We’re appealing for witnesses to yesterday’s fatal M5 collision, particularly those with dashcam footage.
A HGV travelling on lane one of the southbound carriageway collided with a car queueing to exit the motorway at junction 25 Taunton at about 8.30am.
The collision then impacted on six other vehicles in front of the car which were also queuing.
A man in his 50s who was a passenger in the car the HGV collided with sadly died at the scene. The car’s driver, a woman in her 40s, sustained serious injuries and continues to be treated at hospital.
A woman in her 40s who was the driver of the vehicle in front of the car also tragically died in the incident. Her passenger, a woman in her 20s, was also seriously injured and remains in hospital.
Three other motorists, two women, one aged in her 50s and the other in her 20s, and a teenage boy, received hospital treatment for minor injuries.
Specially trained officers are supporting the families of those who died in the incident.
Inspector Frazer Davey said: “Our Collision Investigation Unit is carrying out a thorough investigation into yesterday’s tragedy in order that we can fully understand what happened.
“The lorry driver, who was uninjured in the incident, has been spoken to by officers and continues to help us with our enquiries.
“We have also spoken to a number of people who present during the incident but we continue to appeal to anyone who we haven’t yet spoken with to get in touch.
“We’re particularly keen on viewing any dashcam footage filmed immediately prior to and of the incident.
“I’d personally like to thank all those caught up in the resulting traffic which followed the collision for their understanding while emergency services responded to it. Your patience was very much appreciated.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact the Collision Investigation Unit via 101 providing the call handler with the reference CI/174/18.
altitude:
TruckNet police sorting it out again, what would we do without them.
It’s not unreasonable to ask how a vehicle with an elevated driving position manages to miss the fact that traffic was stopped, or was stopping in the lane they were driving in.
With car driver standards so low, I would, mistakenly it seems hope that professional drivers were a tad better.
But the driver hasn’t been arrested so maybe there is a good reason this happened
ajt:
It shouldn’t happen! Any exit junction which has regular daily queues on live lanes on duel carriageways and motorways should be urgently rectified!
Are there traffic lights on this exit junction ? Why can’t there be someone viewing on a camera keeping the lights at green until the traffic has dispursed or is that too difficult?
A17 Newark turn is the same. Amazing how there hasn’t been many more people killed.
Plenty of money for smart motorways though!!!
Highways agency are a bunch of [zb] brain dead idiots.
Yes there are lights and it’s a very busy junction with a relatively short slip road but the matrix signs warning of “queue ahead” are always on that time in the morning so even if the driver doesn’t know the junction he should be well aware of what’s going on as it’s also a straight bit of motorway too.
id hope truckie has a good excuse otherwise id think he will get reamed .
if the lights are constantly on at the same time every day,then you tend to just ignore them like all the other flashing ambers and wait till you see what you can see anyway as half the time they are on for no reason other than some pleb in an office switched them on.
mabey at that junction its bad for the sun being straight into your face at that point?
I am surprised by some of the comments on here.As per usual trying to blame everything but the driver.None of us know exactly what happened and lets hope it was not entirely the drivers fault.
However,all this rubbish about there should be warnings etc to let drivers know.Sorry but if you are a professional driver and you miss the fact there is slowing or standing traffic in front of you, you are not fully paying attention and should not be driving heavy vehicles.No excuses for distractions or lack of concentration.Any decent driver should be on the ball.
Often with these queuing traffic ones the main offender in not concentrating does manage to swerve and get away with it and its the one behind that hits it.
Well the one behind is too close or not paying proper attention!
Gidders:
It’s always been my habit,in circumstances where traffic is queueing or slowing like this to put on my 4 way flashers hopefully to forewarn following traffic and,if I stop,to leave a gap of 20 yards or so,until the vehicle behind me has acted on what I have done.
Did that myself on the A66 last night at the queues for the roadworks. They’ve been putting the traffic lights for the convoy at some very dubious places around the Warcop single carriageway stretch including at the bottom of that S bend dip heading westbound just after the Stainmore stretch of DC last week.
jakethesnake:
Often with these queuing traffic ones the main offender in not concentrating does manage to swerve and get away with it and its the one behind that hits it.
