Crash took place on A30 between Hook and Old Basing

1:16pm Friday 10th August 2012 in Local By Chris Gregory

Neil Colquhoun, who died in the A30 crash Neil Colquhoun, who died in the A30 crash

A FORMER GP, aged 90, has been sentenced today for causing the death of a Hook man by driving on the wrong side of a dual carriageway.

Turner Waddell travelled for nearly a mile on the A30 between Water End and Hatch on March 11 last year, before he collided head-on with another car.

Neil Colquhoun, 28, of Birch Grove, Hook, suffered severe chest injuries and died at the scene.

Winchester Crown Court heard how Waddell, of Esplanade Avenue, Porthcawl, had poor eyesight and was confused prior to the crash. He was sentenced to nine months, suspended for two years.

After the hearing Mr Colquhoun’s family called for a change in the law to re-test elderly drivers.

For more on this story, see The Gazette on Monday.

Comments(5)

Sam_Walker123456 says...
2:35pm Fri 10 Aug 12

I support the call for a change in the law so that all drivers over a certain age have to be tested on a regular basis.
However the test needs to be real. I know an elderly man who gets lost in his own house but still drives on our roads. His family were so worried that they got him to volunteer for a test. On the test he got lost and he broke the speed limit but the examiner's assessment was that these were not reasons to remove his licence. Not at all real!!

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The Mad Mike 1 says...
10:47pm Fri 10 Aug 12

I have just gone three months with not being able to drive because i was diagnosed with cateracts,the optition told me i would be put onto a risk list,now i didn't know that my eyes were that bad,this Turner Waddell new he had poor eyesight,so what was he doing driving,he should have been banned for life. I compleatly agree that over 65s should have compulsory eye tests every two years,and that will include myself.

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Opinions_opinions says...
3:24pm Sat 11 Aug 12

Sadly all that is needed is a Doctors note to say they are fit to drive over a certain age. How does the Doctor know if he is fit to drive by testing his blood pressure ??? This is a law that should have been introduced many years ago. You would think the governments past and present would jump at a chance to make more money out of re-testing OAP's !! But hold on .... they have a vote too ,,, and no government would want to upset the grey voters for fear of losing the next election. We need this law and we need it asap, but I don't hold my breath.

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Trueblue46 says...
2:12pm Mon 13 Aug 12

Punished? Suspended sentence for two years hardly a punishment. He must have broken so many rules, driving without due care, ignoring road signs etc. The sentence is far too light. Maybe to stop people complaining it is an age thing perhaps we should all have a test of sorts after a certain amount of years driving.

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Robert White says...
7:36am Wed 29 Aug 12

This isn’t a sentence and is just another example of the elitists minority than run our country. The public school judge clears the public school doctor. I’m sure he was a fine doctor and at 90 deserves a lot of respect apart from the fact that he knew he failed an eye test and still went on the road that day.

Neil was my friend and to lose his life this way is heartbreaking. I can’t understand, regardless of the age why the judge determined this as a proper sentence.

I see the debates about test for over 70s/80s and I’m clueless why that isn’t the rule anyway. But it doesn’t get away from the fact that he’s a doctor, a respected member of society , spending his life telling people not to do this and that and then ignores a failed eye test because he wants to go to a concert.

RIP Neil

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