M6 North

[TWR]

Local news, HGV's in another accident, why do these keep happening? it seems everyday these accidents happen, what causes these? is Inexperience the cause or drivers being tired? it was never like this years gone by & it's not only in Lanc's it's all over the country's Motorways.

[fiction-factory]

Perhaps driverless lorries and cars will help. I suppose the wet weather doesn't help. I doubt the problem is speeding as so much of the M^ seems to be 50 mph these days

[fiction-factory]

Maybe we just hear more about them. The motorways are so busy that one accident can cause chaos now so we get to hear about it.

[mikey4444]

TWR....Yes, I agree. We have had horrendous traffic jams, caused by accidents here on the M4 in South Wales, and also over the Bridge on the M5.

I have made this point before. When accidents occur, huge queues build up behind within a few mins. But those cars can be trapped between Motorway exits for hours.

What is needed is places between exits, where cars could be turned around and allowed to escape, and that means removable central reservation barriers.

To address your question directly TWR, from what I can see, most accidents on Motorways are caused by people driving far too fast, and far too close to the vehicle in front. When I am driving on Motorways, which is nearly every day, I try to keep a sensible distance between myself and the vehicle in front, but there is always some twit following behind, far too close.

[ummmm]

More HGV's on the roads. More foreign drivers. I don't know.

[douglas9401]

Why do these keep happening?

There are apparently two cars and four lorries involved so cars avoiding lorry making dodgy moves, lorry avoiding car making dodgy moves, catastrophic failure of any part of any vehicle causing others to react resulting in collisions, drink, drugs, texting, sneezing, etc etc.

I could go on but I won't.

[TWR]

I'm by no means sticking up for HGV Drivers but I think half of them have not got a clue how to handle a 44tonner after passing their test on a near empty artic on the test day, persons that go into HGV driving for a living should train up from a 4>>>>6>>8 Wheeler to get the experience of how the Vehicle responds to the way it's driven by an inexperienced driver.

[Guilbert53]

I have often seen huge lorries right up behind another lorry (about a car length between then).

I believe this is so the second lorry can be pulled along by the slip stream of the lorry in front.

So if you have many lorries all driving so close together you only need one mistake by one lorry driver (or perhaps a car driver causing a lorry break or swerve) then you have an accident.

I have also heard some lorry driver have "fake" tachographs in their lorry so it shows they have only been driving a number of hours when in fact they may have been driving for more than 10 hours (the legal limit).

This is from 2013 but shows what goes on with tachograph manipulation.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2334244/Father-son-ran-haulage-business-99p-stores-guilty-manslaughter-driver-crushed-death-fell-asleep-wheel.html

[bhg481]

A combination of traffic density and impatience. Traffic density causes slow traffic which leads to drivers getting impatient and taking chances.
I think driver attitude is also a large contributor. We laugh about "Slough drivers"; passing the Slough exit on the M4 you can almost guarantee someone will dive straight down the exit slip from lane 2 or 3, cutting someone up in the process. Listen to the road reports on the radio; almost every day there are accidents on the M4 around Slough, Swindon and Cardiff.

[Berniecuddles2]

you wanna try the M25 dartford tunnels where i live its a nightmare every single day there's a crash most of it caused by foreign HGV drivers

[mikey4444]

BHG....severe congestion on the Motorways is also a major factor. We have to accept that there much more traffic on the roads that there was just a few years ago.

Look at the explosive rise in mail order....10-20 years ago, mail order meant cutting out a coupon from a newspaper and posting it off. Now, I could go straight onto ebay, order something, and it will arrive within a day or two, by van or a lorry.

[TWR]

BHJ / Bernie, I would use, if fitted the OBCC to prosecute that includes the HGV Driver if at faut, a lot joing the motorway off the slpi road "THINK " the have the right of way which they don't, as regards Driving too close, this practice should be stopped, but on saying that you will always get a private motorised trying to squeeze in between 2 artics or ridgids that trying to keep a safety distance, as you will have seen, there is hardly any police presence to be seen only the Highways agency that have no power to respond, I still say it's down to these drivers are pre-trained, to stop an artic depending on it's load & the experience of the driver is I'm sure the main cause.

[naomi24]

//What is needed is places between exits, where cars could be turned around and allowed to escape,//

I agree with Mikey there. I was once stuck on a motorway for 8 hours - it took all that time to get to the next exit 10 miles from where I'd joined the road.

[Old_Geezer]

Goods always need to be moved around the country on the main roads and motorways regardless whether they reach you from the depot or by you going to the shop. If only there was an alternative, like vehicles than ran on tracks taking the goods from one location to another.

Too may cars is an issue. Caused by too large a population, and a greater proportion of them taking up their right to have their own transport than was the case for past generations. We need to discourage breeding, cut down on immigration, and encourage emigration. Then what we have will be sufficient for the number wishing to use resources.

[mikey4444]

Naomi....nice to see that we agree on something at least.

It seems common sense to me. On some stretches of the M5, for instance, its miles between exits. About 2-3 weeks ago, there were queues on the south-bound section of the M5, down to Taunton, where cars were stuck for 10 hours.

This also happened to me a few years ago, on the M4 in South Wales...it was 13 hours that time. 1000's of people had to endure the indignity of "going to the bathroom" on the sides of the road, in full view of 10,000 of other people....it was ruddy horrendous.

[TWR]

If need be they can do that now Naomi, it happened to me when driving HGV's on the A19 " Duel Carrigeway" there was someone going to jump off a bridge so the traffic was diverted.

[TWR]

Should have added, up the Slip roads.

[bhg481]

Taking up Mikey/Naomi's point; it may not be possible to turn traffic across on to the opposite carriageway bacause that may be flowing normally. I can't see any reason though that, knowing the road is going to be closed for hours, the police can't start at the back of the queue (which shouldn't stretch for more than one junction) and let the traffic turn, drive the wrong way and, under supervision, leave the motorway at the first junction. This would overcome the problem of people being stuck for hours.

[mikey4444]

TWR....the Police can do that, but rarely do in my experience, They just leave us drivers to fester.

I suppose they are fearful of causing traffic jams on what are at most, minor side roads.

[mikey4444]

BHG....the Police rarely do that, common sense or not. I am guessing that leaving the 10,000's of cars stuck on the Motorway at least keeps them all in one place.

[naomi24]

TWR, on the occasion I'm talking about traffic had been stopped in both directions and the opposite carriageway was empty for all of the 8 hours we sat. Horrendous.