M74 Crash. 2 die. Lead Driver Jailed!
Discussion
In the Evening Times yesterday! Crash on the M74 on Sunday night after a Cruise at Strathclyde Country park.
www.eveningtimes.co.uk/cgi-bin/page?t=news&id=5001851
So why blame the other driver.
Fair point, both drivers being naughty.
Escort Cosworths and RS Turbos can do 150mph anyway.
So the other driver lost control, and the lead driver gets a jail term!!! Justice?? He was breaking the law by speeding/racing. I accept that. But how did HE cause death by dangerous driving. They were both driving dangerously. Who would have been blamed for the deaths if all had died??
Is it me or does it sound as if Strathclyde Police were looking for a scape goat??
>>> Edited by tvradict on Wednesday 27th February 10:14
www.eveningtimes.co.uk/cgi-bin/page?t=news&id=5001851
quote:
The driver of the other car, John Henderson, 26, and passenger Mark Hughes, 24, were killed when Mr Henderson lost control of his RS Turbo and crashed, with the car bursting into flames.
So why blame the other driver.
quote:
But Lady Smith told Murphy: "You were involved in a high-speed race involving two cars which had been modified to increase their speed and horsepower. There were other cars on the road at the time."
Fair point, both drivers being naughty.
quote:
Murphy's turbo-driven Escort had been adapted so it could reach more than 150mph.
Mr Henderson's Escort had also undergone modifications to its engine and fuel mechanism.
Escort Cosworths and RS Turbos can do 150mph anyway.
quote:
Murphy's car was leading and pulled out to overtake the third car. Mr Henderson had to take evasive action and hit the central reservation.
He lost control and ploughed into a fence, overturning twice.
So the other driver lost control, and the lead driver gets a jail term!!! Justice?? He was breaking the law by speeding/racing. I accept that. But how did HE cause death by dangerous driving. They were both driving dangerously. Who would have been blamed for the deaths if all had died??
Is it me or does it sound as if Strathclyde Police were looking for a scape goat??
>>> Edited by tvradict on Wednesday 27th February 10:14
I have to admit it doesn't look great, but then the article was clearly written by someone with the journalistic talents of a mad cow.
Doesn't ring true that it's plod looking for a scape goat - the decision to prosecute will have been taken by the CPS (they have that in Scotland I presume?) an the the court will have been able to cast an eye over the circumstances..
the guy pleaded guilty though so either he had a crap lawyer or they had him banged to rights..
Impossible to say from the random selection of words vomited onto the page by the author of the article.
Doesn't ring true that it's plod looking for a scape goat - the decision to prosecute will have been taken by the CPS (they have that in Scotland I presume?) an the the court will have been able to cast an eye over the circumstances..
the guy pleaded guilty though so either he had a crap lawyer or they had him banged to rights..
Impossible to say from the random selection of words vomited onto the page by the author of the article.
Perhaps its the "had to take evasive action" bit.? Maybe if the lead car did something daft/rash at speed that caused the second car to crash in trying to aviod it he could get done for causing Death by Dangerous driving..?
We get a similar sort of thing on the motorway though don't we... Someone loses concentration, swerves/breaks suddenly, then next thing you know, three cars behind them have hit each other trying to avoid it, and then the person at the front drives on oblivious to the carnage they just produced...
Matt.
We get a similar sort of thing on the motorway though don't we... Someone loses concentration, swerves/breaks suddenly, then next thing you know, three cars behind them have hit each other trying to avoid it, and then the person at the front drives on oblivious to the carnage they just produced...
Matt.
I can see how someone less sympathetic to petrolheaded matters could easily argue that both drivers were responsible for 'causing death by dangerous driving'. Incitement is considered in dangerous driving cases these days.quote:
We get a similar sort of thing on the motorway though don't we... Someone loses concentration, swerves/breaks suddenly, then next thing you know, three cars behind them have hit each other trying to avoid it, and then the person at the front drives on oblivious to the carnage they just produced...
Happens all too often. A mate of mine was cut up by a lorry on the M5. In trying to avoid it he ended up losing control, spinning, hitting the barrier and causing a massive hold up. Lorry just drove off. Pigs didn't bother trying to find witnesses to find out who the trucker was just told him he would soon be receiving a bill for the damaged crash barrier. He was pi55ed off
quote:
quote:
Escort Cosworths and RS Turbos can do 150mph anyway.
Not unless they are modified
RS Turbos have to be modified but Cossies don't! All cossies, Sierra and Escort can do 150mph. Once, and then they blow up!!
Mayve I'm wrong but I always thought Escortn Cossies could do 150mph Standard!!
why are they making a point about the car being modified? loads of cars can top 150.
