Safe Speed Forums

Introduce a couple of pedestrians, and look what happens, utter chaos:



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... fault.html

Quite what the Vauxhall Corsa and the Transit van were doing driving in such a way is frankly unfathomable.

70mph = 6160 ft/min = 102 ft/sec

Let's face it, the guy may have been a "hero", but he was a fool.
The broken-down driver should have had her hazard lights on, have called the emergency services, and also [possibly] have exited the vehicle and sought refuge in the central reservation.
HE should NOT have done what he did.
HE was a fool.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

I agree, but only because there are people driving in such a way that they'll crash into a stationary vehicle on L3, which is a sorry state of affairs.

There but for the grace of god go I?

Tis all very well sitting in our living rooms condemning some body for crashing into a stationary vehicle on a motorway, but it would be quite easy to do. Look at the number of shunts in start stop traffic, had a moment or two my self in such situations. We all know we should back off and leave a nice healthy gap to smooth out the traffic flow. Similarly, we all know that we should be looking toward the horizon even on a flowing motorway. But people make mistakes, the traffic's flowing nicely, the radio's on, concentration sags a little and BANG. It's easy done. That is probably why, if we have to use the hard shoulder, we are advised to get out of the car, done some HiViz, climb up the embankment, call the law and stay away from the traffic.

If you are going to tell me that you have gone through life, driving or otherwise and never taken you eye off the ball I wont believe you.

Not quite sure what you're trying to say here Weepy?

"...motorways are safe...

...unless you put pedestrians on them"?

IF so, I agree. Was that it, or is there something more subtle that has escaped me?

Not even GS has come up with that idea - or in the weepy world ,we now need a pedestrian lane on motorways - what next - a cycle lane on there as well

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I think that Weep's point is that Motorways cannot be regarded as safe when then carry drivers who can, in broad daylight, fail to notice a stationary vehicle. And that point is reinforced if Adam's contention that everybody drives like that at some time is true.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

No road can be regarded as absolutely safe, but as a matter of objective fact motorways are safer than any other type of road.

By the same token, railways are not safe because trains kill a couple of hundred trespassers and suicides every year - i.e. people who are there illegally.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Not quite the same token. Mr Tolley and the occupant of the stationary car where not behaving illegally whereas trespassers on railways are breaking the law. (Though neither the Motorway Traffic Regulations nor the Railways Act prescribe the death penalty for infringements )

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Ok, the car you are in breaks down in lane 3. What is the best thing to do after you have called for help?

Stay in the car with seat belts on?

Get out of the car and stand in the central reservation several meters behind the car?

Try to make a run for the hard shoulder?

According to the newspaper report the car was stopped after an accident not a breakdown. So it is quite possible that the occupant was unable to get out of the car or even call for help.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

After you've called for help?

If there are people on motorways driving in such a way that they would rear end a stationary vehicle in L3 I wouldn't be sticking around to call for help, I'd be out of there into the central reservation and across to the hard shoulder as soon as possible, then I'd call for help.

Obviously might be a bit more difficult to organise if you've got your family of five in your car.

Why? If it was driveable, why didn't she move it herself? If it wasn't driveable, what was he expecting to do? How busy was the motorway at the time? Was it still in the middle of a hailstorm?

All these questions have a bearing on the actions of what resulted in a very bad outcome for Mr Tolley.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

Because she was too badly injured?

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

This article said the lady had spun around.

If this is true, sounds like she was facing the other way, which makes the action of the two drivers that crashed into the car even more bizzare.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... attle.html

but my question is, are you safer to stay in the car, stand in the central reservation or risk running across live traffic lanes?

If she had spun round 180 degrees and facing on coming traffic, you then have to ask was it still the middle of a hailstorm and did she have her headlights on? Many people do drive without headlights in a storm and vehicles approaching would have difficulty seeing an unlit car as easily as a car with headlights.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

So what's the solution, weepej?

Let me guess...

He did the wrong thing. He should have pulled onto the hard shoulder, phoned the police then walked further back along the carriageway to signal to other drivers to slow down until trained help could be there. Unless all traffic was stopped a good distance behind the spun car there is no way in hell he should have crossed a motorway carriageway. Just because you can't see anything coming doesn't mean it won't. Also didn't it mention a hailstorm?? Hail is nasty stuff to brake on and reduces visibility to virtually nothing if it's really heavy. The other cars may have missed the storm itself but if the hail were still on the road then that would affect their braking distances quite drastically and they may have hit the same patch of hail that the woman hit which caused her to spin...

A quick way of setting warnings on the overhead gantry signs would have helped more. Considering there is cctv everywhere did anyone notice and set the signs to warn following traffic there was an accident??

Well, part of it is probably not to encourage drivers to think there's any such thing as a Safe Speed.