When there is an accident on the motorway...

[soulman]

Maybe it's the people who rely on their mirrors only when changing position on the motorway

What do you do, swivel your head 360 degrees? The most dangerous manoauvres I see are from drivers who suddenly realise they're going too fast for the driver in front and swerve out in to the next lane late or without signalling.

 

[snadge]

well personally pete the greek I've come to the conclusion that you have a problem with driving.

You've posted all these car and driving related threads and then you come out with this shite.

I was involved in a fucking serious accident on the motorway a few years back, halfway past an artic and the bastard decided to overtake himself, cue me trying to fucking brake and drive in a straight line whist scraping along the metal barrier at 75mph, the fucking truck drove over the top of my car in the end and carried on as though nothing had happened.

I'm still waiting for my insurance.

The cunt never stopped but was pulled by the law 50 miles further on.

 

[citygirl]

oooh there's nothing like starting a discussion

"who's fault are motorway crashes?"

speeders, slowers, drinkers, phone-users, illegals and learners, youngsters, oldsters, mentalists, off-roader-ists, foreign drivers, motorcyclists and lorry drivers....have i got it all covered?

but yeah...i take your point PtG...have often sat there for 2 hours in the 8 mile tailbacks at rush hour on the M62 West bound at J26, thinking "how come people crash so much on motorways, if they're so safe..well, that's half of the problem, ain't it...being so safe, puts you into a false sense of security...and if you're not "driving in a safe straight line" (have you driven the M62 much? ...)...you're stuck in massive tailbacks(usually caused by...absolutely NOTHING!

once drive all the way from chatham, kent 250 miles north up the A1, left to join M62 westbound for a few miles, left to join M606 to bradford, and used the 3/4 laned RA, serving 6 exits (mine being 5th) drove round quite happily changing lanes as i went, even managing to keep speed up...came to final lane change, police car pulled out in front, ok, followed by old doddery geezer in a little peugeot 206, he stayed in first lane, not indicating, and looked to be carrying straight on, but right at the last minute decided he wanted the same junction as me, and decided to fight me for it...i won, i T-Boned him!...he'd had his eye on the copper, but forgot he was only going round one exit, and so he'd dived back in at the last minute, without any indication...

luckily, a lorry driver and his mate had been following on, and saw everything. They stopped, and the old bloke was about to try his "bloody women drivers shouldn't be on the road" routine, when they stopped him, and put him right on a few things...like lack of indication, notice of intention, observation, etc, and sent him reeling down the road...his passenger side door and wing were all stove in, and his lights...my car (plastic citroen XM) was merely shaken, but not stirred, and only had a teeny bit of denting, and the light had popped out of it's casing, just had to be popped back in..job's a good-un, which left him and his wife arguing on the hard shoulder as i drove off, after exchanging details, and him conceeding blame, thanks to the willingness of these guys to stop, and help...

never did go as far as insurance, so, i didn't manage to get in touch with these guys again...

but anyway...phew..was a bit hairy at 70mph!

 

[Radar]

Maybe it's the people who rely on their mirrors only when changing position on the motorway

Given the number of cunts who seem to only rely on ESP when changing lanes, I'd be impressed even if they only used mirrors.

 

[Radar]

Most people do not adjust their speed (or indeed distance) to account for poor weather conditions. I'm not surprised there's so many accidents. I'm surprised there's not more

Quite..

A good few years ago I was heading down to a biker's party in Farnborough. I'd only been in the UK a few months, and my knowledge of the area was sorely lacking. I headed down the M23, only realised I'd fucked up when I hit the english channel (Well Brighton actually, but you get the point) By this stage both dusk and freezing fog had descended on the SE and as I headed back up towards the M25 I was being being passed by traffic easily doing twice my speed in lane 1. As soon as I made the M23 again I rode the rest of the way on the hard shoulder doing between 20 and 30 mph The risk of being scattered all over the road in an arseender was just too great.

Who in their right fucking mind does 70 on a motorway in freezing fog ?? Everyone else apparently

 

[detective-boy]

What do you do, swivel your head 360 degrees? The most dangerous manoauvres I see are from drivers who suddenly realise they're going too fast for the driver in front and swerve out in to the next lane late or without signalling.

When changing lanes at speed you would always be well advised to do a quick "lifesaver" glance over your shoulder to check there is nothing alongside you in your blind spot between mirror and peripheral vision.

And you should use your mirrors regularly on motorways / fast multi-lane roads especially, even if you are not intending to make any maneouvre so that you constantly remain aware of what is hapening all around you - precisely so that if an emergency manoeuvre becomes necessary you already have the best possible information available as to whether it is safe to swerve left / right / brake heavily or whatever.

At any given moment a competent driver should be able to describe roughly what traffic, hazards, etc. are all around, not just in front.

