Fireworks and Fog

I can't say I'm surprised, although I am relieved, that Mr Geoffrey Counsell has been found not guilty of causing a fatal accident on the M5 in 2011 after the Judge at Bristol Crown Court ruled there was no case for him to answer on a charge that he breached Health and Safety regulations.

How he could be held to blame for setting off fireworks, whose smoke later combined with fog to cause a smog which drivers then hurtled into, killing themselves and others, is beyond my comprehension.

I tend to think Mr Counsell is quite right when he says he was made a scapegoat by those looking for someone to blame for the accident, especially when one considers that the Highways Agency, the Taunton Deane Borough Council and the Avon and Somerset Constabulary were all consulted regarding the firework display, that no objections of any kind were raised, and that it was the same Avon and Somerset Constabulary who initially charged Mr Counsell with 7 counts of manslaughter and when that was dropped the same Taunton Deane Borough Council who then prosecuted him under the Health and Safety regulations.

How bizarre is that?

Any road fatality is tragic but accidents do happen and drivers in such circumstances must accept a degree of responsibility for their own actions. If you can't see your hand in front of your face then you really shouldn't be belting along at 70 mph!
It's an all too common occurrence on motorways in fog, or reduced visibility of any kind, to see cars and lorries, especially lorries whose drivers seem to think themselves immortal, driving at a speed from which stopping within their zone of visibility would be plainly impossible. An accident waiting to happen, and usually no convenient firework display to blame.