Middle lane on M5 ?

[empip]

Oooer !!

http://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/...0841625036452/640x360_1941350841625036452.mp4

What gives ? Did Volvo pull out and hit passing blue car - left rear door Volvo has suspicious black scuff mark on driver's side rear door, blue car has white paint or scrape marks from armco on it's passenger front door,
see at time 0:16.

M5-incident

• empip
• 3 Feb 2016

Apparently all persons safe including baby in Volvo ...

How would you go about helping panicked people from an upturned car when they are hanging upside down in seatbelts ? How to turn off ignition if keyless ? Must be quite a shocking situation to be first on the scene. Mobile phone worth its weight in such a situation.
Truck driver stopped next to a 'mile' post which is actually emergency phone I reckon, so accurate position assured.
He deserved a good old expletive !!

 

[securespark]

Watching the footage over and over, I reckon the blue car was in the third lane and moved into the second lane with the white car in his blindspot.

If you pause the video immediately you hear the impact, you see the front nearside corner of the blue car appear at the bottom r/h/s of the frame. Advance frame by frame and the white car appears in between the lorry and the blue car.

As for help, seatbelts usually lock and do not release in an upturned vehicle so it's a case of reaching the release or cutting the belts.

Either way, you have a problem stopping the occupants hitting the roof...

Modern cars have an impact-operated fuel stop valve so that will cut the engine but there is no way to cut the power (unless it is a commercial vehicle with an external shut-off).

 

[JohnD]

I once went to assist a car that had spun, hit Armco, rolled over, righted itself.

Driver was either drunk, or had hit his head, kept trying to drive away. He wouldn't let me take the key out so I prevented him moving the gear lever until police arrived.

 

[securespark]

Hear any more about it? Called to court?

 

[JohnD]

not mine.

It is a notorious stretch, a "B" road coming off the roundabout from a fast dual carriageway. Drunk, stupid or incompetent drivers spin into the barrier often enough for it to have several different colours and ages. Today a section is coned off where it was pushed sideways and removed after the most recent case, and another bit is slightly bent.

 

[conny]

Pity there is no rear camera footage.
Had a transit van joining from a slip road a few weeks ago. I had seen him in my mirrors so was aware he 'should' join behind me. Suddenly he sped past on my left and just managed to squeeze in front, causing me to brake sharply. When I got to work I loaded the footage into the computer and showed a mate the front recording and asked him what he thought happened. His reply was that obviously the guy had been 'bombing it' down the slip road to try and get in front.
I then showed him the rear footage, which showed the transit was actually going at a steady pace down the slip road, and was actually slowly falling back from me at one stage, (not because I was speeding up I must add), so to see him suddenly pull in front of me was a bit of a shock.
Unfortunately I didn't keep a copy of it.

 

[Brigadier]

M5 j1 southbound this very morning, I saw a woman move into the inside lane, from the middle lane. Very courteous.
Except that in doing so, she forced the person trying to actually join the inside lane from the on-slip, to jam on the brakes, and move into the hard shoulder.
Bless her considerate adherence to not hogging the middle lane.......

 

[securespark]

To be fair, the person joining the motorway should have been watching out and giving way to traffic already on the m/way.

It is a give way and the person coming onto the motorway should be looking well (including over their shoulder) and adjusting their speed so they can join safely. If they cannot join safely, they should be prepared to stop until they can.

 

[Brigadier]

To be fair, the person joining the motorway should have been watching out and giving way to traffic already on the m/way.

It is a give way and the person coming onto the motorway should be looking well (including over their shoulder) and adjusting their speed so they can join safely. If they cannot join safely, they should be prepared to stop until they can.

Agree, but in the real world, how exactly is anyone supposed to join a motorway as busy as around here, from a standstill on the sliproad? Nose to tail wagons at 56mph, and a reasonable gap slammed shut by some dullard?
Rules is rules, but a bit of appreciation for other road users goes a long way.

 

[securespark]

I agree: a little give and take helps a great deal.

I no longer drive due to poor eyesight but in nearly 30 years have driven hundreds of thousands of miles, much on motorways. I always used to pull out to the second lane where possible when approaching a slip which in the good old days got grateful thanks.

These days, however, it seems to be that people joining a motorway now think they have priority (nay a God-given right) to join a motorway without a thought for the vehicles already on it.

As you may have guessed, I am a believer in the give and take approach. If neither the motorway "joiner" nor the motorway "occupier" are unbending in their attitude, life is a lot easier.

The trouble is, as seems to be highlighted by the crazy increase in road rage incidents, many think the road is theirs and theirs alone, not to be shared with anyone and woe betide anyone who crosses their path.

 

[EFLImpudence]

These days, however, it seems to be that people joining a motorway now think they have priority (nay a God-given right) to join a motorway without a thought for the vehicles already on it.

I think it is just incompetence. They (lots, most?) just follow the white line and to hell with anyone else.

Much the same happens on ordinary roads when two lanes become one.
Those in the right hand lane just follow the white line as it forces them to the left.
Even when busy, most of them do not even look in their nearside mirror.

 

[securespark]

Going back to what I was saying about road rage, is road rage a result of drivers feeling their personal space is being impinged upon, or is it because of incompetence (ie drivers doing stupid, thoughtless stuff and others sounding their horns in response)?

 

[Brigadier]

Going back to what I was saying about road rage, is road rage a result of drivers feeling their personal space is being impinged upon, or is it because of incompetence (ie drivers doing stupid, thoughtless stuff and others sounding their horns in response)?

Some of it is an "F you!"-attitude, where they feel "brave", wrapped up in their metal box, and knowing that they're unlikely to have to face up to the person they're bawling at. Similar to keyboard warrior mentality.

 

[HawkEye244]

A moments silence please for the unsung hero in all this ... the crash barrier.

 

[Dave54]

A moments silence please for the unsung hero in all this ... the crash barrier.

And the emergency services who come and sort the mess out in the aftermath!
Some of the problems seem to be from people treating the car as a sort of extension to their living space. A sort of "mobile armchair" rather than a tonne and a half of dangerous machinery. They're not "drivers" just "operators".