 

[trashpony]

When changing lanes at speed you would always be well advised to do a quick "lifesaver" glance over your shoulder to check there is nothing alongside you in your blind spot between mirror and peripheral vision.

And you should use your mirrors regularly on motorways / fast multi-lane roads especially, even if you are not intending to make any maneouvre so that you constantly remain aware of what is hapening all around you - precisely so that if an emergency manoeuvre becomes necessary you already have the best possible information available as to whether it is safe to swerve left / right / brake heavily or whatever.

At any given moment a competent driver should be able to describe roughly what traffic, hazards, etc. are all around, not just in front.

Innit. A couple of years back, I was driving on the M5 up a hill and into the sun when I realised that the cars in front of me had stopped on the brow of the hill. I looked in my rearview mirror and realised that teh bloke behind me hadn't noticed and that there was no way he was going to stop in time. I couldn't get into the middle lane (no space) so I pulled over onto the central reservation and stopped. To watch the bloke behind me and the cars behind him plough into the stopped cars in front of me.

I don't think anyone was hurt but there were a lot of broken bits of car flying about

 

[Pete the Greek]

Innit. A couple of years back, I was driving on the M5 up a hill and into the sun when I realised that the cars in front of me had stopped on the brow of the hill. I looked in my rearview mirror and realised that teh bloke behind me hadn't noticed and that there was no way he was going to stop in time. I couldn't get into the middle lane (no space) so I pulled over onto the central reservation and stopped. To watch the bloke behind me and the cars behind him plough into the stopped cars in front of me.

I don't think anyone was hurt but there were a lot of broken bits of car flying about

Nice move!!!!!!!!

That's impressive if not a little Machiavellian. But then, why the fuck would you willingly crash your car when others are going to plough into eachother anyway.

I commend your actions

 

[Radar]

That's impressive if not a little Machiavellian. But then, why the fuck would you willingly crash your car when others are going to plough into eachother anyway.

I commend your actions

Impressive indeed Trashie to pull that off in a car.

On a bike it's pull in your knees and elbows and aim for the gaps between the stopped cars ahead (if there's no gap a swift rethink will be required in order to select the softest looking car !!) Then you pray like fuck that a) you're travelling faster than the fireball/wreckage cloud expanding behind you and b) Nobody in front of you opens a car door

 

[trashpony]

Impressive indeed Trashie to pull that off in a car.

On a bike it's pull in your knees and elbows and aim for the gaps between the stopped cars ahead (if there's no gap a swift rethink will be required in order to select the softest looking car !!) Then you pray like fuck that a) you're travelling faster than the fireball/wreckage cloud expanding behind you and b) Nobody in front of you opens a car door

I was a bit shaken up and had to get off the motorway and go and smoke lots of fags before I could bring myself to drive again though

My ex (who was with me at the time) usually rode a bike and I used to freak out seeing him on the bike when I was in the car. I was a rubbish pillion on the motorway

 

[cybertect]

Nice move!!!!!!!!

Motion thirded

 

[FunkyUK]

What do you do, swivel your head 360 degrees?

no, just check your blindspots, please

 

[soulman]

no, just check your blindspots, please

I do, but because I constantly check my mirrors I know if someone is hovering in my blindspot.

 

[citygirl]

I do, but because I constantly check my mirrors I know if someone is hoovering in my blindspot.

i read it as that

 

[Pete the Greek]

i read it as that

just imagine, driving along the motorway, and a cleaner with a vac shoots up the outside lane, trying to clean up all the fag butts and crisp packets

 

[citygirl]

he could sort out my door-wells while he's there

 

[pembrokestephen]

maybe I'm being unfair, and maybe, one day, I'll eat my own words...but I fail to see how a vaguely sentient human can crash his/her car on a fucking motorway. Normal road, roundabout, crossroads, hair pin bend, blind corner, yeah. But not a straight run.

Yeah, you are being a bit unfair, but not THAT unfair. Most "accidents" are avoidable - I had a mate who used to call them "acts of stupidity", and if you look at the advanced/defensive driving stuff, their view is that almost all accidents (barring those caused by things dropping off your vehicle or someone else's, or sudden blockages of the carriageway) can be avoided.

Most motorway accidents are, I think, caused by loss of (or lack of) concentration - people get lulled into a sense of security as they belt along the road, something happens up front, they're not paying attention, and WHAM. Or they pull out without thinking/looking, the bloke whose path they're pulling into wasn't paying enough attention to realise it was happening (believe me, even cars have "body language" - you'd be surprised how easy it can be to anticipate what's going to happen even without indicators, etc, if you pay attention).

But it's not people having low IQs. It's people being complacent, lazy, tired, or just thinking it won't happen to them.

 

[pembrokestephen]

Well other than on ocassions when a car in front fucks up (which can simply be impossible to avoid sometimes) there can be many factors when one is not at fault or has not commited gross negiglence: you can lose control in poor weather conditions or very windy days.

