Tree Tragedy

[5 shires]

Sad news today mother and daughter  killed by a falling tree on to there car in winchcombe in Cotswolds...how sad and tragic  just goes to show how dangerous trees can be in any circumstances.my heart felt sympathy’s go out to the family.

Tree has been removed but not sure of circumstances if Tree was compromised in anyway or just natural failure so not sure of legal consequences for land owner whether it be Council or private.?

 

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by 5 shires

[Gary Prentice]

10 hours ago, 5 shires said:

 just goes to show how dangerous trees can be in any circumstances

You do know that trees account for, on average, six fatalities per year. Compare that that to traffic accidents, falling under tube trains and down stairs. 

[5 shires]

22 minutes ago, Gary Prentice said:

You do know that trees account for, on average, six fatalities per year. Compare that that to traffic accidents, falling under tube trains and down stairs. 

Hi Gary No I didn’t know that,but for a tree to fall and crush you to death while just driving along is way a bove the law of averages and very sad for the family.just a shame,mother was in her 50’s and daughter only 16 so which ever way you look at it it’s just a awfully sad set of circumstances.

Edited November 23, 2019 by 5 shires

[Mick Dempsey]

Beech by the look of it, there’s a report in the Daily Mail.

 

Edit, here’s where it happened, someone who knows the area could google earth then do a street view to get a look at the tree.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Mick Dempsey

[Gary Prentice]

6 minutes ago, 5 shires said:

Hi Gary No I didn’t know that,but for a tree to fall and crush you to death while just driving along is way a bove the law of averages and very sad for the family.just a shame,mother was in her 50’s and daughter only 16 so which ever way you look at it it’s just a awfully sad set of circumstances.

You certainly can't guarantee how your day's going to end when you leave home in the morning, that's for sure.

 

It is sad, and this family have been so unlucky (lottery odds numbers) 

 

The consequences of incidents like this is, once the media get on board portraying trees as 'killers in waiting,' the public respond with totally unwarranted tree removals because they are" too big" and therefore "dangerous".  Using the HSEs 'Tolerability of risk triangle', trees are intrinsically safe and no more than is currently being done, countrywide' is necessary to reduce the 'risk of death they create' (landowner/highway inspections).

 

[5 shires]

9 minutes ago, Gary Prentice said:

You certainly can't guarantee how your day's going to end when you leave home in the morning, that's for sure.

 

It is sad, and this family have been so unlucky (lottery odds numbers) 

 

The consequences of incidents like this is, once the media get on board portraying trees as 'killers in waiting,' the public respond with totally unwarranted tree removals because they are" too big" and therefore "dangerous".  Using the HSEs 'Tolerability of risk triangle', trees are intrinsically safe and no more than is currently being done, countrywide' is necessary to reduce the 'risk of death they create' (landowner/highway inspections).

 

Would you know that due to the circumstances of this tragic accident would the tree be taken away and checked for a reason for it to fail and used in evidence for any calms going forward and obviously for a coroners report? Never crossed my mind before as the tree is the cause of death.

 

[Gary Prentice]

Just now, 5 shires said:

Would you know that due to the circumstances of this tragic accident would the tree be taken away and checked for a reason for it to fail and used in evidence for any calms going forward and obviously for a coroners report? Never crossed my mind before as the tree is the cause of death.

 

My understanding is that it will be looked at to identify the cause of failure. 

Where it goes from there depends on whether the failure was predictable and could have been prevented, if identified during some sort of regular inspection regime.

 

 

Have a search for  'Common Sense Risk Management of Trees Guidance on Trees and Public Safety in the UK for Owners, Managers and Advisers', 

 

These publications provide a load of information and guidance aimed towards tree owners liabilities and responsibilities - all available as free PDFs. 

 

[5 shires]

20 minutes ago, Gary Prentice said:

My understanding is that it will be looked at to identify the cause of failure. 

Where it goes from there depends on whether the failure was predictable and could have been prevented, if identified during some sort of regular inspection regime.

 

 

Have a search for  'Common Sense Risk Management of Trees Guidance on Trees and Public Safety in the UK for Owners, Managers and Advisers', 

 

These publications provide a load of information and guidance aimed towards tree owners liabilities and responsibilities - all available as free PDFs. 

 

I have looked at this stuff over the years but there are so many mitigating circumstances it’s seems both sides always have a valid argument and most cases never gets resolved even with full assessment  reports.Thanks Gary for your input anyway,main post was to pay my respects to the 2 people who lost there lives and to the family.

Edited November 23, 2019 by 5 shires

[Gary Prentice]

2 minutes ago, 5 shires said:

 

 

2 minutes ago, 5 shires said:

I have looked at this stuff over the years but there are so many mitigating circumstances it’s seems both sides always have a valid argument and most cases never gets resolved even with full assessment  reports

Oh it most certainly does. When you really start to read coroners reports and the legal cases that occur after a tree death there's always a conclusion of some sort. Luckily the law doesn't expect the average domestic tree owner to employ a qualified consultant to inspect their trees. But once the owners resources increase, then so do their legal obligations. 

 

I heard Tony Kirkams under-manager  talk about the death at Kew a few years ago. Several hours of police interrogation about their tree inspection regimes, which he assured everyone wasn't a pleasant experience.

 

 

[5 shires]

1 minute ago, Gary Prentice said:

 

Oh it most certainly does. When you really start to read coroners reports and the legal cases that occur after a tree death there's always a conclusion of some sort. Luckily the law doesn't expect the average domestic tree owner to employ a qualified consultant to inspect their trees. But once the owners resources increase, then so do their legal obligations. 

 

I heard Tony Kirkams under-manager  talk about the death at Kew a few years ago. Several hours of police interrogation about their tree inspection regimes, which he assured everyone wasn't a pleasant experience.

 

 

Very interesting subject to get into and may be something can look into once can’t climb or do all the physical side of the industry anymore.