It's days like this...

[Allen]

...when I wish I could carry round a digital camera all the time. That way, I could've shown you all the bad, bad accident that happened this morning on the A30 near my workplace. That sounds a bit sick, but some of you guys are probably why I'm always harping on about safety and such.

Oakey recently made a post in which he presented a situation where two cars turn left/right at a junction (I've nicked the piccy for below so you can understand what I'm waffling on about). This was the exact situation this morning.



Now, there was a woman turning right like the 'You' car in the pic and the person opposite pulled in before her so she couldn't see. I said in that post how dangerous that situation is and it SHOULDN'T be allowed as proved this morning.

That was of passing is crazy in my opinion. OK, in certain circumstances you may be able to see if anything is coming, but what if you couldn't, or the instructor couldn't. Anything (including a cyclist or motorbike) could come from behind the other car and you might not see it, which is why passing around the back of the other driver would be more sensible.

Now, the lady and the other driver are going to spend a lot of time with their feet up, lying in hospital beds for the next few weeks. By the state of one of the cars (a Polo), we're all surprised that she survived at all. They had to cut three doors and the roof off before they could attempt to get her out. 2 fire engines, 3 ambulances and many policemen shut down the area, traffic jams backing up miles and hundreds of people severely delayed for work (and probably a few holiday makers too - near Terminal 4 at Heathrow).

This is the same junction in which a few weeks ago a bus collided with a coach causing many major injuries, but luckily no fatalities. The next junctions along in either direction (Hatton Cross & Clockhouse Roundabout) are notorious for bad accidents. A few months ago there was a fatal accident at Hatton Cross involving a lorry (who jumped the red lights) and a smaller car. It's a very, very bad road and the council seem to do nothing about it. As soon as on set of lights go red, the others go green allowing no leeway for either directions.

Also, with the amount of fat cats driving around in there Mercs, Beemers and 4x4's mean there are so many drivers around who think they own the roads, speeding with extreme, jumping reds, ignoring signs, changing lanes without signalling, cutting people up (including buses and lorries!!), on mobile phones and not wearing seatbelts. It's absolutely ridiculous. And we never see ANY police around, ANYWHERE!

So if anyone else mentions the speeds/races they get into, or burning up their tyres on public roads or any other form of dangerous driving, please remember, you're not just putting yourself at risk but others too. And don't say, 'it's ok, I know the limits of my car' or 'i know the limits of my driving', tell that to yourself when you're lying in a hospital bed or talking to the bereaving parents/loved ones of the other person involved in your accident who wasn't so lucky...

By the way, this thread is aimed at no-one in particular, I just want some of you to understand the dangers of driving and the reasoning behind my anger of some drivers.

Let the flaming begin... as usual...

[jon bda]

Theres plenty of muppets out there mate unfortunately . The way i see it, i just treat every other road user as if they ain't got a clue and always expect the worst from them (which usually happens). Its worked so far though, still had a few close calls though...usually involving people who like to overtake and pull in 12 inches in front of you, old people, and people who don't seem to grasp what lane you have to be in to get where you want on the roundabout...

[Stoo]

oh how I love getting cut up on the roundabouts, it happens virtually every night on my way home..

[nichomach]

I know the feeling - you'd think it'd be pretty intuitive, but I'd say 2 out of 5 evenings on the way home I get some pink-oboe-ist cutting in front of me on the roundabout immediately on leaving the motorway...