M5/M6 merge/collision driving poll

[Gary C]

Tonberry said:

The lorry driver is a , end of.

What are you trying to prove acting like a big man in your truck cab whilst barely earning more than minimum wage.

The caravan driver left himself short so the response to that is to essentially cause an accident rather than just pull back and let the driver merge?

Lives are lost on the roads every fking year due to stty stunts like these.

wker.

Oh come on, they are both to blame. The car driver had plenty of time to abort after the lorry made it plain he was not being let in and he was the one who technically hit the lorry when he moved to the left as the Armco started. Don't get me wrong, the lorry driver is also to blame, but the car driver was as much a knob.

[Mandalore]

Ali_T said:

s p a c e m a n said:

Er, if you miss your junction you just carry on to the next one not stop in live traffic and force your way into a gap that isn't there.

Assuming...

a) the next junction has an off ramp
b) is in the same county
c) he knows where he's going because, let's face it, he tows a caravan and wears Pringle jumpers, so he probably votes for UKIP, has early dementia and didn't fork out for a sat nag upgrade.

It does not matter, it's his supposed mistake and reasonable people who make mistakes usually accept it and move on up the road to turn around.

Unreasonable people just pretend to make a mistake, whilst fully intending to be a bell end at the end of the slip road.

[king arthur]

NoNeed said:

I pass this junction everyday and can safely say that if you get that far in the wrong lane you shouldn't be driving at all. The M5 is split with a dotted line for about 1 mile and lanes are signposted for several miles from before the previous junction.

True but sometimes the queue can stretch back a few miles too. It's quite easy to be in lane two and then realise that a queue has built up suddenly to your left, leaving you looking for a gap to pull into. However, as everyone says, if there was no gap he should have carried on to the next junction rather than try to force himself in.

I would have, and very often do, let a driver like this in front of me. What's the point in doing anything else? One more vehicle in front of you isn't going to make much difference to your day, but an accident blocking the road in front of you is.

[C.A.R.]

I had this recently - a colleague was giving me directions on the M4 and told me that actually; we needed to be in that queueing traffic to my left which peeled off to the M32. Brilliant.

So indicating my intentions to move over and searching ahead for a suitable gap whilst still travelling along at ~ 40mph with traffic behind me gaining, do you think anyone would let me in?

No. Cos in the UK we love to queue - but we hate to yield. As it happened a gap opened up but was not big enough, I tried to get over but had my rear wheel precariously in the outside lane of motorway, which stopped a truck who couldn't get by. Great.

Unfortunately the blame lies with me, forward planning is what ultimately avoids this situation. However, people make mistakes and will continue to do so until the day that driving is done for us by autonomous cars. We could all do with being a bit more accommodating on the roads, including the van driver in the original clip.

[saaby93]

Frimley111R said:

Sorry but unless you have a different highway code it is the responsibility of the caravan owner to move safely into another lane.

Mine has more at the front? Same as mr grimnasty

king arthur said:

True but sometimes the queue can stretch back a few miles too. It's quite easy to be in lane two and then realise that a queue has built up suddenly to your left, leaving you looking for a gap to pull into. However, as everyone says, if there was no gap he should have carried on to the next junction rather than try to force himself in.

I would have, and very often do, let a driver like this in front of me. What's the point in doing anything else?

At this point isn't the caravan driver acting like a HGV?



He's pulled just far enough forward and put the indicator on to let our truck driver know he wants to merge.
Next he moves slightly left and holds position waiting for the car to move forward out the way while the truck stays behind.
Unfortunately the truck doesn't and the rest is history

If it was a HGV rather than a caravan would the truck have stayed back or still closed the gap?

Edited by saaby93 on Thursday 23 April 00:53

[talksthetorque]

just after 6am on a Saturday Morning ( if the video clock is correct)

Ah, just have a crash on the M6/M5 junction, it won't hold anyone up

[Who me ?]

I didn't vote. The OPTION to get onto the M5 from M6 VIA the overhead island at J8 IS NOT GIVEN, as it's not clear which way traffic is flowing.

[Europa1]

talksthetorque said:

just after 6am on a Saturday Morning ( if the video clock is correct)

Ah, just have a crash on the M6/M5 junction, it won't hold anyone up

Video clock is not correct. Unless they have started playing football matches at 6am (driver was listening to what sounded like TalkSport or some such).

[ZesPak]

My breakdown:

The caravan driver did a correct manoeuvre (indicating well in time, giving the other drivers plenty of time to respond, merging slowly,...), he was never going to find a gap big enough to throw himself into. People who occasionally drive anything bigger than their 14ft car will be able to relate to this, you have to rely on other road users to give you space every now and then.

BUT

Maybe he waited too long, too far to execute the merge. This pissed off the truck driver.

Who then responded by causing a crash.

Worst case, the caravan driver is an entitled prick that thinks his time is more important than anyone else's.
The truck driver is a road rage aggressor and an attempted murderer.

[Gary C]

ZesPak said:

My breakdown:

The caravan driver did a correct manoeuvre (indicating well in time, giving the other drivers plenty of time to respond, merging slowly,...), he was never going to find a gap big enough to throw himself into. People who occasionally drive anything bigger than their 14ft car will be able to relate to this, you have to rely on other road users to give you space every now and then.

BUT

Maybe he waited too long, too far to execute the merge. This pissed off the truck driver.

Who then responded by causing a crash.

Worst case, the caravan driver is an entitled prick that thinks his time is more important than anyone else's.
The truck driver is a road rage aggressor and an attempted murderer.

I would disagree slightly, yes the lorry driver should have given room, but the car should have not forced an attempt to make the gap either. Only defence the car driver could have is if he could not see, I cant believe the car driver did not know the lorry was not giving him space and his belligerent attitude was as much to blame as the truck driver.

They both chose to have an accident if the other did not back down.

Both as bad as each other

[Matt UK]

If caravan man had bought a car with enough engine, he could have taken the gap ahead of the Renault...

[Gary C]

And anyone know why the woman ran up the road then turned around ?

[iacabu]

I voted close the gap but avoid a crash purely for the fact the caravan moved over before any indication the HGV was giving him room.
I normally have no issues with letting people merge as it keeps queues down and I'm not a tt, but if someone is bullying their way in and almost running into your side then they can do one to be honest

[talksthetorque]

It takes two drivers being a tt to cause an accident unless one loses control of their vehicle.

Why do you think so many insurance claims end up being 50/50, when one person swears the other was in the wrong?
Never mind if one person does something the other doesn't think is correct, if they could have avoided the accident, yet they still had an accident, it's both driver's fault.

[KTF]

Gary C said:

And anyone know why the woman ran up the road then turned around ?

She was apparently from the vehicle behind and (maybe) had the intention of moving some cones so people could get round but changed her mind.

[saaby93]

iacabu said:

I voted close the gap but avoid a crash purely for the fact the caravan moved over before any indication the HGV was giving him room.

Taking account of the camera angles the caravan was in front of the truck at that point and uses positioning and signalling to show what he wanted to do, just like an HGV might if caught in that position. It must happen every day of the week.
Whether most truck drivers would take offence who can say. I'm not doing another poll on it

[Halb]

iacabu said:

I voted close the gap but avoid a crash purely for the fact the caravan moved over before any indication the HGV was giving him room.
I normally have no issues with letting people merge as it keeps queues down and I'm not a tt, but if someone is bullying their way in and almost running into your side then they can do one to be honest

One can only move into a gap that is there. People may allow the gap or not, but if the gap is not there, it's mental to force your way in, the CRV man wanted to impose his will on the motorway and failed.
His punishment is his sartorial advice.

[vonhosen]

Halb said:

iacabu said:

I voted close the gap but avoid a crash purely for the fact the caravan moved over before any indication the HGV was giving him room.
I normally have no issues with letting people merge as it keeps queues down and I'm not a tt, but if someone is bullying their way in and almost running into your side then they can do one to be honest

One can only move into a gap that is there. People may allow the gap or not, but if the gap is not there, it's mental to force your way in, the CRV man wanted to impose his will on the motorway and failed.
His punishment is his sartorial advice.

No less so if someone is trying to force their way in ahead to drive into them if it was possible to avoid doing so.
You gain nothing doing so, you only lose too.

[ZesPak]

Halb said:

One can only move into a gap that is there. People may allow the gap or not, but if the gap is not there, it's mental to force your way in, the CRV man wanted to impose his will on the motorway and failed.
His punishment is his sartorial advice.

So thinking outside your 14ft steel box, where have you ever seen a gap big enough to fit a 30ft vehicle?

[talksthetorque]

Any gap over 30 ft created by someone who IS letting you in.