I’m sure most of you have heard about this today, but it’s incredible she got 20 miles without crashing.
First of all it’s hard to join a motorway in the wrong direction. The roundabout exits are angled to make taking a wrong turn tricky. (edit just noticed she did a U-turn …)
Secondly even though she was twice the limit surely would not mean she was so drunk that she would not have noticed vehicles coming the other way for 20 miles. If she were that out of it I doubt she would have been able to keep it in a straight line in lane 3
I had a similar experience many years ago on the A1M. I was travelling north between Durham and Chester-le-Street when the south bound traffic started flashing their lights as a warning. I happened to be passing another artic at the time when a HEARSE appeared in front of me travelling south in the northbound outside lane. Thanks to the warnings we had had both artics managed to miss this clown and he was stopped a little later by the plod.
It has got to be the scariest thing i have ever encountered, I can’t see a hearse now without remembering the incident. We were very lucky it was early morning and the traffic was light, otherwise the result would probably have needed a few more hearse’s.regards kevmac47
She was also suffering from depression, maybe a suicide attempt?
But why take others out with you, there’s enough roads with sheer drops if you want to end it all.
I’ve also had a car coming at me at Manchester airport, going up to T2 departures, a car was coming down, I was flashing it and everything and got a full main beam followed by horn and v’s.
Again, it was silly o’clock in the morning, thought I was really tired at 1st, but nobody hurt
I’ve just seen the news about that woman driving the wrong way for 23 miles down the M5 while ■■■■■■ up.I’m as shocked as anyone else, I mean a woman being able to perform a U-Turn.
I were traveling down the m9 one night bout 2300hrs, I wondered cos some cars were flashing there lights going up the way. Then a car went past us in opposite direction. A few minuites later I realised I was on a motorway and that last car had been on the wrong side of the motorway.
jimboy124:
I’ve just seen the news about that woman driving the wrong way for 23 miles down the M5 while ■■■■■■ up.I’m as shocked as anyone else, I mean a woman being able to perform a U-Turn.
people that wanna commit suicide by doing stid things like this and jumping from bridges, should maybe walk to the local lake and jump in there… less hassle and less people hurt
Unfortunately this type of incident is not uncommon, we had a similar one a couple of days ago, the BiB managed to stop the vehicle before it got too far.
I’ve also seen CCTV footage of a foreign HGV driving the wrong way in lane 3 on the M60, it went through 3 junctions before * disappearing* before the BiB could get there.
When we get calls for this type of incident, we set 20’s on the signals for a long stretch. - Think about it— the vehicle could be going 70mph plus, it’s taken a couple of minutes for someone to call the police & have details taken, then passed to us, we set the signals (this takes around 2 minutes) so it could possibly be 10 miles beyond where it was initially located and still travelling at 70mph.
The signals would only be cleared once the police have confirmed either they have the offending vehicle stopped on the H/S and the driver is “helping the police with their enquiries” or they’ve -no traced - it. So you could quite easily see these signals set and never see why, BE THANKFULL!
If I personally saw signals set for 20’s, I would slow down considerably (maybe not to 20!) and get into the middle lane (assuming there’s 3 lanes) as this type of driver normally used lane 1 or lane 3, unless they are bent on suicide by RTC, then it’s anyone guess what’s best to do!!
The prime spot for people getting on the wrong c/way is at the services, drivers who aren’t used to motorway driving and/ or British service area’s often can’t find their way through to the correct exit, and return to the c/way the way they’ve come off. 9/10 time they pull over onto the H/S once they realise what they’ve done
Calm down fellah! No one has criticized the HW agency (yet)
I’m surprised you just go with 20mph signs. I would have thought the motorway would be shut completely from a few junctions ahead. I’m guessing if there is time, then the BiB create a rolling road block until they meet up with the person coming the wrong way. I see 20 mph signs when there is a serious accident ahead (anyone see that mangled car on the M3/M25 junction today?) , but a vehicle coming at you the wrong way down a carriageway is more serious than an accident that has already happened.
I’ve seen what you mean about service areas though. Every time I’ve stopped in one for a 45min I see some lost soul going the wrong way through the lorry park, then stopping and either reversing in to the petrol station or simply driving in forwards facing the wrong way. Never sure how they get there though. I know some are coming or heading to the “hotel”, but it’s hard to see how they get so lost.
The real Biffo:
Unfortunately this type of incident is not uncommon, we had a similar one a couple of days ago, the BiB managed to stop the vehicle before it got too far.
I’ve also seen CCTV footage of a foreign HGV driving the wrong way in lane 3 on the M60, it went through 3 junctions before * disappearing* before the BiB could get there.
When we get calls for this type of incident, we set 20’s on the signals for a long stretch. - Think about it— the vehicle could be going 70mph plus, it’s taken a couple of minutes for someone to call the police & have details taken, then passed to us, we set the signals (this takes around 2 minutes) so it could possibly be 10 miles beyond where it was initially located and still travelling at 70mph.
The signals would only be cleared once the police have confirmed either they have the offending vehicle stopped on the H/S and the driver is “helping the police with their enquiries” or they’ve -no traced - it. So you could quite easily see these signals set and never see why, BE THANKFULL!
If I personally saw signals set for 20’s, I would slow down considerably (maybe not to 20!) and get into the middle lane (assuming there’s 3 lanes) as this type of driver normally used lane 1 or lane 3, unless they are bent on suicide by RTC, then it’s anyone guess what’s best to do!!
The prime spot for people getting on the wrong c/way is at the services, drivers who aren’t used to motorway driving and/ or British service area’s often can’t find their way through to the correct exit, and return to the c/way the way they’ve come off. 9/10 time they pull over onto the H/S once they realise what they’ve done
Instead of setting 20 how about using your common sense and typing “WARNING: ONCOMING VEHICLE” which would quite easily fit in the board space.
Instead of setting 20 how about using your common sense and typing “WARNING: ONCOMING VEHICLE” which would quite easily fit in the board space.
^^ This
People see “20mph” and think, ‘OK this could be serious’ … so they slow down to 40 or 50 mph, but if you saw “WARNING: ONCOMING VEHICLE” you would be much more cautious.
Or maybe not. Everyone knows that motorway warning signs are so badly managed that they have become irrelevant.
Rob K:
Instead of setting 20 how about using your common sense and typing “WARNING: ONCOMING VEHICLE” which would quite easily fit in the board space.
^^ This
People see “20mph” and think, ‘OK this could be serious’ … so they slow down to 40 or 50 mph, but if you saw “WARNING: ONCOMING VEHICLE” you would be much more cautious.
Or maybe not. Everyone knows that motorway warning signs are so badly managed that they have become irrelevant.
That’s just what you get if there’s a message sign there along with the 20’s, if it’s still the old “wicket” type central reservation signal with no message part, then there’s just 20’s.
Actually for incidents, the signal setting is vastly improved, I (& others) believe that there’s too many information & campaign messages, “Don’t drive tired” “Check your fuel” “10 miles, 9 mins to J##” you all know what I’m talking about. They also make it harder to check the system for the odd time a signal/message is missed clearing.