What is more relevant, is "what speed were they doing at time of accident" ??
Jeez. A hayabusa can do 200 on a good day, if that had a smash at 35mph, would the headline be "200mph death bike rider nicked for excess speed?"
Once again, sensationalist journo's writting about what they don't understand.
The mind boggles.
What is more relevant, is "what speed were they doing at time of accident" ??
Jeez. A hayabusa can do 200 on a good day, if that had a smash at 35mph, would the headline be "200mph death bike rider nicked for excess speed?"
Once again, sensationalist journo's writting about what they don't understand.
The mind boggles.
quote:
We get a similar sort of thing on the motorway though don't we... Someone loses concentration, swerves/breaks suddenly, then next thing you know, three cars behind them have hit each other trying to avoid it, and then the person at the front drives on oblivious to the carnage they just produced...
Yes, i see this on the motorway all the time. The cars following behind however have to take responsibility for their own driving. If they have not left enough room to stop, then they are TOO CLOSE!
Talking of losing concentration. There was another story about a guy on the M74 near Beattock Summit killed after hitting the rear of a gritter.
Big fecking yellow truck, orange flashy lights, .etc.
There were no details but how fast does closing speed need to be to cause death if both are traveling the same way?
How out of it do you need to be to miss (or should that be hit) a gritter?
Big fecking yellow truck, orange flashy lights, .etc.
There were no details but how fast does closing speed need to be to cause death if both are traveling the same way?
How out of it do you need to be to miss (or should that be hit) a gritter?
yeah...and think it's fair to say that he did no-one harm by removing himself from the gene-pool....
re: the article...glad he got jail..should have been longer. It is exactly this sort of incident which gives everyone with a perfoamrnce car a police taregt on their backs (admittedly not helped by the crap reporting). I think we'd call it 'innapropriate use of speed' - I'd include 'inapropriate vehicle for someone without the talent to control it'.
Night
re: the article...glad he got jail..should have been longer. It is exactly this sort of incident which gives everyone with a perfoamrnce car a police taregt on their backs (admittedly not helped by the crap reporting). I think we'd call it 'innapropriate use of speed' - I'd include 'inapropriate vehicle for someone without the talent to control it'.
Night
You would also get a good audible warning as well!
Drove down the M1 couple of Saturdays ago at about 22:30 - there was a gritter in the middle lane (understandable) doing about 50mph, with a light queue in the outside lane going past.
Wierd thing was there was a car in lane 1 sat behind the gritter, going exactly the same speed, in the full blast of the salt. And a couple of cars directly behind that. But none in the middle lane.
Very wierd. Really don't know what those drivers could have been thinking.
I have worked on trunk roads (eg bridge inspections over the M1, surveys down the centreline of the A1) - it is very scary what you see.
I also saw in the police/council workshops the Land Rover that was hit from behind while sat at an accident on the M1 (there was a WPC in it getting some equipment at the time) - made me go a bit quiet for a while to think of the poor lass stuck in the very little remaining space.
But hey, a long as people are only going 70mph its OK.
Cheers, Phil
Drove down the M1 couple of Saturdays ago at about 22:30 - there was a gritter in the middle lane (understandable) doing about 50mph, with a light queue in the outside lane going past.
Wierd thing was there was a car in lane 1 sat behind the gritter, going exactly the same speed, in the full blast of the salt. And a couple of cars directly behind that. But none in the middle lane.
Very wierd. Really don't know what those drivers could have been thinking.
I have worked on trunk roads (eg bridge inspections over the M1, surveys down the centreline of the A1) - it is very scary what you see.
I also saw in the police/council workshops the Land Rover that was hit from behind while sat at an accident on the M1 (there was a WPC in it getting some equipment at the time) - made me go a bit quiet for a while to think of the poor lass stuck in the very little remaining space.
But hey, a long as people are only going 70mph its OK.
Cheers, Phil
Back to the original question, I guess the view was that as both drivers were racing they were driving dangerously / recklessly. The jail sentence was prob meant to reflect that he was driving dangerously and inciting the other driver to race and therefore had some responsibility for the deaths.
The thing about modified cars is that they're unlikely to have cornering/stopping abilities commensurate with the extra power they now wield.
Cars that do 150 as standard generally have those abilities.
You also have to look at the mindset of someone who wants to go that fast in such a car. With such little respect for his or her wheels as the manufacturer intended, they're perhaps unlikely to respect other Original Equipment items. Their own necks, for example.
Cars that do 150 as standard generally have those abilities.
You also have to look at the mindset of someone who wants to go that fast in such a car. With such little respect for his or her wheels as the manufacturer intended, they're perhaps unlikely to respect other Original Equipment items. Their own necks, for example.
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