Death by dustcart

Being backed over by a dustcart must be a pretty awful and ignominious way to meet your end. That's what happened to a 61 year-old grandmother last year in Brighton, and they've just finished the court case to decide if blame should be apportioned to someone. Honestly, if someone said to me "you're going to die by being backed over by a dustcart", I would think fuck what a rubbish way to go (hilarious pun there, not intentional).

The woman was on a pedestrianised street, but which the vehicle was allowed to be on to collect rubbish. Although it had flashing lights on, its reversing warning siren (that annoying beep beep beep thing) was switched off, and the camera that allows the driver to see behind the truck wasn't working. So apparently he should have asked a member of the crew to stand at the back and check it was safe, but he didn't and it wasn't. The driver has been fined £2,500 for driving without due care and attention and given nine points on his licence, but not convicted of anything like causing death through dangerous driving. The family seem fairly happy with that, they just didn't want it labelled 'an accident' with no-one at fault.

But seriously, of all the ways to go. It's like dying on the toilet or falling into a septic tank or something. I've often wondered how I'll go. Hopefully I'll be really old and no longer frightened of it, at the moment it terrifies me. I'm quite a morbid person sometimes though, I should really cheer up...

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