Lotus Evora crashed on M40 - owner on here?
Discussion
Driving in the horrendous & torrential conditions up the M40 yesterday morning, I was passed by an Evora (who I must add, was not gunning it!), and off into the distance he steadily went. Then, about 100-200 yards ahead I saw him hit some standing water, the back-end immedatly broke loose and he smacked into the barrier hard, bounced across the three carriages, and ended up on the hard shoulder. There were bits of Evora scattered over lane 1 and traffic was brought down to a very slow crawl.
It all happened in the blink of an eye, but as the traffic slowed down it became abundantly clear that nobody who witnessed it was actually going to stop, they all sped up and carried on driving! I immediately whacked the hazards on and pulled across to the hard shoulder ahead and ran back to make sure the driver was ok.
As the rain continued to lash down, the guy got out of his car and seemed very calm, insisting he was ok and said he was going to call the AA. I offered him an umbrella etc, but he said he was fine. He shook my hand and thanked me for stopping, before I went on my way.
On reflection, I regret not staying for longer to make sure he wasn't in more shock than first appeared. I am also saddened (but not entirely surprised!) that nobody else who witnessed his crash stopped to help.
If anybody knows the guy, could you drop me a MSG, just to put my mind at ease and/or if he needs any more help.
Cheers
It all happened in the blink of an eye, but as the traffic slowed down it became abundantly clear that nobody who witnessed it was actually going to stop, they all sped up and carried on driving! I immediately whacked the hazards on and pulled across to the hard shoulder ahead and ran back to make sure the driver was ok.
As the rain continued to lash down, the guy got out of his car and seemed very calm, insisting he was ok and said he was going to call the AA. I offered him an umbrella etc, but he said he was fine. He shook my hand and thanked me for stopping, before I went on my way.
On reflection, I regret not staying for longer to make sure he wasn't in more shock than first appeared. I am also saddened (but not entirely surprised!) that nobody else who witnessed his crash stopped to help.
If anybody knows the guy, could you drop me a MSG, just to put my mind at ease and/or if he needs any more help.
Cheers
Edited by kmpowell on Sunday 2nd December 17:21
kmpowell said:
Driving in the horrendous & torrential conditions up the M40 yesterday morning, I was passed by an Evora (who I must add, was not gunning it!), and off into the distance he steadily went. Then, about 100-200 yards ahead I saw him hit some standing water, the back-end immedatly broke loose ...
Why would this happen? 
Motorways tend to be relatively straight so why would it immediately have issues (ebay chinese tyres of unknown standard aside).
hyphen said:
Why would this happen?
Motorways tend to be relatively straight so why would it immediately have issues (ebay chinese tyres of unknown standard aside).
As per the above answer.Motorways tend to be relatively straight so why would it immediately have issues (ebay chinese tyres of unknown standard aside).
When water is deep enough and aquaplaning occurs ,the car is effectively floating on the water ,the tyres are no longer in contact with the road a
and the chances of retaining control are quite small.
LotusOmega375D said:
Yes, do you know if he had cruise control engaged? I certainly wouldn't, if it was streaming with rain and there was standing water with those big fat tyres. Just seems like a recipe for disaster.
Do you not understand the concept of speculation and the term maybe?Plenty of people use cruise in the wet because they don't realise the risk.
In context someone asked "how would this happen?" so the reply, maybe aquaplaning, maybe cruise engaged which would exacerbate the aquaplaning issue.
Likewise, maybe he had a blowout, maybe he had different tread patters on the same axle, maybe a brake seized.
The fact is we don't know we can only speculate.
maybe
/ˈmeɪbiː,ˈmeɪbi/
adverb
adverb: maybe
1.
perhaps; possibly.
"maybe I won't go back"
synonyms: perhaps, possibly, conceivably, it could be (that), it is possible (that), for all one knows;
Edited by blueg33 on Monday 3rd December 21:09
Pericoloso said:
hyphen said:
Why would this happen?
