1. Poziga

    Poziga Contributor Contributor

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    Informing children of their parents' death

    Discussion in 'Research' started by Poziga, Feb 19, 2017.

    Quite a grim title, eh?

    My protagonist's parents die in a car crash on their way from Cambridge to Nottingham and I wonder how would the police inform him of the incident?
    Would they contact his grandparents first and they would tell him? Would the police inform him directly (not over the phone, of course)? Or would they inform the university he studies at and let the officials convey the message (this sounds slightly weird, but I've seen it before in movies, that's why I ask).

    Does anyone know? I don't need a detailed description, jsut who would probably inform him and how...

    Thank you.
     
  2. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    Considering that he's at a university, he's obviously not a small child. Perhaps they contact his grandparents, and they contact him to ask him to please get himself home/to the hospital immediately as it concerns his parents?
     
  3. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    I'd assume the police would inform the children directly. Especially if they are legal adults of university age. However, it would probably take them awhile to find the kid at the university (unless they find an address on their bodies), and through the course of their investigation it is likely that others who knew the parents would be informed first, like neighbors or co-workers. It would all depend on what kind of information they find in the vehicle.
     
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  4. S A Lee

    S A Lee Contributor Contributor

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    I agree with Homer overall, but it is worth noting that not everyone registers their temporary residence when they're in university. From the names given, I'm guessing the story is based in the UK?
    I imagine the parents work, the police would be able to obtain next of kin details from the employer if no one is at their residence, or via the registry find any surviving parents.
    However, students don't always register temporary residences such as halls. It might be worth looking into how the police locate people.
     
  5. Infel

    Infel Contributor Contributor

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    It would make sense to me that the police would contact the kid directly. Also, if nothing else, there would be lawyers contacting him if the parents left a will of some sort. The university would hand over that kind of information as long as whoever was asking could prove the legitimacy.
     
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  6. Spencer1990

    Spencer1990 Contributor Contributor

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    When my dad departed, the police informed my brother directly because they lived together at the time. Also, I was in a strict rehab, just shy of incommunicado.
     
  7. Mumble Bee

    Mumble Bee Keep writing. Contributor

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    The way the world is now, its almost unlikely that people find out about deaths through official channels. My guess is Facebook gets to it first.
     
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  8. Spencer1990

    Spencer1990 Contributor Contributor

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    Absolutely, for non-next of kin. I can't imagine a person would find out their parents had died in a car accident over Facebook, though, haha.

    ETA: And now that I think about it, that's a pretty heavy premise for a little tragic satire short.
     
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  9. Mouthwash

    Mouthwash Senior Member

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    Scott Tenorman style.
     
  10. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    UK practice - Two police officers (one will stay with the n-o-k, and they always TRY to make the stayee the same gender as the n-o-k) would inform the next-of-kin directly, before telling anybody else. It would be most improper of them to go through Facebook! They MIGHT inform the grandparents, if that was the only way they could discover the son's whereabouts, but the police are pretty good at "We ask the questions." Those scenes where the private eye asks the police what it's all about, and the police tell him everything they know about the case, are pure Hollywood.
     
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  11. Poziga

    Poziga Contributor Contributor

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    Thank you for your replies.

    I realized a bit earlier, that since the student knew his parents were on their way but didn't come, he would know something's fishy and would try to reach them - by calling them. I doubt that phones get destroyed in car crashes, so the phones would have several missed calls (the police has the direct contact in that case).
    I don't know how long does it usually take the police to contact the relatives, but the protagonist can, because of fear and suspision, check the internet if there were any car crashes. If he finds one, he can call the police and asks for the details? Meaning he would find out about the crash himself. The only problem is that the polcie cannot give him the details of the crash probably? Bureaucracy and all that...
    Another thing to know is also that the trip was supposed to be a family reunion, so he was looking forward to it. That's why he would be afraid of them not coming and contacting him.
     
  12. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    1/ Missed calls...yes, there might be, but the last thing on anybody's mind at a crash is a missed call. While the M-way police would probably be aware of the crash, without criminal activity, their first priority is keeping traffic moving, and getting ambulances to help the living. Even if there were criminal activity, it would take forensics a perceptible time to look at the phones to see who's called.

