Lunacy on the M40
Discussion
PulsatingStar said:
Vipers said:
But why bomb along in L3, suicide maybe. The picture of the slip shown earlier is just so stupid to be beyond belief.
Every time an OAPs does this they seem to end up in lane 3 though. They must just be oblivious to the mistake and carry on blindly. Once you are in lane 3, trying to cross two more lanes to get out becomes harder. The M40 isn't always so busy that you wouldn't be able to get to Lane 3 without already seeing cars going against you; I drive it frequently and I could believe that. Don't forget we're only seeing footage of the tragedy once they have made it across to L3, not them getting on.
Frik said:
Breathtaking accuracy from the Mail as always. The accident was clearly not long after the dashcam footage from the outside lane was taken. There's only one bridge over the M40 between 7 and 6 and this is north of it. You can even see the church spire of St Giles in Tetsworth in the background.
Edit: Actually there is another, but they're only a couple of hundred metres apart.
I was right there, in the subsequent traffic chaos mere minutes later. It was just north of the northern-most bridge, near Tetsworth. I was on top of the hill, looking down / south. I believe I was stuck about where the dash cam footage was recorded.Edit: Actually there is another, but they're only a couple of hundred metres apart.
Edited by Frik on Wednesday 17th October 08:45
https://twitter.com/adamlstr/status/10519318086553...
otolith said:
Thurbs said:
Can't help but think a self driving car would not have reacted as well as some of the drivers in the twitter clip...
Can't help thinking a self-driving car wouldn't have driven the wrong way down the M40...Self driving cars are completely reliant on accurate map data. All it takes is for one stretch of motorway to be incorrectly marked and bam... you're being driving the wrong way.
Yet to see a self driving car handle a contraflow.
captain_cynic said:
I can.
Self driving cars are completely reliant on accurate map data. All it takes is for one stretch of motorway to be incorrectly marked and bam... you're being driving the wrong way.
Yet to see a self driving car handle a contraflow.
Two self driving cars driving at each other, also. Which decides which way to go first? Granted, reaction times would be much much better.Self driving cars are completely reliant on accurate map data. All it takes is for one stretch of motorway to be incorrectly marked and bam... you're being driving the wrong way.
Yet to see a self driving car handle a contraflow.
otolith said:
Thurbs said:
Can't help but think a self driving car would not have reacted as well as some of the drivers in the twitter clip...
Can't help thinking a self-driving car wouldn't have driven the wrong way down the M40...You don’t think it will be possible to hack into them, then?
85Carrera said:
otolith said:
Thurbs said:
Can't help but think a self driving car would not have reacted as well as some of the drivers in the twitter clip...
Can't help thinking a self-driving car wouldn't have driven the wrong way down the M40...You don’t think it will be possible to hack into them, then?
captain_cynic said:
I can.
Self driving cars are completely reliant on accurate map data. All it takes is for one stretch of motorway to be incorrectly marked and bam... you're being driving the wrong way.
Yet to see a self driving car handle a contraflow.
Surely an incorrectly mapped mway would be picked up well before cars are sent down them genuinely autonomously?Self driving cars are completely reliant on accurate map data. All it takes is for one stretch of motorway to be incorrectly marked and bam... you're being driving the wrong way.
Yet to see a self driving car handle a contraflow.
Sad that so many contributors refer to the old couple as idiots, morons or whatever. If you have many elderly relatives you will probably have some who get easily confused. They shouldn't be driving, but it doesn't mean they're idiots or morons; more likely it's their carers, relatives or neighbours who could be called idiots for not intervening to stop them driving.
Anyway, my question is : how should the police react to this situation ? Close the motorway at the next junction and hope they can stop the car (how ?) before they get that far and encounter a solid wall of stopped traffic ? Put a blockade across all lanes (and abandon their cars pretty sharpish) ? They cannot get to travel in the same direction as the offender in order to squeeze them into the central barrier.
Anyway, my question is : how should the police react to this situation ? Close the motorway at the next junction and hope they can stop the car (how ?) before they get that far and encounter a solid wall of stopped traffic ? Put a blockade across all lanes (and abandon their cars pretty sharpish) ? They cannot get to travel in the same direction as the offender in order to squeeze them into the central barrier.
alfaman said:
what I don’t get .... if you accidentally use an exit ramp for entry ... wouldn’t you realise as soon as you met the motorway that you were on the wrong (right hand) side ?