The Powers That Be would say "you should be driving according to the conditions - if that means doing 40, then so be it". I'm not saying they're necessarily right, but you should be able to stop within a safe distance whatever happens in front (not counting a car dropping out of the sky on you, or something crossing the central reservation).

During those times when there is heavy traffic on the motorway yet everyone's moving at 60-70mph with little distance between cars only takes one sudden braking ahead for you to ram the car in front.

DEFINITELY no excuse. If the gap's too small, drop back. If someone fills it, drop back some more. Contrary to popular belief, maintaining a safe gap doesn't mean you end up going backwards, even if it feels like it.

But yes, on many other occasions is just some twat not checking the mirrors or fiddling with the radio for prolongued periods.

*nods*

 

[pembrokestephen]

So out of the two parties there...which one would I be focussing on in my OP?

IMO, you should be focusing on BOTH of them. Accidents happen when NEITHER party is on the case enough to see what's happening. We've all seen someone doing something stupid, and been able to take avoiding action, if we relied on "the other person" doing it right all the time, the roads would be bloody carnage!

I'll accept that sometimes, someone does something so unbelievably ludicrous that you couldn't hope to anticipate it, but all of the accidents - and even near misses - I've ever seen while driving on the motorway were avoidable: the truly unavoidable ones are incredibly rare.

I've been driving for over 20 years, and have had one accident - when someone reversed down a slip road in a motorway services into me. Even there, I have to accept that I could have driven more slowly along a curved slip road in poor visibility, even though I couldn't really have been expected to anticipate someone coming back down it in the wrong direction. But THAT collision was avoidable, too.


(Little cunt blamed me entirely and said he was stationary, and that I drove into him. But then the same little cunt claimed a total write-off on his Megane and 3 x whiplash injuries for the 3 people in the car. Karma's going to get him...)

 

[pembrokestephen]

What do you do, swivel your head 360 degrees? The most dangerous manoauvres I see are from drivers who suddenly realise they're going too fast for the driver in front and swerve out in to the next lane late or without signalling.

Not 360 degrees, no, but there IS a blind spot your mirrors can't see. Motorcyclists call that quick glimpse over the right shoulder "the lifesaver". And with good reason. If you're not doing that in your car, you're a risk to yourself and other road users. If you're moving left, you should be doing the same thing over the left shoulder, perhaps not quite as far round.

 

[pembrokestephen]

I do, but because I constantly check my mirrors I know if someone is hovering in my blindspot.

No, you don't. Really, you don't.

Even if you KNOW there's no-one in your blind spot, check it. Attitudes like the one you described, even with a smiley, are what cause prangs.

 

[soulman]

Not 360 degrees, no, but there IS a blind spot your mirrors can't see. Motorcyclists call that quick glimpse over the right shoulder "the lifesaver". And with good reason. If you're not doing that in your car, you're a risk to yourself and other road users. If you're moving left, you should be doing the same thing over the left shoulder, perhaps not quite as far round.

 

[pembrokestephen]

You have a problem?

 

[FunkyUK]

You are typical of the cunt who pulled into me on the A1(M) on friday.

 

[Fullyplumped]

I do, but because I constantly check my mirrors I know if someone is hovering in my blindspot.

Please obtain an envelope, put your driving licence in it, and post it to DVLA, Swansea. You don't need a stamp, but please do it now. Please refrain from driving motor vehicles immediately and wait for further instructions.

 

[soulman]

You are typical of the cunt who pulled into me on the A1(M) on friday.

I doubt it son. I've never had an accident, or caused one. You come across as the kind of cunt who gives drivers a bad name!

 

[soulman]

Please obtain an envelope, put your driving licence in it, and post it to DVLA, Swansea. You don't need a stamp, but please do it now. Please refrain from driving motor vehicles immediately and wait for further instructions.

 

[pembrokestephen]

Please obtain an envelope, put your driving licence in it, and post it to DVLA, Swansea. You don't need a stamp, but please do it now. Please refrain from driving motor vehicles immediately and wait for further instructions.

You forgot to tell him to write "I am too f***ing stupid to own a driving licence, I took my test by correspondence course" across it before sending it.

Hope this helps.

 

[pembrokestephen]

I doubt it son. I've never had an accident, or caused one. You come across as the kind of cunt who gives drivers a bad name!

And you come across as the kind of cunt who goes around smugly doing the bare minimum not to have HIS precious car run into with no regard for what's going on around him.

I've encountered drivers like you. They're sure they've never been in an accident - which is possible - but their certainty about never having caused one seems a bit dubious, especially when they then as good as boast that they don't pay proper attention to what's going on behind them.

Perhaps you haven't caused any, but I'll bet anything that you leave a trail of drivers behind you going "That CUNT...did you see what he just did then?"

 

[FunkyUK]

I've never had an accident, or caused one.