Well the one behind is too close or not paying proper attention!
Following the highway code’s two second rule in such circumstances you would be unable to stop in time even allowing for lightning reaction times.
jakethesnake:
Often with these queuing traffic ones the main offender in not concentrating does manage to swerve and get away with it and its the one behind that hits it.
Well the one behind is too close or not paying proper attention!
Following the highway code’s two second rule in such circumstances you would be unable to stop in time even allowing for lightning reaction times.
I totally agree with you on that point but in my view some drivers tend to forget that the two second rule is a minimum distance for an alert car driver in good conditions and not a safe travelling distance from the vehicle in front.
I was always taught in a wagon you have to double that (know the score and make it four) at least especially when loaded and it stood me well for 40 odd years.
jakethesnake:
I am surprised by some of the comments on here.As per usual trying to blame everything but the driver.None of us know exactly what happened and lets hope it was not entirely the drivers fault.
However,all this rubbish about there should be warnings etc to let drivers know.Sorry but if you are a professional driver and you miss the fact there is slowing or standing traffic in front of you, you are not fully paying attention and should not be driving heavy vehicles.No excuses for distractions or lack of concentration.Any decent driver should be on the ball.
Regardless of what happend here, there should be no standing traffic on any motorway in “normal” rush hour traffic in 2018.
If it does, it’s a clear sign of either poor traffic management or a junction which has exceeded its designed purpose.
ajt:
Regardless of what happend here, there should be no standing traffic on any motorway in “normal” rush hour traffic in 2018.
If it does, it’s a clear sign of either poor traffic management or a junction which has exceeded its designed purpose.
Yes, junction 25 has exceeded its capacity, they are always on about it in the local rag. However, the main reason it queues is because they made a perfectly good road in to a bus lane (the old ilminster road which goes from Taunton in to the business park) so that traffic from Taunton has to go the entire circle of the M5 roundabout in order to access the offices /business park. The traffic coming from the Taunton town side of the motorway actually passes under the motorway twice (which is signal controlled) and in to the business park on the same side where they started from. This is the main reason for the rush hour congestion, it blocks the M5 southbound exit and entry. For this reason I would hold the council responsible for the incidents that are occurring now on the M5 (there are at least 2 or 3 minor ones each week).
Also of note from the pictures is that the accident occurred at the 1-mile signpost. I do not believe there was a mile of traffic in lane 1, but rather a delayed effect of vehicles braking, each one with a slightly later response than the vehicle in front, until you suddenly get a situation of emergency braking 1 mile from the junction.
I know I’ll be shot down as a member of the TruckNet CSI but I do live half a mile from the junction itself and I know exactly what happens there.
ajt:
Regardless of what happend here, there should be no standing traffic on any motorway in “normal” rush hour traffic in 2018.
If it does, it’s a clear sign of either poor traffic management or a junction which has exceeded its designed purpose.
Yes, junction 25 has exceeded its capacity, they are always on about it in the local rag. However, the main reason it queues is because they made a perfectly good road in to a bus lane (the old ilminster road which goes from Taunton in to the business park) so that traffic from Taunton has to go the entire circle of the M5 roundabout in order to access the offices /business park. The traffic coming from the Taunton town side of the motorway actually passes under the motorway twice (which is signal controlled) and in to the business park on the same side where they started from. This is the main reason for the rush hour congestion, it blocks the M5 southbound exit and entry. For this reason I would hold the council responsible for the incidents that are occurring now on the M5 (there are at least 2 or 3 minor ones each week).
Also of note from the pictures is that the accident occurred at the 1-mile signpost. I do not believe there was a mile of traffic in lane 1, but rather a delayed effect of vehicles braking, each one with a slightly later response than the vehicle in front, until you suddenly get a situation of emergency braking 1 mile from the junction.
I know I’ll be shot down as a member of the TruckNet CSI but I do live half a mile from the junction itself and I know exactly what happens there.
I know the junction very well and you hit the nail on the head, it’s also busy because it’s a main junction for Yeovil, Weymouth and the rest of the South coast.