driving

When Bridget Driscoll, a 44-year-old mother of two died after being struck by a motor vehicle, considered to be the first motor vehicle fatality in UK and possibly the world, the coroner stated ‘I trust this sort of nonsense will never happen again’.1 Sadly, the coroner, medical practitioners and general public would be deeply and repeatedly disappointed. It was 1896. Motor vehicles were a curiosity. Drivers did not undergo any form of testing, be it medical fitness, driving ability or otherwise, and there were no licensing regulatory agencies.

This respiratory symposium focused on pleural disease, allergy and the new guidelines for oxygen delivery. The management of pleural disease is changing, partly due to safety concerns. For example, safer designs of the Seldinger drain are being developed and chest ultrasound is now recommended prior to siting an intercostal drain. Greater availability of medical and surgical thoracoscopy means there is less use of the Abrams pleural biopsy, although this has implications for the organisation and provision of services.