Another Motorway Death

[kiteless]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20663760

M6 South in Cheshire.

Just last week, I was driving home from a site meeting in Huddersfield. Tooling along the M62 West, I got thinking that the M6 around Knutsford is always borked by some incident or another (I pick up traffic reports on the radio from Shrops and Staffs channels regularly on the way home from the Wolverhampton office), so I decided to go M56 / A49 / A41 back to Telford.

It's just that the times I have used that section of M-Way, the inclination by others to drive 2 feet from the car in front seems endemic and it's always 'felt' dangerous to me. Similarly the M54 of a morning.

Every morning I drive along the '54 between J3 and J2 East-bound, and I have - for some time now - kept to 65 or 70 in L1 whenever possible because L2 (the '54 is a 2 laner) is jammed with drivers a few feet from the next, all tapping their brakes every few seconds. This morning there was a 10 vehicle crash on the M54 East; all in L2 (no serious injuries, thank fvck). As luck would have it, I heard the traffic report as I was leaving the house so I used the A5 instead.

I know that - statistically - motorways are safe, but over the last few years - on those I use like the M54 / M6 / M5 / M60 / M62 / M40 / M42 - I am constantly looking out for the next accident.

Maybe that's a good thing?

[Speed_Demon]

All comes down to the fact that the general public have no idea how go drive. Not a lot we can do about it but drive in a defensive manner.

[Baz Tench]

Is that junction 16 to 17?

That section ALWAYS seems to have issues, and I can never understand why......

[All that jazz]

Baz Tench said:

Is that junction 16 to 17?

That section ALWAYS seems to have issues, and I can never understand why......

It's straight and flat. That is the reason. Same reason why you get smashes happening on the M1 between 29 and Tibshelf on the flat bit, same for the M56 between Eccles and Risley, and partly the reason for the same at Catthorpe on the M6S. People drive too close to each other and because the road is straight they can't rely on seeing the brake lights further up the line of traffic to start easing off. One second they're happily trundling at 80mph 2 car lengths from the car in front then the next second they find themselves doing 80 into the back of a bunch of stationary vehicles.

I suspect the crash on the M6 yesterday was more due to someone cutting in front of one of the truckers to get off at the junction 100yds ahead, but the stretch from Knutsford MSA southbound is a nightmare for crashes, especially at this time of year when the sun is low and directly ahead of you.

Edited by All that jazz on Tuesday 11th December 04:56

[Zad]

Speed_Demon said:

All comes down to the fact that the general public have no idea how go drive. Not a lot we can do about it but drive in a defensive manner.

You'd think so wouldn't you, with a shocking 2,222 last year. I probably wouldn't disagree on the whole, but the most dangerous ones seem to be the ones who can drive safely, but choose not to. Tailgating reps in their A4 diesels, LHD trucks etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_...

Click on "Road fatalities by 100,000 inhabitants per year" or "Road fatalities by 100,000 road vehicles".

There are only four countries safer than the UK. The Marshall Islands, Sweden, San Marino and Malta.

[CraigyMc]

Zad said:

Speed_Demon said:

All comes down to the fact that the general public have no idea how go drive. Not a lot we can do about it but drive in a defensive manner.

You'd think so wouldn't you, with a shocking 2,222 last year. I probably wouldn't disagree on the whole, but the most dangerous ones seem to be the ones who can drive safely, but choose not to. Tailgating reps in their A4 diesels, LHD trucks etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_...

Click on "Road fatalities by 100,000 inhabitants per year" or "Road fatalities by 100,000 road vehicles".

There are only four countries safer than the UK. The Marshall Islands, Sweden, San Marino and Malta.

The death toll for 2010 was 1,857. Wikipedia's out of date (I'd update it but I'm just about to leave for work).

Linkie: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/30/road-d...

C

[northwest monkey]

Zad said:

There are only four countries safer than the UK. The Marshall Islands, Sweden, San Marino and Malta.

Interesting that. Why is Sweden safer do you think?

[Asterix]

I say this often but when I return to the UK, I find the driving incredible well mannered, safe and reasonable.

Then again, I live in Dubai and spend a fair bit of time in India so everything is relative.

While every death is a tragedy, there needs to be some perspective. British roads are actually wonderful. Unless there was a significant amount more of initial training, continual appraisal and development of each and every person on the road and coupled with draconian policing, it's hard to see how it could become significantly better.

According to the above wiki link, per kilometre, the UAE is the most dangerous in the world and per capita the 9th most dangerous. It comes as no surprise. I treat every journey as a survival exercise and my wife is too scared to drive.

Edited by Asterix on Tuesday 11th December 08:03