Accident information

ART6

This afternoon I heard that there had been a serious road accident on the road about a mile outside our village. It had (apparently) happened at about the time that a close family friend was expected to visit us, but she didn't arrive. I called the local Gardai and asked if they had any information of who was involved, but was told that they couldn't release such information. OK so -- call the hospital A&E and ask if they had any admissions of her name. Again "We can't release that information." Meanwhile, our friend's mobile phone is unanswered, as are text messages.

Could someone please tell me why such a simple question cannot be answered, when the Gardai and the hospitals seem quite happy to tell the news media? Would telling me be such a threat to national security that, if it is released, could have us invaded by the bloody Russians or someone? All that I wanted to know was if someone of her name had been involved, nothing more, so why the blanket of secrecy? :mad:

Oink

There are very strict guidelines as far as patient confidentiality is concerned. They could get in serious trouble. As for newspapers, I don't know. But there must be a reason why they can sometimes tell them, because if the patient complains and it turns out they were not allowed to give out the info.. world of pain. Court case, fine, people fired etc.


EDIT: but yeah it's a major pain when you just want to know that your friend is safe.

markpb

The Gardai will release the name to the media only after the family have been notified. They will generally notify the family in person so there's no doubt about who they're telling. You, ringing anonymously, could be anyone and could do anything with the information (including putting it on Facebook with the best of intentions) which would be an awful way for someone to find out that a close relative had died.

ratracer

Why would they give personnal information to anyone over the phone? They have no right, let alone obligation to give this info to anybody, and will contact next of kin by calling to them in person.

IMO the Gardai give relevant info to the media regarding location of accidents in order to try minimise traffic disruption. They don't give any casualty/victim ID to them. You may have noticed that any accident victims shown in media are usually named by locals talking to journalists (either unknowingly or otherwise) who then trawl social media sites to obtain pictures of casualties/victims.

CeilingFly

Imagine if a family member was in an accident and you saw it on Facebook first?

Get Real

I'm sorry to hear your situation OP and the understandable frustration. But as said on here, media releases only occur after family have been informed. The other side of the coin is you couldn't be told anything over the phone as for all they know you'd be a journalist yourself, which brings us back to the first point.

I hope all is well and that you've clarified the details of this situation. If not, approach the relevant authorities in person with proof of identity.

Although it's hurtful to be treated this way/not be able to get information, the policy is there to prevent hurt in the first place and making sure only relevant people are informed.

Best of luck.

ART6

Thanks to all of you who responded to my unduly hasty post; I know you are right in your comments. It's just that the first I knew of a serious accident a few hundred yards from my house, and heard the time of it, I feared to worst for our close friend who would have been there at about that time. A neighbour told me that he believed a blue Nissan has been totalled and the driver had to be cut from the wreckage by the fire brigade. Our friend had a blue Nissan. That is why I was desperate to find out anything I could, particularly if it could possible be her. During the course of the day it became obvious that it was indeed our friend.
Monday night was a torture, sleepless for all in my family, until we finally found out that she was quite badly injured. We finally knew the worst when her son called early Tuesday morning to confirm our fears. He had delayed doing so until he knew the full extent of her injuries in order to avoid upsetting us further.

So now, if I can ask for a bit more advice, the accident was apparently caused by another car coming round a sweeping bend over the centre line and side-swiping our friend's car. That sent her into a spin, and another car coming up from behind ran into her at speed and demolished her Nissan. Of course the Gardai accident investigation people were all over the road all of the rest of the day, so I assume that now they will have worked out exactly what happened. That leads to the question with our friend's future in mind, since without her car she has no means of earning her livelihood: Is the accident investigation by the Gardai made available to the injured party so that we and her son can start proceedings with the various insurance companies? If it is, how does one avail of it?

Thanks again all!

ART6

ART6 wrote: »

Thanks to all of you who responded to my unduly hasty post; I know you are right in your comments. It's just that the first I knew of a serious accident a few hundred yards from my house, and heard the time of it, I feared to worst for our close friend who would have been there at about that time. A neighbour told me that he believed a blue Nissan has been totalled and the driver had to be cut from the wreckage by the fire brigade. Our friend had a blue Nissan. That is why I was desperate to find out anything I could, particularly if it could possible be her. During the course of the day it became obvious that it was indeed our friend.
Monday night was a torture, sleepless for all in my family, until we finally found out that she was quite badly injured. We finally knew the worst when her son called early Tuesday morning to confirm our fears. He had delayed doing so until he knew the full extent of her injuries in order to avoid upsetting us further.

So now, if I can ask for a bit more advice, the accident was apparently caused by another car coming round a sweeping bend over the centre line and side-swiping our friend's car. That sent her into a spin, and another car coming up from behind ran into her at speed and demolished her Nissan. Of course the Gardai accident investigation people were all over the road all of the rest of the day, so I assume that now they will have worked out exactly what happened. That leads to the question with our friend's future in mind, since without her car she has no means of earning her livelihood: Is the accident investigation by the Gardai made available to the injured party so that we and her son can start proceedings with the various insurance companies? If it is, how does one avail of it?

Thanks again all!

Sorry to hear about your friend, hopefully they can make a full recovery.

Garda statements and reports will not be released until the investigation and possible court proceedings are complete. Your friend or someone acting on their behalf should report the matter to their insurance company or make a claim against the other party.

Insurance companies have their own investigators. Sometimes they will complete an investigation without Garda statements or reports, sometimes they will wait for the Garda investigation to be complete. Their insurance company will inform them of their progress.

ShiverinEskimo

ART6 wrote: »

the Gardai accident investigation people were all over the road all of the rest of the day, so I assume that now they will have worked out exactly what happened.

Just on this - that is a huge assumption to make. Unless there is dashcam footage or many third party witnesses singing the same tune it will be very difficult to say with certainty what the exact nature of the collision entailed.

The forensic report is merely one aspect of the investigation and it often doesn't provide all or even any of the answers. Don't pin all your hopes on the forensic collision investigators being able to illustrate a complete and accurate reconstruction. They can only go on the evidence at the scene and bear in mind that in the course of rescuing your friend the fire and rescue crews no doubt disturbed and ruined a lot of that evidence in the course of their work. The car being cut for example is huge as it immediately renders much of the damage suffered by the vehicle in the course of the collision tainted. Sometimes the forensic collision investigators are able to truly work miracales with their analysis of the scene but every scene is vastly different and some yield very little evidence of what occured.

Not trying to shoot you down but it's important you set your expectations at the right level to avoid frustration down the line if there is insufficient evidence to support your version of events. No prosecution is ever guaranteed in these cases and the DPP's say is final if they decide there isn't enough to proceed. Without a prosecution due to lack of evidence the civil proceedings that follow can be made more difficult as a result.

Try to keep all the above in mind. It will stop you feeling exasperated and frustrated down the line if you don't get the outcome you feel your friend deserves.

In the mean time I hope your friend makes a full recovery.