Fatal on A303 today - At Solstice Park Gatso Site

[cptsideways]

Oo the A303 today & passing Solstice Park eastbound, noticed the road was closed westbound at the "Gatso Junction" a site I've previoulsy posted about the immense amount of skid marks & barrier damage by the Gatso, a scene of frequent carnage due to overbreaking & subsequent avoidance manouvers, that never happened pre Gatso

According to the news a pedestrian was killed at the site today, few details given. I wonder if somone was watching their speedo??

http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/8127362.Man...

[pugwash4x4]

past it going the other way at about 8:20- still had investigators taking photos. A silver transit sized van (think it was actually a Ducato or similar) had a very very odd dent in it- offside front, but the dent was slanted backwards, almost as if something was falling onto the bonnet.

Another vehicle stopped on the side of the road with a very shocked looking driver- but no dents on the car.

Maybe it was a suicide from the bridge above.

[cptsideways]

No mention of pedestrians in the lastest news article. My bet is its related to someone doing something odd past the speed camera, I wonder what I'll await for the final outcome of this one, wonder if the person responsible for installing the camera there will stand up to be counted following this?

Here's a pic of the scene & you can see the tell cones lead all the way from the camera zone.




http://www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/news/4361133.Fa...

[Bugeyeandy]

Looking towards the vans final position, seems like the camera may have been a factor. Is this junction normally a place where queues build up too?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&a...

[Political Pain]

cptsideways said:

Oo the A303 today & passing Solstice Park eastbound, noticed the road was closed westbound at the "Gatso Junction" a site I've previoulsy posted about the immense amount of skid marks & barrier damage by the Gatso, a scene of frequent carnage due to overbreaking & subsequent avoidance manouvers, that never happened pre Gatso

According to the news a pedestrian was killed at the site today, few details given. I wonder if somone was watching their speedo??

http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/8127362.Man...

That bit of road has [since the Gatso] has been a bloody nightmare, pre Gatso and for a while after it was put up drove that road regularly, avoid it now.

The reason I stopped was precisely because of what I saw one sunny day a few years ago an accident caused by sudden braking because of the Gatso, nothing coming down the slip, van brakes and car clips the back end of the van then hits a car in the second lane.

The road was totally clear ahead, the van was safer keeping to his 75-80mph but dropped to 40-50 because of the Gatso, the woman that hit him was badly hurt.

Foolish placement in my opinion.

[tuffer]

They should take it down and move it 2 miles up the road to my village where HGV's regularly thunder through at 56mph.

[k-ink]

The powers that be think it's far safer if we ignore the roads ahead and stare at our speedometers instead.

[Deerfoot]

Bugeyeandy said:

Is this junction normally a place where queues build up too?

Kind of. Just down the road is the Countess roundabout. About two miles further on is Stonehenge where the A303 goes from two to one lane. There are often queues in the summer down past the camera.

It does look like a large impact on the front offside of that van for a pedestrian doesn`t it?

I live about a mile and a half away from Solstice Park and I`ve heard no further details of the crash either.

[bmw2002]

cptsideways said:

I'll await for the final outcome of this one, wonder if the person responsible for installing the camera there will stand up to be counted following this?

Not a chance, they'll use it as justification.

[cptsideways]

Apparently it was a Squaddie pedestrian that was hit by a 40 tonner! The van was involved in the after impact I guess. I dont suspect anyone was expecting someone walking down the A303 at 3am! And right at that spot I bet 90% of drivers are'nt going to be looking where they are going for a good few moments either...

I wonder if they'll be justifying the camera in that place for much longer?

To me its THE most dangerous placement for a camera, right on a busy junction on a downhill section, where drivers need to be aware of the sliproad traffic especially. As I've said before there are literally dozens of skid marks many leading into the barriers right by the gatso.

[Benjybh]

Am I right in thinking that MoD Boscombe Down is off to the right of the above photo?

[cptsideways]

Benjybh said:

Am I right in thinking that MoD Boscombe Down is off to the right of the above photo?

[Deerfoot]

Benjybh said:

Am I right in thinking that MoD Boscombe Down is off to the right of the above photo?

Yep.

My guess is the lad was taking a short cut to Bulford Camp which is just up the hill to the left on the photo above.

[bracken78]

I was very close to having an accident there once. In my Landy towing and full with holiday bits in the slow land. A polo comes past not going much faster than me then as pulling in font of me saw the Gatso and brakes very hard, for not reason. Landys don't stop to well and I ended up in the fast land next to him. Thanking my lucky stars no one was next to me.

I have seen this sort of thing happen there before. Really bad place for a Gatso!

[clarksonisawilly]

My god, the dent on that van was caused by one man!?

[jimmy156]

I am not usually one to defend cameras at all, but to not see that one would be nigh on retarded. There is about a mile of straight road before it giving you plenty of time to see it, and if you hit someone up the rear after they brake you were either not paying attention or following too close. I drove past that camera twice a week for 2 and 1/2 years and never once saw/had problem.

[Patrick Bateman]

jimmy156 said:

I am not usually one to defend cameras at all, but to not see that one would be nigh on retarded. There is about a mile of straight road before it giving you plenty of time to see it, and if you hit someone up the rear after they brake you were either not paying attention or following too close. I drove past that camera twice a week for 2 and 1/2 years and never once saw/had problem.

And if they cut in and brake?

[shouldbworking]

You would have to be quite seriously inattentive to miss that camera. However, for a pedestrian to get mished out there... god knows what they thought they were doing. It makes me wonder if it was suicide.

Edit : 21 year old man, 4am, pedestrian. I wouldnt be surprised if they turned out to be drunk + lost.

Edited by shouldbworking on Saturday 1st May 19:18

[jimmy156]

Patrick Bateman said:

jimmy156 said:

I am not usually one to defend cameras at all, but to not see that one would be nigh on retarded. There is about a mile of straight road before it giving you plenty of time to see it, and if you hit someone up the rear after they brake you were either not paying attention or following too close. I drove past that camera twice a week for 2 and 1/2 years and never once saw/had problem.

And if they cut in and brake?

granted that would be unavoidable, but not something i ever witnessed here. I think there are far more dangerous cameras/other hazards then this particular one, you can literally see it from a mile away.

[davepoth]

That Gatso is pretty much at the slip road. Although there is good visibility there is a hell of a lot of stuff going on, and you can see why someone could get distracted.