    2/ Unless it's a major M-way disaster, it's unlikely to be breaking news on the internet, so he won't find out that way.

    3/ Yes, he could call when they were late, and weren't answering, and ask whether there had been a crash, could call local hospitals (wouldn't that be your first reaction?). If he talks to the police, they would want to confirm that he was next of kin, and then - I suspect - arrange to visit him (the last thing they want is an upset young man driving to the station - an innocent bystander could get hit!), without giving anything away...but, he's likely to guess.
     
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  13. S A Lee

    S A Lee Contributor Contributor

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    Taking what @Shadowfax said, a possible flow of events would be:

    -any survivors are immediately extracted from the wreckage
    -at the earliest possible convenience the cars are moved onto the hard shoulder
    -the parents' bodies and personal effects are extracted from the car.
    -the MC calls one parents' mobile phone, unaware it is in police custody.
    -Police are on process of identifying the deceased when the phone rings.
    -A policeman answers the phone, after clarifying their relation to the parents, asks to meet with them face to face.

    The result is a visit to his student home/halls.
     
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  14. Poziga

    Poziga Contributor Contributor

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    I sent an e-mail to the Nottinghamshire police, hopefully they will reply. :p

    If not, I'll go to a police station in my country and ask them. I doubt that the procedure of such universal incident would be that different from country to country. If they can't help, I'll help myself with your suggestions. So thank you.

    If I get an answer from whichever Police, I'll write the answer here so you can see it in case any member has similar questions.
     
  15. S A Lee

    S A Lee Contributor Contributor

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    @Poziga There are two immediate ways I can help you there:
    -Admittedly it's open office hours and a different constituency, but there is a police station near home, my experience of British police is that they're more than happy to answer questions that don't violate the Data Protection Act.
    -I attended a youth program revolving around a reconstructed collision with the emergency services as a teenager and was in the group looking in depth with the police, I have a copy of the paperwork that they would write up. I could write up the sort of things that are put into it if it helps you with the sort of things that the police would deal with for the accident itself.
    (edited to remove redundancy, just got home from work ^^; )
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2017
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  16. Poziga

    Poziga Contributor Contributor

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    I don't want to open another thread since this question is quite related and the question is very simple.

    Which webpage do the Brits use to check traffic conditions?
    http://www.highways.gov.uk/traffic-information/
    Would this be it? Also, how quickly is it updated? The Slovene version of traffic information is updated very quickly, I reckon this one as well?
     
  17. S A Lee

    S A Lee Contributor Contributor

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    Apparently they're having technical difficulties today and are advising Traffic England.

    Personally I use Google Maps, ever since they bought out Waze, an app which allows users to submit congestion, accidents and the like, they've been much more accurate with their own traffic information. They have also been saying whether the congestion is traffic or accident related lately.

    As for speed of updates, I'd say motorways are the fastest ones to be reported, if not for the volume of traffic, but there are CCTV as well as police throughout the system looking out for law breaking behaviour.
     
  18. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Two thoughts. First, after the Pulse nightclub massacre in Florida last year, one of the things that the responders mentioned was the horror of hearing all the mobile phones on the bodies ringing as people tried to call their loved ones to see if they were okay. The responders were not allowed to answer any of those calls; I don't know what the official procedure was, but in a case like that (or a car accident), you have no way of knowing for sure if the phone you find on a body belongs to the body, so you can't tell the person on the other end "Sorry, the person you have reached has been disconnected."

    Second, I used to work for 9-1-1 (police, fire, ambulance phone in the US, and one night there was an accident involving two vehicles, one of which contained two teenage girls. The accident occurred near enough to their home that the dad went out to check while his wife called us. Even though she had a vehicle description and plate that matched one of the cars, for privacy reasons we weren't allowed to confirm that the car was involved. Dad went to the scene, came back, and got on the phone with us, sayinig "It's my car, I understand you can't tell me anything, but which hospital is the ambulance going to?" We were allowed to tell him that, and a police chaplain (who was the minister of a local Methodist church with a side job for the PD) met him there to tell him his daughter was dead.
     
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  19. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    That's probably the most impersonal euphemism for "dead" I've ever heard.
     
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  20. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Yeah, sorry, black humor is kind of a fetish for me.
     
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