Even if momentarily confused (forgetful continental driver ) - as soon as you saw oncoming cars .. you would surely realise? And then still keep driving - WTF?!
I've been wondering this. Maybe it's like those pensioners who hit the accelerator rather than brake and even though they are going forward, they are so sure they're on the right pedal it just doesn't compute. Maybe even after they joined the motorway they just hadn't realised they'd gone wrong - after all, this is the way the satnav told them to go - so once they got on the motorway they were just totally confused and thought it was a very badly designed road (allegedly they were foreign, so they might be less sure about what to expect), and they can see the opposite carriageway with the traffic going in the direction they are going in, and think that's where they need to be, so try to head over? There must be a way to join that traffic otherwise why would the slip road have brought them here? And the satnav would think they were on the other carriageway and be telling them they are going the right way and just carry on. Even if momentarily confused (forgetful continental driver ) - as soon as you saw oncoming cars .. you would surely realise? And then still keep driving - WTF?!
What got me was seeing their windscreen wipers going in the dashcam clip. Looked like total panic.
alfaman said:
what I don’t get .... if you accidentally use an exit ramp for entry ... wouldn’t you realise as soon as you met the motorway that you were on the wrong (right hand) side ?
Even if momentarily confused (forgetful continental driver ) - as soon as you saw oncoming cars .. you would surely realise? And then still keep driving - WTF?!
Even if momentarily confused (forgetful continental driver ) - as soon as you saw oncoming cars .. you would surely realise? And then still keep driving - WTF?!
Volvo1956 said:
If they are from a foreign country.... in their eighties.... it makes you wonder how they got so far.
Apart from this incident I wonder what other carnage they left in their wake.
Pull up the drawbridge!Apart from this incident I wonder what other carnage they left in their wake.
Brexit!
TBF, they just happen to be foreign. They are not the first people to drive the wrong way down a motorway, and are unlikely to be the last, certainly until some junctions are altered.
gothatway said:
Sad that so many contributors refer to the old couple as idiots, morons or whatever. If you have many elderly relatives you will probably have some who get easily confused. They shouldn't be driving, but it doesn't mean they're idiots or morons; more likely it's their carers, relatives or neighbours who could be called idiots for not intervening to stop them driving.
I am sympathetic and wouldn't call them morons, but if the 30 yr old was your brother, cousin etc, then would you still have the same empathy for the eldery driver?Such an avoidable waste of life, it would be hard to come to terms with if you were a relative I think, tragic.
gothatway said:
Sad that so many contributors refer to the old couple as idiots, morons or whatever. If you have many elderly relatives you will probably have some who get easily confused. They shouldn't be driving, but it doesn't mean they're idiots or morons; more likely it's their carers, relatives or neighbours who could be called idiots for not intervening to stop them driving.
Disgusting apologist horse manure. Typical response these days, pathetic.Once behind the wheel you are fully responsible for your actions.
I'm sure the family of the 30'year old will join you in detracting blame from the elderly driver.
Perhaps you could just clarify exactly how far you have to drive the wrong way in lane 3 of a motorway before it's your fault, I must have missed that in my driving lessons?
NorfolkInClue1 said:
Perhaps you could just clarify exactly how far you have to drive the wrong way in lane 3 of a motorway before it's your fault,.....
For insurance purposes fault will be attributed, but for road safety there'll be a number of factors which led up to the collision, including how on earth did they manage to get there, was there any percentage due to road layout or signage that could be updated, and how long did it take for warning messages to be put out on the road.NorfolkInClue1 said:
Disgusting apologist horse manure. Typical response these days, pathetic.
Once behind the wheel you are fully responsible for your actions.
I'm sure the family of the 30'year old will join you in detracting blame from the elderly driver.
Perhaps you could just clarify exactly how far you have to drive the wrong way in lane 3 of a motorway before it's your fault, I must have missed that in my driving lessons?
Living up (down) to your name.Once behind the wheel you are fully responsible for your actions.
I'm sure the family of the 30'year old will join you in detracting blame from the elderly driver.
Perhaps you could just clarify exactly how far you have to drive the wrong way in lane 3 of a motorway before it's your fault, I must have missed that in my driving lessons?
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