Why so many crashes here?
Discussion
http://goo.gl/maps/t9fTf
On this section of road there is sea of dead car parts on the central reservation and rarely a month goes by without some d
head splatting in the 200 yards up the road from here to aberdeen
What is so bloody difficult about this section of dual carriageway?
On this section of road there is sea of dead car parts on the central reservation and rarely a month goes by without some d
head splatting in the 200 yards up the road from here to aberdeenWhat is so bloody difficult about this section of dual carriageway?
I'm assuming you are referring to crashes taking place during rush hour? As Portlethen (the town for which the flyover behind the Google car serves) is a commuter town there must be a reasonably steady flow of cars down the flyover. I guess all it'll take is someone in the left hand lane to be surprised by a slow moving or just generally forceful move from the slip road into the left lane to force the left lane occupant into the right lane thus impeding the progress of the chap who has nowhere to go and bins it. I've seen the aftermath of a number of one car accidents there and always felt this was the most likely cause.
kambites said:
Why would that cause crashes?
You get a lot of cars making good progress not expecting Fritz and Olga towing their mobile vacation device to swerve out past Jim in his potato filled trailer pulling Ford. With no evidence whatsoever I would hazard a guess that most accident "blackspots" are caused by large variations in speed rather than speed itself.I guess no one knows the answer and I was just having a stab at it. I do happen to use the road from time to time and this was my guess from experience.
Gusto said:
kambites said:
Why would that cause crashes?
You get a lot of cars making good progress not expecting Fritz and Olga towing their mobile vacation device to swerve out past Jim in his potato filled trailer pulling Ford. With no evidence whatsoever I would hazard a guess that most accident "blackspots" are caused by large variations in speed rather than speed itself.I guess no one knows the answer and I was just having a stab at it. I do happen to use the road from time to time and this was my guess from experience.
Can be nose to tail backed up from the bridge of dee to there so people going too fast then stationary traffic plus one of the portlethen junctions that is quite busy with an industrial estate and a large supermarket so lots of slow traffic joining a fast road on quite a short slip road. A speed camera a few hundred yards further up can also cause a ripple effect of cars going to fast slowing down which causes a random stop if it is busy.
kambites said:
Oh I see what you mean. When I've seen near misses in that sort of situation, they've almost always been caused by excessive closing speed and/or poor observation on the part of the faster vehicle, rather than lack of indication or observation on the part of the overtaker.
Ah yes, totally agree. That particular slip is bad for several reasons, it's just long enough and steep enough to get up to a good speed, which isn't always being matched by the approaching traffic. There is also a slight curve to the road at that point, so you can't see what's coming down the slip till the last few seconds.
Then there's the turning point just up the road where people in the outside lane slow down to make a u-turn, at the same time someone flys down the slip and immediately tries to overtake someone in lane one, and at the last second realises there's car braking in the outside lane and has to take evasive action. Or people are concentrating so much on the slip they can't see, they forget that people can be turning right and braking in the outside lane at that point. There's also a couple of bumps/pot holes where the slip merges with the DC, this has caught out some RWD cars as well.
It is however due to be closed off within the next couple of years, they have been slowly closing all the openings, coming from the Bridge of Dee and working south.
Then there's the turning point just up the road where people in the outside lane slow down to make a u-turn, at the same time someone flys down the slip and immediately tries to overtake someone in lane one, and at the last second realises there's car braking in the outside lane and has to take evasive action. Or people are concentrating so much on the slip they can't see, they forget that people can be turning right and braking in the outside lane at that point. There's also a couple of bumps/pot holes where the slip merges with the DC, this has caught out some RWD cars as well.
It is however due to be closed off within the next couple of years, they have been slowly closing all the openings, coming from the Bridge of Dee and working south.
Symbolica said:
This morning there's been a crash on the M4 eastbound between J36 and J35. There was another one yesterday morning, one last Thursday afternoon and one the week before. There's probably been an average of 2-3 per month for the last 9 months - and I have NO idea why 
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