Two sisters and cousin run over after M25 crash
Discussion
www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-684974,00.html
I feel sorry for the van driver. What the hell was he supposed to do??? People should not be walking about on the carriageway. Although it's not inconceivable that he was driving too fast or not paying attention. This is almost invariably the case with drivers of Mercedes Sprinters.
Actually, what *should* you do if you get shoved into the central reservation on a Motorway? Sit there ad infinitum??
Now, I'm probably going to be called a callous barsteward for this, sad as it is, but they were going to a Justin Timberlake concert. If this isn't an illustration of natural selection then I don't know what is...Two sisters and cousin run over after M25 crash
TWO sisters and a female cousin were run over and killed when they walked from their car after crashing into the central reservation of the M25.
A fourth woman, the cousin’s sister, stayed in the car and survived, suffering minor injuries and shock.
The series of accidents involving the two pairs of sisters in their twenties from the same extended family, took place in wet conditions as they were travelling from Crawley, West Sussex, to a pop concert in London.
Their Peugeot apparently swerved to avoid another car, crashed into the central reservation and became stuck in the outside lane at Reigate Hill, Surrey, between junctions 8 and 9. Three of the women decided to leave the vehicle and were hit by a passing van.
The van, a white Mercedes, went on to hit an MG sports car that had been parked on the hard shoulder because of the poor driving conditions. The van driver was treated for shock.
The sisters who were killed late on Saturday afternoon were aged 22 and 25. Their cousin who died was 22. The survivor is aged 25. Their names had not been released by police yesterday.
When the three young women left their car, they were apparently either attempting to inspect damage or trying to cross the motorway to get to the hard shoulder. A Surrey Police spokeswoman said: “Tragically three members of the same family have been killed in this terrible incident. One of the sisters is understandably very traumatised.
“The conditions were very wet at the time and the visibility was poor. It appears that a vehicle in front of the Peugeot lost control on the slippery surface and the driver had to swerve to avoid it. It clipped the central reservation and came to stop in the fast lane. Three of the women then got out and were struck by the van following behind.”
The women were travelling to Saturday night’s concert by the American pop star Justin Timberlake, the first of four at the London Arena. The spokeswoman said that the families of the women were being counselled by police liaison officers. The women would not be identified until today, when more relatives had been contacted.
Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash and said that they could not confirm which woman was driving the Peugeot. Two of the victims died at the scene while another died at hospital. A Surrey ambulance spokesman said that it seemed they had tried to cross the M25: “They were in the fast lane but have decided to get out to try to walk to the hard shoulder of the road. It’s a sad loss.”
As an indication of how bad the weather conditions were, the woman driver of the MG had stopped on the hard shoulder because she felt that she had lost control of her steering. She was not injured when the van hit her car.
Five ambulances and four fire engines were sent to the scene and Junction 8 was closed for six hours.
A post-mortem examination will take place in the next few days and an inquest will be opened.
I feel sorry for the van driver. What the hell was he supposed to do??? People should not be walking about on the carriageway. Although it's not inconceivable that he was driving too fast or not paying attention. This is almost invariably the case with drivers of Mercedes Sprinters.
Actually, what *should* you do if you get shoved into the central reservation on a Motorway? Sit there ad infinitum??
'Er climb over the barrier into the central reservation rather than making a mad dash across 3 lanes of traffic to go where the infomercials tell you I reckon.
There'll be a gap in the traffic soon enough, either that or the police will go past at some point.
Thing is that a car causing an obstruction and hence delay to other motorists is probably going to be reported to 999 about 5000 times in the first five minutes, they should have just stayed where they were, but then hindsight is easy...
There'll be a gap in the traffic soon enough, either that or the police will go past at some point.
Thing is that a car causing an obstruction and hence delay to other motorists is probably going to be reported to 999 about 5000 times in the first five minutes, they should have just stayed where they were, but then hindsight is easy...
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Actually, what *should* you do if you get shoved into the central reservation on a Motorway? Sit there ad infinitum??
I was unfortunate enough to write off my M3 (not such a bad thing) on the motoway after spinning several times in the wet, speed not an issue in this case, luckily i managed to escape being hit, but i didnt get out of the car, and the sight of 3 lanes of traffic, stationary about a metre from the wreckage of the car gave me enough of a shove to bang it into 1st and get the hell out of there to the relative safety of the hard shoulder...
I'd also like to thank the helpful patrol Range Rover for not stopping as it was clearly too wet to come to my aid...
CarZee said: As an afterthought, do you think this Justin wossisface tosser could be charged with something as an accessory???
Though I guess he's been practicing dropping the soap for just such an occasion..
I thought you were talking about me then Carzee, i too am a Justin, although i would never answer to the term, wossisface tosser...
Was that this Saturday just gone? If so, the conditions were bloody awful and changing very quickly. If you'd just smacked into the central reservation you'd be lucky if you were still capable of thinking clearly enough not to get yourself killed. You'd only have had a few seconds to act.
Probably the only "safe" thing to do would be to get out of the car immediately, get into the central reservation and run back up the road. No chance of crossing, almost certain to get hit if you stayed in the car and a reasonable chance of getting injured in the pile up if you just stood in the central reservation or ran away in the direction of the traffic. Moving back up the road might just give approaching drivers a bit of extra warning.
