred for a diagnosis of sleep apnoea: and two years is the average between first visit and reaching a successful diagnosis. The aim must be to get referred at the first call.

There are people subscribing here who have been lucky enough to be diagnosed quickly, but they are in the minority. A much greater awareness among GPs and a faster route to diagnosis is needed, but that is only part of the problem, alas.

Our thoughts must be with Mrs Pedden.

Richard

[James @ Intus]

The Daily Mail has some more on it:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2008724/Two-generations-family-wiped-grandfather-falls-asleep-wheel.html

Cardiff coroner Miss Mary Hassell said: 'Stephen's driving was erratic. He was braking and speeding up. He didn't apply the brakes at the time of the accident.'

Mrs Padden also said that her husband would sometimes stop breathing for 12-14 seconds while he was asleep before taking a deep breath.

'I kept on to him to see his doctor if there was a problem. If he went to the doctor he did not follow up any advice,' she said.

[Richard]

Maybe Stephen Pedden was a trucker, which would perhaps explain why he hadn't seen his GP. Then, on the other hand, maybe he had seen his GP, but he failed to recognise the symptoms.

On a different issue, a man in Essex was jailed for five years for killing a young woman driver aged 23 on the M25, shunting her car through the central reservation. He has no recollection of the incident.

The man was in his thirties and had been epileptic since he was 16; he had never bothered telling the DVLA.

Richard

[Richard]

The widow of Stephen Padden, Suzanne, has written to say that, as a nurse, she was well aware of the influence of daytime tiredness on driving, and that she had suggested to her husband many times he should go and see his GP, but without success.

She has lost her husband, her son, her daughter-in-law and is left to look after her baby grandson.

What a dreadful, dreadful tragedy.

Spread the word, guys; you know the symptoms.

Richard