Lunacy on the M40
Discussion
RogueTrooper said:
https://live.email-dvla.service.gov.uk/w2c/en_gb/d...
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/general-information-as...
As this incident shows you need to deal with this situation now. We had to do it with my Mum. What I would advise is to persuade your Mum to see a Doctor concerning the collapses. Go with her. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/general-information-as...
Get the Doctor to instruct her to stop driving and inform the DVLA. Then you can blame the Doctor for taking her licence away rather than be blamed for it yourself. (Maybe brief the Dr in advance).
GSE said:
If the driver approached J7 along the A329 from the south-west, he may have misread this sign to turn right for the M40. The sign refers to the legitimate turn for the M40, which is over the bridge and some some distance ahead, yet seems to be positioned directly opposite the M40 exit at J7. If he did make this turn, he still managed to ignore at least 4 no entry signs, several give way and turn arrows facing the wrong way, cross three lanes of oncoming traffic to enter the motorway, and then drive at speed for some distance before the crash. It's shocking how detached from reality he must have been.
If the driver was used to that exit being initially confused is more understandable. Though of course the big question is why he didn't realise his mistake once he reached the motorway.
superlightr said:
ouch just looking at that sign does look like it could be viewed as to turn right at the sign -
The sign even shows that there's a left turn that is a no entry, but it doesn't give any indication that the nearer right turn is also a no entry. Obviously it isn't possible to have a whole long list of turns on a single sign, but as it stands I'd say the sign is positioned a bit too early to be unambiguous or it needs to indicate that the first right turn is also a no entry.
4x4Tyke said:
Labradorofperception said:
My old man is in his mid 70's. Always been an excellent driver
My old man is similar, now in his early 70's and still a reasonable driver, but I've definitely seen a deterioration from being an excellent driver a decade or more ago. I see all ages everyday I'd like off the road now!
Nearly got shunted this morning but (admittedly elderly dick) obviously watching his satnav. Horn works wonders, especially held on! His head nearly left his shoulders!
Never use satnav, never will. If I can't find where I'm heading without one, I'll give up driving. 51 yrs of driving and still going strong. Still in a quick car (needed more than ever today to avoid the many dicks on the road. Need traffic cops back (albeit not in the high numbers of years back).
Edited by dandarez on Friday 19th October 14:23
La Liga said:
There’d have been some form of police contact. They’ll be checking to see whether it was it would have been reasonable to identify any issues or take any additional measures against the elderly driver.
It’s one way of finding out if there are any processes / policies that can be improved, even if there’s no individual blame etc.
The only issues is it’ll take the IPOC 10292828163629 years to complete.
In other words they know the identity of the Subaru driver and registration. Why do you think they've not released any of their details?It’s one way of finding out if there are any processes / policies that can be improved, even if there’s no individual blame etc.
The only issues is it’ll take the IPOC 10292828163629 years to complete.
Nearly got taken out with 2 workmates in a mway services car park by what we thought was a runaway car.
It was a tiny old lady, easily in her 80s or more, intent with fiddling with her radio rather than looking where she was going.
I know I see plenty of stupid behaviour on the roads by all ages but old age and the massive increase of traffic on our roads just do not mix.
No real problems driving in London during the week but come the weekend you see them swerving, crawling along looking either utterly confused or just plain ignorant of their surroundings.
When I lived in Surrey Hills, night times were scary what with old folk pissed up from a few at the country local driving oblivious on the wrong side of the road.
It was a tiny old lady, easily in her 80s or more, intent with fiddling with her radio rather than looking where she was going.
I know I see plenty of stupid behaviour on the roads by all ages but old age and the massive increase of traffic on our roads just do not mix.
No real problems driving in London during the week but come the weekend you see them swerving, crawling along looking either utterly confused or just plain ignorant of their surroundings.
When I lived in Surrey Hills, night times were scary what with old folk pissed up from a few at the country local driving oblivious on the wrong side of the road.
SydneyBridge said:
is it possible the driver was concentrating on his/her sat nav' so closely that they ignored everything else around them?
You wouldnt ignore it for 5 miles at 60 mph would you?Should be blatently obvious you are going the wrong way. I can accept you can make the mistake in the first place, wont be the first time this has happened on our roads.
dandarez said:
Never use satnav, never will. If I can't find where I'm heading without one, I'll give up driving. 51 yrs of driving and still going strong. Still in a quick car (needed more than ever today to avoid the many dicks on the road. Need traffic cops back (albeit not in the high numbers of years back).
Blimey, the smart sat-navs are brilliant in getting you through the traffic. Not faultless, but very, very good indeed, and a genuine time saver. Waze, which is free, is superb.dandarez said:
Never use satnav, never will. If I can't find where I'm heading without one, I'll give up driving. 51 yrs of driving and still going strong. Still in a quick car (needed more than ever today to avoid the many dicks on the road. Need traffic cops back (albeit not in the high numbers of years back).
To a point I agree, I can drive from Aberdeen to London no probs, but finding a particular road within London and the suburbs when the OH cant read a map is somewhat difficult, and with all those red lines, you cant stop anywhere.My son used to move around a lot down there until he settled in Raynes Park, so sat nav was essential, also handy when we visited Canada, USA, Australia and Rome.