Motorways tend to be relatively straight so why would it immediately have issues (ebay chinese tyres of unknown standard aside).
As per the above answer.Motorways tend to be relatively straight so why would it immediately have issues (ebay chinese tyres of unknown standard aside).
When water is deep enough and aquaplaning occurs ,the car is effectively floating on the water ,the tyres are no longer in contact with the road a
and the chances of retaining control are quite small.
Assuming a higher risk due to the lighter weight of the car?
kmpowell said:
Driving in the horrendous & torrential conditions up the M40 yesterday morning, I was passed by an Evora (who I must add, was not gunning it!), and off into the distance he steadily went. Then, about 100-200 yards ahead I saw him hit some standing water, the back-end immedatly broke loose and he smacked into the barrier hard, bounced across the three carriages, and ended up on the hard shoulder. There were bits of Evora scattered over lane 1 and traffic was brought down to a very slow crawl.
It all happened in the blink of an eye, but as the traffic slowed down it became abundantly clear that nobody who witnessed it was actually going to stop, they all sped up and carried on driving! I immediately whacked the hazards on and pulled across to the hard shoulder ahead and ran back to make sure the driver was ok.
As the rain continued to lash down, the guy got out of his car and seemed very calm, insisting he was ok and said he was going to call the AA. I offered him an umbrella etc, but he said he was fine. He shook my hand and thanked me for stopping, before I went on my way.
On reflection, I regret not staying for longer to make sure he wasn't in more shock than first appeared. I am also saddened (but not entirely surprised!) that nobody else who witnessed his crash stopped to help.
If anybody knows the guy, could you drop me a MSG, just to put my mind at ease and/or if he needs any more help.
Cheers
It all happened in the blink of an eye, but as the traffic slowed down it became abundantly clear that nobody who witnessed it was actually going to stop, they all sped up and carried on driving! I immediately whacked the hazards on and pulled across to the hard shoulder ahead and ran back to make sure the driver was ok.
As the rain continued to lash down, the guy got out of his car and seemed very calm, insisting he was ok and said he was going to call the AA. I offered him an umbrella etc, but he said he was fine. He shook my hand and thanked me for stopping, before I went on my way.
On reflection, I regret not staying for longer to make sure he wasn't in more shock than first appeared. I am also saddened (but not entirely surprised!) that nobody else who witnessed his crash stopped to help.
If anybody knows the guy, could you drop me a MSG, just to put my mind at ease and/or if he needs any more help.
Cheers
Edited by kmpowell on Sunday 2nd December 17:21
Well done.Suppose always a bit dodgy to stop, as crashed often happen on Motorway when on the hard shoulder so its a dangerous place to be.
Searched online for more, a local rag has an article: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17269625.traffic...
with a link to this blokes Twitter. Elise he calls it!! https://twitter.com/squeaky149/status/106878660403...
Also a thread on the Lotus forum posted by someone who saw this thread, driver not on there yet.https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/99802-evora-crash-on-m40/
with a link to this blokes Twitter. Elise he calls it!! https://twitter.com/squeaky149/status/106878660403...
Also a thread on the Lotus forum posted by someone who saw this thread, driver not on there yet.https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/99802-evora-crash-on-m40/
I remember a journalist story in the 1980s on this subject. He was driving a then new Giugiaro Turbo Esprit on the motorway in Switzerland. He encountered a thunderstorm and the road soon became flooded. He felt the fat tyres losing grip and had to slow down significantly to a safe speed. At which point the Citroen 2CV he had overtaken a few minutes before came zooming past. Its combination of low power and narrow tyres made it a more sure-footed drive than the Lotus in those conditions.
hyphen said:
LotusOmega375D said:
Its combination of low power and narrow tyres made it a more sure-footed drive than the Lotus in those conditions.
Same in the snow and ice too!Gassing Station | Evora | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff