Driver cleared over Wanstead High Street death

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The scene following the incident last May

The woman charged with causing the death of 91-year-old Wanstead man Basant Lal Sharma on the zebra crossing on Wanstead High Street was cleared at the Old Bailey last week.

Charlotte Griffiths was charged with causing death by careless driving following the incident at the top of Grove Park in May 2016. She was found not guilty following a two-day trial.

The Evening Standard reported that Ms Griffiths, 26, had no penalty points, was not affected by drugs or alcohol and there was no evidence she had been distracted by her mobile phone.

The full report is here.

9 thoughts on “Driver cleared over Wanstead High Street death”

    1. I shouted at some plank who didn’t stop for me on that exact crossing he went past at about 30 or so. He stopped and actually said I shouldn’t have been on the road.. I went towards him shouting it’s a pedestrian crossing and he wisely drove off!
      Shows you the simpletons we have to deal with, always have a double check when crossing. Admittedly that tree doesn’t help, but it’s a zebra crossing so there really is no excuse not to stop.

    2. More than likely, but I do think it would prevent future incidents, however there will always be one dick that doesn’t stop just because he doesn’t want to. Pedestrians should know though that a car only needs to stop if someone is ON the crossing, not if they are about to cross. Too much of this “it’s my right….” Stuff going on these days!

    3. That is right indeed, in the case above I had one foot in the road purched round the tree, I stepped back when I realised the plank was not slowing down!
      In heinsight it wasn’t a wise place to put the crossing, directly opposite the co-op would have been better, in fairness the tree was there first!!
      Still think that a driver has a responsibility to really slow down at a zebra crossing despite what you have mentioned about the law which is true, though there are an abundance of people in Wanstead who cross at any junction without looking and without even acknowledging road traffic. Not only is that rude and discourteous it is also plain dangerous!

  1. there should be a proper crossing between the co-op and the corner house rather than the speed ramp thing which everyone thinks is a zebra crossing but isn’t…so many people just walk across that and do not look and it is a slowing down thing not a stopping…there should be a zebra crossing there and one further up the high street. the tree should come down sadly because it is a hindrance to driver and pedestrian vision.

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