Had the worst experience this morning on M6 southbound just before j19…
Inside lane steady 52mph see a silver car in the h/s so check mirrors and luckily for me(although I didn’t realise how lucky at that time) a bloke was sat over taking me. It was quite busy anyway so I moved slightly to the right as nothing down my outside then this bloke walks down the off side of his car and I thought he was going to get in it but no he just runs out to the middle of lane ■■■■■■■ one! Stops and spins around looking up at the cab seem to be making eye contact he was right in the middle ffs. Instinctively I went around him without a chance to check my mirror again I was that close to hitting him head on, I blasted my horn checked mirrors thankfully nothing in lane two(thanks if you were the guy over taking me) and he seemed to just run back to the hard shoulder.
I was shaking so bad my legs were wobbling and I pulled in to knutsford and rang the office to explain in case they got a complaint from a crazy man swerving as I don’t think anyone would of seen just how close he was to being dead.
I could of hit a vehicle in lane two, I could have just stuck to my lane and flattened him and had that on my conscience forever.
I hope it never happens again and hope he’s grateful of the risk I took to save his life I can’t help but feel angry at what a position I was put in.
Very thankful all’s well that ends well, tin hat ready for trucknet csi to tear me apart.
Hard to say what I would have done having never been in that situation. I would like to think I would swerve and let anything in lane two take their chances as they surely have more chance in a car or even on a motorbike than a pedestrian does at full whack. Easy to say that sat comfortably in front of my computer though.
Nasty stuff, glad it didn’t make the headlines.
PS do you think it was a suicide attempt that he bottled out of or just a moment of madness?
Must have been a suicide attempt. Not surprised you were bricking it. I’d have called the po po also.
Do the lottery today Ollie & give me some.
Ched:
I would like to think I would swerve and let anything in lane two take their chances as they surely have more chance in a car or even on a motorbike than a pedestrian does at full whack.
If I remember correctly, this was a result of the car swerving to avoid tyre debris:-
I think the natural human reaction is to swerve in that truly awful split-second moment. Full-on splat with a human being could easily become a traumatising, life changing experience for the poor, hapless driver (you). After my heart had stopped fibrillating, I`d definitely be phoning the law to report his incredibly stupid and dangerous antics. A good pro-argument for dash cams, methinks?
Just very glad for you that this nutter didn`t cause you to become involved in what could so easily have been a major incident. In an ideal world, he should now be facing a harsh prosecution for reckless endangerment or similar offence. A bit inopportune, but it graphically illustrates the ■■■■-poor pay rates for what is frequently a very stressful and dangerous occupation.
Once again, just glad you`re ok.
Glad you are OK, all of us, except maybe the narcissists among us would have done exactly the same thing instinctively. Swerve, even if you had time to think the whole thing through, you are probably better off swerving and dragging the car/lorrie in the next lane over with you than hitting this guy head on.
wheelnutt:
Glad you are OK, all of us, except maybe the narcissists among us would have done exactly the same thing instinctively. Swerve, even if you had time to think the whole thing through, you are probably better off swerving and dragging the car/lorrie in the next lane over with you than hitting this guy head on.
What he said.
Good job you and the one overtaking we’re on the ball…had one of those ‘cone planter’ types the other night on M42 somewhere between j4 & 6 nb walking along the H/S and then step out in to the middle of lane 1 and take a photo of some damage to the road surface! Fortunately for us both, I saw him in ‘plenty’ of time and pulled into lane 2… He put his hand up to say cheers as if it was something he does on a regular basis! ■■■■ that for a job! Strange how the HA work…miles of cones out/speed restrictions and nobody working to no cones/NSL and a bloke running around live lanes with a digital camera taking snaps of the road!
redboxer850:
Ched:
I would like to think I would swerve and let anything in lane two take their chances as they surely have more chance in a car or even on a motorbike than a pedestrian does at full whack.If I remember correctly, this was a result of the car swerving to avoid tyre debris:-
Like I say, it’s easy for me to speculate what I would have done whilst sitting comfortably at home, but I think it’s what I would have done on instinct. Break first and when it becomes clear breaking wont work then I would swerve. Although to be honest accidents rarely give you the option of doing any sort of avoidance action at all.
It’s a natural reaction to swerve and brake - bad combination.
I would have been curious to have stopped and had a word, but that’s only in hindsight.
You done good.
Firstly if there’s something ahead on the hard shoulder best practice is to move to lane 2.If there’s traffic in lane 2 preventing a lane change then it’s a reasonable bet that same issue,of traffic stopping a lane change, will also still be there until you’ve at least reached the parked vehicle.‘If’,at that point,someone decides to walk into the carriageway/lane 1 you’ve obviously got a problem.
The difficult thing is if you choose the option of trying to avoid the suicidal pedestrian you need to be 100% sure that you’ll be able to do so without forcing any traffic at the side of you across the carriageway.IE the choice could,at worse,be one of firstly relief at having missed the nutter,but then the reality of having forced someone across the carriageway,possibly into traffic in lane 3,which then could potentially cause a barrier crossover and a head on crash involving multiple vehicles.
The question to ask yourself in that case is would you attempt to avoid the suicide case ‘if’ the traffic in lane 2 was a truck/s and if the answer is then no then would you see that differently if the traffic in lane 2 was a car/s.If the answer to that is yes then the obvious question would be why.Remembering that you need to answer all those questions in the time you’ve got between the pedestrian walking into the road and making the decision to hold your course or swerve. 
Which then just leaves that question as to why weren’t you in lane 2 when passing the parked vehicle on the hard shoulder?.Assuming it was traffic then it’s obvious that it was just a matter of luck rather than judgement that everything worked out for the best.At least in this case.
As a rule, if something is on the hard shoulder and lane 2 is clear I’ll pull into lane 2, other drivers must think I’m crazy when I pull back in 500 yards down the road.
deffo brake and swerve.
then stop. go back and kick 7 bells out of him!
in fact I’d probably end up flaming killing the daft Pratt
bertiebus:
deffo brake and swerve.then stop. go back and kick 7 bells out of him!
in fact I’d probably end up flaming killing the daft Pratt
Either that or swerve left intead of right and write the zb’s car off.
Hey Ollie,
I nearly hit the exact same fella today! He was with a silver Focus on the hard shoulder, as I approached and was no more than a truck length away in lane 1, he walked from the passenger side round to the drivers and crouched down next to the front wheel, almost as if he had a puncture. The focus was right on the white line so he was pretty much sat in the carriageway. Suddenly he seemed to trip over his feet and fell backwards into the lane, ending up on his backside in the middle of lane 1! All the time he was staring straight at me.
I didn’t even check my mirrors, I pulled the wheel hard over and managed to just miss him. I also slammed on my brakes and ended up doing 25 MPH in the middle lane, much to everyone’s annoyance behind me. I was fortunate as I was pulling an empty container skelly trailer, I’f i’d been fully loaded I would have either killed him or lost control and crashed.
My blood ran cold as I thought about what happened, I plodded along, pulled into Knutsford services and rang 101, who put me onto the police. I assumed the guy must have been drunk, but after seeing this thread I can only assume he was deliberately trying to kill himself.
I’m still shaken up about it now. I haven’t heard about any accidents on that stretch of the M6 today, I can only assume the police picked him up or he decided to go somewhere else.
bertiebus:
deffo brake and swerve.then stop. go back and kick 7 bells out of him!
in fact I’d probably end up flaming killing the daft Pratt
Wouldn’t it be easier to just run him over?
Contraflow:
bertiebus:
deffo brake and swerve.then stop. go back and kick 7 bells out of him!
in fact I’d probably end up flaming killing the daft PrattWouldn’t it be easier to just run him over?
Good god no…Think of all the paperwork (Insurance accident forms etc)
Also less satisfying
Contraflow:
bertiebus:
deffo brake and swerve.then stop. go back and kick 7 bells out of him!
in fact I’d probably end up flaming killing the daft PrattWouldn’t it be easier to just run him over?
That would obviously depend on who’s driving the truck.It might even be possible to get both the nutter and the car so that he can’t use it in the next life for bonus points.
Slightly off topic…
What about if your approaching a car parked on the HS and it suddenly pulls out in front of you instead of getting up to speed before re-joining the flow of traffic.
I had 1 pull out in this situation, Im in lane 1, Ive got traffic along side in lane 2, the only option was to dive up the inside of the car and pass on the HS, the car drive even had cheek to blast their horn as I did it. I sometimes wonder If I should have shunted the car across 3 lanes
Bit of a conundrum isn’t it? Op, imo you did the right thing instinctively. That word instinctive is quite important here as it’s in our genetic make up to avoid killing another human being, hence we instinctively swerve, instinctively brake etc to avoid the big taboo. Of course you can be trained not to act instinctively, but why would you want to?
As a bit of an aside I try to ease across when something is on the h/s and as ex recovery believe me it is appreciated when you do. I tend to straddle lane one and two now since some “hero” who’d been sat a foot off my back bumper once saw me moving out as his chance to undertake me! No accounting for idiocy eh?
I would like to ask all those who state categorically that they go into lane two when passing something on the h/s if they also move into lane two of a d/c when passing a vehicle in a layby? If not, why not?