A lot of drivers sadly cant read a map, so rely on sat nav, until it fails.
Horses for courses.
It snarled the whole of south oxon up for hours. It took me 2 hours to get home, and I avoided the heck out of it! Reports of massive arctics stranded in the small village of Chinnor and being unable to do anything bar carrying on and getting snarled up in Thame as they could not turn around.
I had an end of work smoke with my boss at 3.50, and he went home. It might have saved his life, as he would have been in L3 at that point at that time otherwise on his way home... He was 5 cars behind the closure at J6 and had to wait an hour before they let everyone off, and luckily was not caught up in much traffic after that.
Was very morbid though, I s
t a brick just watching the dashcam footage when it came out, don't know what I would have done if I saw it hurtling towards me at the time...
I had an end of work smoke with my boss at 3.50, and he went home. It might have saved his life, as he would have been in L3 at that point at that time otherwise on his way home... He was 5 cars behind the closure at J6 and had to wait an hour before they let everyone off, and luckily was not caught up in much traffic after that.
Was very morbid though, I s
t a brick just watching the dashcam footage when it came out, don't know what I would have done if I saw it hurtling towards me at the time...GSE said:
If the driver approached J7 along the A329 from the south-west, he may have misread this sign to turn right for the M40. The sign refers to the legitimate turn for the M40, which is over the bridge and some some distance ahead, yet seems to be positioned directly opposite the M40 exit at J7. If he did make this turn, he still managed to ignore at least 4 no entry signs, several give way and turn arrows facing the wrong way, cross three lanes of oncoming traffic to enter the motorway, and then drive at speed for some distance before the crash. It's shocking how detached from reality he must have been.
I rode past J6 Lewknor 3 days before the accident. Sure, theoretically, it is possible to turn down the wrong bit. However, as others have pointed out, you get a load of no entry signs. if you go down the right one, you get an "M40" sign and an NSL sign. And this is a B road!
Still, scary how (relatively) close to home this hits.
Still, scary how (relatively) close to home this hits.
beko1987 said:
It snarled the whole of south oxon up for hours. It took me 2 hours to get home, and I avoided the heck out of it! Reports of massive arctics stranded in the small village of Chinnor and being unable to do anything bar carrying on and getting snarled up in Thame as they could not turn around.
I had an end of work smoke with my boss at 3.50, and he went home. It might have saved his life, as he would have been in L3 at that point at that time otherwise on his way home... He was 5 cars behind the closure at J6 and had to wait an hour before they let everyone off, and luckily was not caught up in much traffic after that.
Was very morbid though, I st a brick just watching the dashcam footage when it came out, don't know what I would have done if I saw it hurtling towards me at the time...
And this is a thing as well, imo. Putting aside the aspect of tragedy for the moment, apparently this week the M40 has been closed 3 times in 3 days, and then there was the crash on the M4 with three being killed. These closures cause enormous delays, to millions of people. I'm not really interested in introducing laws due to one highly unusual event, but I really would like current laws enforced much, much more, and proper punishments handed out to those who do close motorways. https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/17/cars-pile-up-on-m40...I had an end of work smoke with my boss at 3.50, and he went home. It might have saved his life, as he would have been in L3 at that point at that time otherwise on his way home... He was 5 cars behind the closure at J6 and had to wait an hour before they let everyone off, and luckily was not caught up in much traffic after that.
Was very morbid though, I s
t a brick just watching the dashcam footage when it came out, don't know what I would have done if I saw it hurtling towards me at the time...heebeegeetee said:
And this is a thing as well, imo. Putting aside the aspect of tragedy for the moment, apparently this week the M40 has been closed 3 times in 3 days, and then there was the crash on the M4 with three being killed. These closures cause enormous delays, to millions of people. I'm not really interested in introducing laws due to one highly unusual event, but I really would like current laws enforced much, much more, and proper punishments handed out to those who do close motorways.
https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/17/cars-pile-up-on-m40...
The M62 is the same every winter, there is a serious accident practically every day somewhere along it. It is often closed for hours, sometimes most of the day for investigation. In the past the Police would often aim to re-open the roads quickly, today the priorities are the investigation. I can understand this. However it seems they do need something to speed this up.https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/17/cars-pile-up-on-m40...
I image something like a google mapping vehicle, 360 degree camera to photograph the scene, 3D camera or LIDAR to map the distance of objects, generate a model. Drive it slowly past the scene It could also do extra things like have a roller to test surface grip. It could do it to a consistent very accurate standard. It would take the strain of the mundane measuring and allow the expert officers to focus on following the chain of clues, for want of better expression.
I expect it would vastly speed up the process and minimise the amount of time the road was closed as well.
red_slr said:
I am starting to suspect suicide.. not much adds up and the police also asking for family to come forward which indicates they have no NOK.
Why bother hitching the caravan back up then? why not just drive it off a cliff or bridge rather than seek a motorway crash where you might (a) take out innocent people, as they did (b) not end up dead but just painfully injured?Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff