A34 Tragic crash
Discussion
ukbabz said:
-crookedtail- said:
Absolutely devastating situation for those involved but why didn't anyone use the, what looks totally clear, lane 2?
The profile of the road is a bit odd at the top, and it's not uncommon for it to come to a standstill. It's quite a steep bit of road, so I suspect that sharp braking in front causes drivers to drop to a speed where they don't have the poke / feel comfortable in getting up to 70mph up hill.dogbucket said:
Why do they all have have so many gadgets stuck to the inside of their windscreens?
Sat Nav, German Toll box, Belgium Toll Box, French toll box, Dart toll box, etc etc. Unlike developed countries like America where they have EZpass for tolls and bridges, Europe has a different system for each country therefore a different vehicle box for each country. I deliver cars - week on week off when I'm not doing music. Can do 2, 3 thousand miles in a week easy. We are based not far from the A34/43/M40 intersection. The A34 is seriously dangerous in my opinion. The speed differential between lanes one and two is huge. On that road - that is the problem. As the car that was crushed under the lorry come up to the truck that it was pushed into I'll warrant there was traffic hammering past in lane two. People belt it up that hill. Yes - the driver could have anticipated but I use that road all the time and the speed differential into the other lane catches me out even when I'm expecting it. People sweep off the M4 or the M40 and just continues at that speed - till they are baulked by lorries or slow cars. Then, when it's clear it's foot to the floor. It is, frankly, terrifying. And that's coming from someone who will often do a thousand miles in a day. You know, for some reason this accident has haunted me a bit. To the extent that I'm looking for another job. I've had a few near misses of late - people are hell bent these days. I would also say that using the touch screen system in a Volvo or a Jag is easily as distracting as using a phone to scroll through music. More so in some ways. In both you need to use the screen to adjust even the seat heaters. Seriously stupid.
W124 said:
I would also say that using the touch screen system in a Volvo or a Jag is easily as distracting as using a phone to scroll through music. More so in some ways. In both you need to use the screen to adjust even the seat heaters. Seriously stupid.
I raised a similar point earlier. I think this is a very worrying trend.Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
I didn't realise that using a mobile phone that is in a hands free mount is illegal and you can be pulled for it!
It's not.https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-drivin...
gov.uk said:
Using hands-free devices when driving
You can use hands-free phones, sat navs and 2-way radios when you’re driving or riding. But if the police think you’re distracted and not in control of your vehicle you could still get stopped and penalised.
You can use hands-free phones, sat navs and 2-way radios when you’re driving or riding. But if the police think you’re distracted and not in control of your vehicle you could still get stopped and penalised.
'They' say that simply talking on a phone, whether hands free or otherwise, is as detrimental to your concentration as drink driving. Obviously a very vague statement, but the one or two times I tried it I was well and truly disorientated.
Some people probably do it without a second thought, and are fully comfortable and safe.
I can swap sides in a car, drive left or right side of the road, without even noticing, when I fly to/from the UK, but using a mobile, no chance, I simply can't do it.
Some people probably do it without a second thought, and are fully comfortable and safe.
I can swap sides in a car, drive left or right side of the road, without even noticing, when I fly to/from the UK, but using a mobile, no chance, I simply can't do it.
King Herald said:
'They' say that simply talking on a phone, whether hands free or otherwise, is as detrimental to your concentration as drink driving. Obviously a very vague statement, but the one or two times I tried it I was well and truly disorientated.
Some people probably do it without a second thought, and are fully comfortable and safe.
I can swap sides in a car, drive left or right side of the road, without even noticing, when I fly to/from the UK, but using a mobile, no chance, I simply can't do it.
But yet I don't find it a problem. You do need sone ground rules though.Some people probably do it without a second thought, and are fully comfortable and safe.
I can swap sides in a car, drive left or right side of the road, without even noticing, when I fly to/from the UK, but using a mobile, no chance, I simply can't do it.
You need to remove stress in your driving. If on the motorway I will usually slow down to lane 1 (partly as it's less nlosy). You need to be aware of your driving. If the phone call gets too intense you need to end it until a more appropriate time.
But as we know this driver was not using its phone function.
I was thinking about it last night. If the driver was able to select songs via his dash in a useable way, he would have left his phone alone. Same for his phone use as a phone. The vehicle would then know who was driving and could tell the phone to hold back undesirable app notification like text and facebook until stopped.
That would be too integration, and given that laws or no laws this problem is not going away it's time it was implemented
surveyor said:
But yet I don't find it a problem. You do need sone ground rules though.
You need to remove stress in your driving. If on the motorway I will usually slow down to lane 1 (partly as it's less nlosy). You need to be aware of your driving. If the phone call gets too intense you need to end it until a more appropriate time.
But as we know this driver was not using its phone function.
I was thinking about it last night. If the driver was able to select songs via his dash in a useable way, he would have left his phone alone. Same for his phone use as a phone. The vehicle would then know who was driving and could tell the phone to hold back undesirable app notification like text and facebook until stopped.
That would be too integration, and given that laws or no laws this problem is not going away it's time it was implemented
To be honest, you sound rather like those drivers who others can often detect are on the phone - in the inside lane, speed gradually dwindling down to 65-60-55 without them fully realising - and a stream of HGVs not far behind......You need to remove stress in your driving. If on the motorway I will usually slow down to lane 1 (partly as it's less nlosy). You need to be aware of your driving. If the phone call gets too intense you need to end it until a more appropriate time.
But as we know this driver was not using its phone function.
I was thinking about it last night. If the driver was able to select songs via his dash in a useable way, he would have left his phone alone. Same for his phone use as a phone. The vehicle would then know who was driving and could tell the phone to hold back undesirable app notification like text and facebook until stopped.
That would be too integration, and given that laws or no laws this problem is not going away it's time it was implemented
I'm saddened that the Daily Mail had an opportunity to educate their readership on a growing, dangerous crime. But I'm not surprised they took the racist angle instead.
I just wish we could turn the clock back a decade and ban these from being used in a moving car. Same with touchscreens and idrives. There must be a way of automatically disabling a phone if it detects it is in a moving car, but have a complex PIN system to open it if passengers want to use a phone.
I just wish we could turn the clock back a decade and ban these from being used in a moving car. Same with touchscreens and idrives. There must be a way of automatically disabling a phone if it detects it is in a moving car, but have a complex PIN system to open it if passengers want to use a phone.
Nickyboy said:
Sat Nav, German Toll box, Belgium Toll Box, French toll box, Dart toll box, etc etc. Unlike developed countries like America where they have EZpass for tolls and bridges, Europe has a different system for each country therefore a different vehicle box for each country.
The UK method is of course to let foreign trucks run scot free, in direct competition to our own industry.Road charging is nothing new, trucks have always had to pay to travel through Europe, but they've never been charged to travel in the UK. They don't even need to buy our expensive diesel when here.
I've never understood it.
I hate the Daily Mail and everything it stands for but I don't think they were being racist by targeting Polish drivers. Let me explain.
To relieve the boredom of long distance driving we 'play' a series of little games, for example spotting Eddie lorries. Mrs Chappussy commented on the amount of foreign lorries there appears to be on our roads lately so we did a little count the other day. Random sample of 20 lorries on the M1 that we overtook, 5 of them were foreign registered, 4 out of the five were Polish. On the return journey did the same and the results were very similar.
We have an increasing Polish community (like it or not) and there seems to be Polish shops springing up all over the place which need stocking up, is this the reason? Who lnows.
To relieve the boredom of long distance driving we 'play' a series of little games, for example spotting Eddie lorries. Mrs Chappussy commented on the amount of foreign lorries there appears to be on our roads lately so we did a little count the other day. Random sample of 20 lorries on the M1 that we overtook, 5 of them were foreign registered, 4 out of the five were Polish. On the return journey did the same and the results were very similar.
We have an increasing Polish community (like it or not) and there seems to be Polish shops springing up all over the place which need stocking up, is this the reason? Who lnows.
I had a Golf as a hire car the other day. It's the first car I've actually driven with a touch screen in the console - You had to look down to use it, and I thought while it was a cool gadget, it could also be extremely dangerous if you're the sort who would fiddle whilst driving. As dangerous as using a mobile IMO.
TSCfree said:
I think it's about time the vehicle manufacturers got together and decided exactly what its drivers should be doing and design comms/entertainment systems accordingly. If that means taking away phone/ipod connectivity, blocking phone signal, etc, so be it.
Why would it? It would mean presenting appropriate media on screen in a sensible format (ALA Car Play), and suppressing other apps say Facebook until the car is stopped.If you think about it, the modern ipod music solution is no less distracting than hunting through CD's. What does not work well is the current way of displaying that information - in some cases.
surveyor said:
If you think about it, the modern ipod music solution is no less distracting than hunting through CD's. What does not work well is the current way of displaying that information - in some cases.
Of course there have been accidents caused in the past by people scrabbling for CDs or even, in a previous era, audio cassettes. There have even been accidents caused by people changing their radio stations.But I do think that there is an extra addictitive element to this new touch screen technology. People can't walk to the loo without checking their Facebook or text messages. Indeed, people seem completely unable to leave these devices alone. It's a very worrying sociological and psychological trend that is affecting almost everything we do - not just driving.
surveyor said:
Why would it? It would mean presenting appropriate media on screen in a sensible format (ALA Car Play), and suppressing other apps say Facebook until the car is stopped.
If you think about it, the modern ipod music solution is no less distracting than hunting through CD's. What does not work well is the current way of displaying that information - in some cases.
Car Play - "It does all the basic stuff: phone calls, maps, music, and text messages using your voice. The idea is to keep your eyes on the road and not on your phone."If you think about it, the modern ipod music solution is no less distracting than hunting through CD's. What does not work well is the current way of displaying that information - in some cases.
So your still doing and thinking about lots of other stuff whilst trying to concentrate on the multitude of other tasks getting your vehicle from A to B safely.
Not essential in my view whilst driving.
Inhibit or put the distraction pods away - The idea is so you can concentrate on what you are doing.
Eric Mc said:
surveyor said:
If you think about it, the modern ipod music solution is no less distracting than hunting through CD's. What does not work well is the current way of displaying that information - in some cases.
Of course there have been accidents caused in the past by people scrabbling for CDs or even, in a previous era, audio cassettes. There have even been accidents caused by people changing their radio stations.But I do think that there is an extra addictitive element to this new touch screen technology. People can't walk to the loo without checking their Facebook or text messages. Indeed, people seem completely unable to leave these devices alone. It's a very worrying sociological and psychological trend that is affecting almost everything we do - not just driving.
In'tolden days, you put a casette (or in Eric's case, an 8-track
) in the machine and listen to an album, maybe FFWD through a track you don't like.In't'slightly less olden days, you put a CD in, to skip a track you pressed a button.
In both cases, you changed volume by twisting a knob.
Mostly you could do this without looking away from the road.
Now you have the satnav on the screen and a random selection of stuff from your phone playing. You don't like the track that's on so you look down to find the bit of the screen with the bendy arrow to get out of the map, which takes you to the destination screen, you can't remember if there's one or two more presses of the bendy arrow to get you to the main menu, so you keep looking until you get there.
Then it's locating and pressing the parts of the screen for 'Audio>AUX>Marks iPhone>skip track' all while looking down.
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