ETS:
Also like someone else said if you see a vehicle with hazards on the m-way you expect it to be on the friggin HS. Why stop to protect the car in the first place, unless the driver was stuck inside unable to exit?
Don’t know if it’s been mentioned but only last week a girl was on the radio in tears telling how a lorry driver saved her life and her young kid’s life by doing just that.
Never done it myself, never needed to, but if it was me I’d weigh up the specific circumstances on the day and decide if it was appropriate…or not.
I.d like to think others would do the same if my wife or daughters found themselves in that situation.
One of the very rare occasions where all that ‘Knights of the road’ old ■■■■■■■■ actually applies.
Well said.
When you’re first on the scene you don’t know if that car has been left by a ■■■■■■ up idiot, or if it contains nuns and orphans.
.
When I see 4way flashers I too expect there to be something on the hard shoulder, but until I see that the carriageway is actually clear, I keep my options open. Kero looking ahead but Look for escape route to side and be prepared to stop or move over.
Dont drive beyond what you can actually SEE.
So you would block a live lane in the hope that someone is still in the car
ETS:
Also like someone else said if you see a vehicle with hazards on the m-way you expect it to be on the friggin HS. Why stop to protect the car in the first place, unless the driver was stuck inside unable to exit?
Don’t know if it’s been mentioned but only last week a girl was on the radio in tears telling how a lorry driver saved her life and her young kid’s life by doing just that.
Never done it myself, never needed to, but if it was me I’d weigh up the specific circumstances on the day and decide if it was appropriate…or not.
I.d like to think others would do the same if my wife or daughters found themselves in that situation.
One of the very rare occasions where all that ‘Knights of the road’ old ■■■■■■■■ actually applies.
Well said.
When you’re first on the scene you don’t know if that car has been left by a ■■■■■■ up idiot, or if it contains nuns and orphans.
.
When I see 4way flashers I too expect there to be something on the hard shoulder, but until I see that the carriageway is actually clear, I keep my options open. Kero looking ahead but Look for escape route to side and be prepared to stop or move over.
Dont drive beyond what you can actually SEE.
So you would block a live lane in the hope that someone is still in the car
robroy:
Don’t know if it’s been mentioned but only last week a girl was on the radio in tears telling how a lorry driver saved her life and her young kid’s life by doing just that.
Never done it myself, never needed to, but if it was me I’d weigh up the specific circumstances on the day and decide if it was appropriate…or not.
I.d like to think others would do the same if my wife or daughters found themselves in that situation.
One of the very rare occasions where all that ‘Knights of the road’ old ■■■■■■■■ actually applies.
Agree but after helping them to safety I would remove myself from the situation so as not to present an additional hazard / put my own life in danger unnecessarily. Not many details on this story though (the M5 one) so hard to tell if the truck driver wasn’t trying to do just that and got hit immediately or very shortly after stopping to help.
Franglais:
When I see 4way flashers I too expect there to be something on the hard shoulder, but until I see that the carriageway is actually clear, I keep my options open. Kero looking ahead but Look for escape route to side and be prepared to stop or move over.
Dont drive beyond what you can actually SEE.
+1 to this as well, first thing I do is check mirror to plan a move over to lane 2 to give the poor ba£tards some space. Which makes it difficult for me to find an excuse for the poor co-op driver; on a Sunday morning especially nowadays there’s hardly any traffic so he should’ve had plenty of time and space to plan ahead…still we don’t know the details, maybe first truck hit the brakes too hard as soon as he saw the car, guy behind was too close or weak brakes…Don’t know what 1st truck was transporting that caused 3 explosions but maybe keep that in mind before stopping in a live lane as well.
newmercman:
The driver having a heart attack is just as wild a speculation as any other and with any amount of driving experience you will have seen drivers not paying attention, following too close etc, so the heart attack assumption is an even wilder speculation really.
RIP driver.
Yeh, you’re…
Right there, I went in all guns blazing. Just get a little riled when people become judge, jury and executioner before the full circumstances are known.
RIP driver.
We’ve all been guilty of that at some point, that’s what makes the internet so much fun [emoji1]
If we assume the car in the pic was in that position before all this unfolded, then whether it was still dark, dawning, or daylight, there would have been no lights visible to approaching traffic even if the car’s electrics were still working.
The lorry stopping where it did would have been able to operate hazards lights, and possibly rear fogs too which should have made the lane being blocked more visible to anyone else approaching.
Would i have stopped in the same place, probably, because i would assume from the position of the stationary car that there was good possibility of someone being in that vehicle and unable to exit for any one of several reasons.
It’s all very well people criticising from the comfort of their armchair hours later, but the lorry driver that stopped made a decision from what he could see and judge in that instant, personally i think the driver that stopped made the right choice, he wasn’t to know the whys and wherefores of the stationary vehicle slewed across the road, he stopped to help as he saw fit and i do not have an issue with his decision.
Had he carried on by and someone or several innocent innocent people would have been at the mercy of anyone approaching, who for whatever reason either didn’t see what was ahead or for whatever reason failed to either stop or take evasive action, then he would have failed to provide some protection and help for people that could easily be cleaned up by another vehicle who failed to take in or react in time to what they saw for whatever reason.
We are supposed to be professionals at our game as full time road users, that gives us a moral responsibility in my humble opinion to do the right thing on the road as we see fit.
Juddian:
Had he carried on by and someone or several innocent innocent people would have been at the mercy of anyone approaching, who for whatever reason either didn’t see what was ahead or for whatever reason failed to either stop or take evasive action, then he would have failed to provide some protection and help for people that could easily be cleaned up by another vehicle who failed to take in or react in time to what they saw for whatever reason.
We are supposed to be professionals at our game as full time road users, that gives us a moral responsibility in my humble opinion to do the right thing on the road as we see fit.
Lol, the 2nd truck driver got killed so the drunk punk from the car who most likely self-crashed can live on. The road to hell is paved with good intentions indeed. Many more could’ve been killed if it was a regular weekday morning, judging from the reports of explosions heard miles away.
Franglais:
When I see 4way flashers I too expect there to be something on the hard shoulder, but until I see that the carriageway is actually clear, I keep my options open. Kero looking ahead but Look for escape route to side and be prepared to stop or move over.
Dont drive beyond what you can actually SEE.
^ This.
If it’s something on the hard shoulder it’s best to move to lane 2 anyway.
It could also just as easily be something with no lights at all in a live unlit lane at night.
Hard shoulders and hazard lights are great but they aren’t a guaranteed fail safe.
Probably not with the exception of someone actually lying down in what ever lane it was in front of me, but it’s easy to make decisions sat in a comfy chair tapping away on a keyboard.
It’s a tough one to call. As human beings with empathy for others, it’s instinctive to want to help people who appear to be in trouble. In all my years, I’ve never come across this particular situation of a stranded vehicle and I’m thankful to have been this lucky so far.
Sadly, if the first lorry hadn’t have stopped then the second lorry might have missed the car altogether or, if it did make contact, the consequences for the driver would probably have been much less than they were.
It’s always fine to be wise after the event, the guy who blocked the lane with good and honourable intentions had no way of knowing this was some young arse wipe who was ■■■■■■■ high or both.
If he had not stopped, maybe the second truck would have went over the car and totalled him, poetic justice some might say.
On the other hand there could have been a family with young kids in the car, the guy who blocked the lane would have been deemed a hero for saving young lives .and the second truck driver who rammed him up the arse would have been deemed tragic unfortunate collateral damage.
as sad as the whole situation is ,ITS HAPPENED, some might learn from it others won’t
move on cause thats all we can do until the next tragic thing happens that affects you directly or not…
trevHCS:
One thing I cant work out us what caused the hole in the carriageway next to the central reservation. Its like something exploded there and there’s burning around the crash barrier.
If you look closely you can see the same level with the cab of the burnt out truck, likely diesel from ruptured tanks carrying burnt debris hence the black.