Probably the only "safe" thing to do would be to get out of the car immediately, get into the central reservation and run back up the road. No chance of crossing, almost certain to get hit if you stayed in the car and a reasonable chance of getting injured in the pile up if you just stood in the central reservation or ran away in the direction of the traffic. Moving back up the road might just give approaching drivers a bit of extra warning.
Very Sad.
Its not clear if they were within the central reservation or on the road side next to the cent res.?
My first reaction if stuck in lane 3 would be to get out asap into the central reservtion and then leg it asap to the other side of the hard shoulder when a suitable gap appears.
I bet they dint have much time, poor visibility, shock, cold, fright.
My sympathies, as easily done to anyone of us. you can only have a plan and hope to beable to follow it if unfortuante enough to happen to you.
Cant think of a more dangerous place to be then stuck in lane 3.
Its not clear if they were within the central reservation or on the road side next to the cent res.?
My first reaction if stuck in lane 3 would be to get out asap into the central reservtion and then leg it asap to the other side of the hard shoulder when a suitable gap appears.
I bet they dint have much time, poor visibility, shock, cold, fright.
My sympathies, as easily done to anyone of us. you can only have a plan and hope to beable to follow it if unfortuante enough to happen to you.
Cant think of a more dangerous place to be then stuck in lane 3.
Very sad.
If the girls had left a larger gap then when the car in front lost control there might have been room to change lanes with a less drastic manouvre than a swerve...avoiding the skid...and avoiding the terrible consequences.
Of course. Who's to say they hadn't left a large gap anyway - and the road surface had oil on it?
Very sad indeed.
And they did exactly what I'd have done - try to get to the hard shoulder because sure enough if you're stuck in lane three someone will hit you eventually and that'd would be fatal too.
So there but for the grace etc...
If the girls had left a larger gap then when the car in front lost control there might have been room to change lanes with a less drastic manouvre than a swerve...avoiding the skid...and avoiding the terrible consequences.
Of course. Who's to say they hadn't left a large gap anyway - and the road surface had oil on it?
Very sad indeed.
And they did exactly what I'd have done - try to get to the hard shoulder because sure enough if you're stuck in lane three someone will hit you eventually and that'd would be fatal too.
So there but for the grace etc...
CarZee said: I feel sorry for the van driver. What the hell was he supposed to do??? People should not be walking about on the carriageway. Although it's not inconceivable that he was driving too fast or not paying attention. This is almost invariably the case with drivers of Mercedes Sprinters.
Actually, what *should* you do if you get shoved into the central reservation on a Motorway? Sit there ad infinitum??
As someone who has been in the position of the van driver i.e. hit a car which had hit the central reservation, you should definitely get out the car. But just don't get out and run blindly across the carriageway - although after a crash/smash you don't necessarily think very clearly.
I have been in the situation of being stranded in the central reservation, albeit a dual carriageway. I got out of the car as my chances of being hit were high, and walked down the carriageway from my car so the car was between me and the oncoming traffic.
My logic was that that way I had something between me and the oncoming traffic, if the car was hit I would have more warning and a greater ability to get out the way. If I had walked in the direction of the traffic I felt that any traffic swerving or emergency stopping due to the obstruction on the carriageway had a greater chance of hitting me. In fact someone who had stopped because my car was in the way was hit up the back by a Sprinter van but he managed to swerve round my car. The Sprinter driver was cautioned for driving without due care, and was not happy, muttering that because some idiot had crashed he was cautioned. I didn't tell him I was the original cause!
It would be interesting to know Madcop or any other BiBs view. But mine would be to stay by the central reservation but to move away from the car. Crossing 3 or 4 lanes of fast moving traffic is I suspect a job for experts, particularly in poor visibility.
Do feel for the families involved, and in particular for the survivor who is presumably thinking "If only...."
My logic was that that way I had something between me and the oncoming traffic, if the car was hit I would have more warning and a greater ability to get out the way. If I had walked in the direction of the traffic I felt that any traffic swerving or emergency stopping due to the obstruction on the carriageway had a greater chance of hitting me. In fact someone who had stopped because my car was in the way was hit up the back by a Sprinter van but he managed to swerve round my car. The Sprinter driver was cautioned for driving without due care, and was not happy, muttering that because some idiot had crashed he was cautioned. I didn't tell him I was the original cause!
It would be interesting to know Madcop or any other BiBs view. But mine would be to stay by the central reservation but to move away from the car. Crossing 3 or 4 lanes of fast moving traffic is I suspect a job for experts, particularly in poor visibility.
Do feel for the families involved, and in particular for the survivor who is presumably thinking "If only...."
Some bits of the M25 have that "single lump of concrete" central reserve these days, so if you're trying to get somewhere safeish, you no longer have the option of between the two armco barriers.
'course I don't know what's a JCT8, 'cos I haven't a clue which junction is which on teh M25 - I go by road names, not junction numbers. Makes traffic reports useless to me too...
All in all, very very sad though.
'course I don't know what's a JCT8, 'cos I haven't a clue which junction is which on teh M25 - I go by road names, not junction numbers. Makes traffic reports useless to me too...
All in all, very very sad though.
Marshy said: Some bits of the M25 have that "single lump of concrete" central reserve these days, so if you're trying to get somewhere safeish, you no longer have the option of between the two armco barriers.
'course I don't know what's a JCT8, 'cos I haven't a clue which junction is which on teh M25 - I go by road names, not junction numbers. Makes traffic reports useless to me too...
All in all, very very sad though.
Jct 8 is Reigate
I'm sorry for those involved though Gassing Station | Motoring News | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff