GasGas:
Strangely, the most alarming thing is the feeling that the cab is going to tilt forward and hit the road, but it’s actually not as frightening from the inside as it looks from the outside.
The really amazing thing is the way the truck stops in a straight line…it feels perfectly stable.
How long before all we have in the cab is an Alsatian and a bloke, the bloke is there to feed the dog and the dog is there to stop you touching the controls.
Not forgetting the 15 or so covert cameras filming you both.
You have to remember that Motorway Cops is a tv show, it is carefully edited for tv also, all of these programs are, they show a few minutes highlights of probably weeks worth of filming, the reality does not always come through
I think the reality came through without a doubt.
The reality is that your not going to get out of an accident such as this alive. R.I.P. the driver from Middlesbrough.
The cogs and splines from inside the gearbox were scattered across the carriageway. The coppers at the scene had never seen such severe impact damage before.
I mentioned in a earlier post that the police stopped short of saying he was asleep and didn’t mention if he’d had a heart attack/other illness before the crash which I’d have thought they would if it were the case. No defects found with braking system either.
I dont receive uk tv but i still remember a documentry called the magic roundabout (was about the m25) on the telly years ago…still mind it showing a french driver that jacknifed and went out the passenger window onto the road ,
image stuck in my head all these years later.
jimmy
It just goes to show what 15hr shifts and 70 plus hours a week can do for you.
The sooner driving hours are reduced the safer for ALL road users. The driver of the front artic was lucky that he didn’t smash into the back of another wagon, or he could have been killed too. Long hours is not macho, its just putting the crash off to another day.
I think the police do these shows partly for education. it’s not nice to see but if just a few of us leave a few more feet tonight or knock a few more mph off as we pass then it’s done it job.
thehairyarsedtrucker:
It just goes to show what 15hr shifts and 70 plus hours a week can do for you.
The sooner driving hours are reduced the safer for ALL road users. The driver of the front artic was lucky that he didn’t smash into the back of another wagon, or he could have been killed too. Long hours is not macho, its just putting the crash off to another day.
I think the number of accidents involving HGV’s is more to do with poor driving standards to be honest. I’ll go out on a limb and say that the vast majority could have been avoided if drivers were keeping a safe distance, driving at an appropriate speed and reading the road properly. You might be able to attribute the latter to being tired but no excuse for the other two.
If the police were that worried about the blind bend with queing traffic in the road why didn’t
they do something about it.Then the chances of that accident happen would
be reduced or was the accident not in the tail back.Please don’t say anything about
the matrix signs as no one takes no notice of them .
I watched that programme, it was very sobering.
However, what was particularly alarming was the number of times the Police knew what was going to happen! Yet they did nothing to prevent it This seems very strange to me, as they could have prevented at least one fatality by merely putting a blue light vehicle at the back of the queue, or something that would make the drivers look and slow down…Matrix signs are so often incorrect that people seldom take any notice.
If the Police know what is going to happen, why do they not prevent it by taking action■■? This seems to me as though risk assessment is not being taken seriously, or perhaps officers on an individual basis need re-training regarding communication. There are many solutions to the problem and combined could go a long way to saving lives perhaps.
If I was a surviving member of family of the driver that was killed, I would look at that programme as an admission of guilt regarding negligence on the part of the Police perhaps!
You have to remember that Motorway Cops is a tv show, it is carefully edited for tv also, all of these programs are, they show a few minutes highlights of probably weeks worth of filming, the reality does not always come through
I think the reality came through without a doubt.
10
The reality is that your not going to get out of an accident such as this alive. R.I.P. the driver from Middlesbrough.
Sadly like many others it’s too late for him but one day maybe the benefits of putting the engine out front and the cab where it should be will be recognised.
att:
I watched that programme, it was very sobering.
However, what was particularly alarming was the number of times the Police knew what was going to happen! Yet they did nothing to prevent it This seems very strange to me, as they could have prevented at least one fatality by merely putting a blue light vehicle at the back of the queue, or something that would make the drivers look and slow down…Matrix signs are so often incorrect that people seldom take any notice.
If the Police know what is going to happen, why do they not prevent it by taking action■■? This seems to me as though risk assessment is not being taken seriously, or perhaps officers on an individual basis need re-training regarding communication. There are many solutions to the problem and combined could go a long way to saving lives perhaps.
If I was a surviving member of family of the driver that was killed, I would look at that programme as an admission of guilt regarding negligence on the part of the Police perhaps!
Shouldn’t need the Police to tell you to slow down if there’s standing traffic ahead and matrix signs flashing.
att:
This seems very strange to me, as they could have prevented at least one fatality by merely putting a blue light vehicle at the back of the queue, or something that would make the drivers look and slow down…Matrix signs are so often incorrect that people seldom take any notice.
And if it was because the driver was asleep, blue strobes would only make a difference in as much as it would be the policemans family who would have got a knock on the door that night.
I know what you’re trying to say but I don’t think it would have stopped a secondary collision in this case.
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