BBC Reporting 2 Pedestrians killed on M6 North junction 17 to 18.
Two pedestrians killed on motorway
(UKPA) — 18 minutes ago Holmes Chapel
Two pedestrians have been knocked down and killed on one of the country’s busiest motorways.
The men were hit by a heavy goods vehicle on the northbound M6 between junctions 17 and 18.
A Cheshire Police spokesman said the M6 northbound carriageway was closed at junction 17.
He said: “Drivers should, if possible, seek alternative routes and avoid the area around the motorway as traffic congestion is likely to be very heavy. The southbound carriageway has also been closed from junction 18.”
The HGV driver was being treated in hospital but it was not known how serious his injuries were.
The crash happened near Sandbach, north of Stoke-on-Trent.
Road signs were set across the region to advise drivers of the closure and delays in the area. A diversion was in place for northbound traffic.
An empty car was parked on the hard shoulder at the scene.
Officers are trying to establish if it belonged to the victims, who might have broken down and tried to cross the carriageway, or might have been struck as they were emerging from the car.
“It is too early to tell,” a police spokesman said.
Typical daft comments that people in charge make in these circumstances eh?!
He said: “Drivers should, if possible, seek alternative routes and avoid the area around the motorway as traffic congestion is likely to be very heavy. The southbound carriageway has also been closed from junction 18.”
What else can you do? Park on the hard shoulder until its all over?
I was going northbound and the first we knew about this was the overheads flashing “M6 North shut between J16 &18” just before junc 16.
Diversion signs? Hmmm I didnt see any, but I just queued to get off at Junc 16 then A500 and A34 to Manchester.
In this day and age, what a farce events like these become. Recover the bodies, vehicles and debris then re-open the road ASAP.
I did see plenty of HATO, and other yellow jacket wearers, doing nothing much at the closed junction though.
When there is a fatality the police treat the road as a crime scene & therefore there is a wonderful opportunity for lots of overtime . Police live in a parallel universe where they get lots of fiddles & never have to show a profit so there is no motivation to clear the road - these guys are stars on their own movie set. They think that people that work for a living haven’t got the message.
My mate phoned me when he was stuck in it early afternoon, then he was told someone had jumped, when he passed he just saw a body, no vehicles, so assumed the info was true.
When I got home, on BBC webby and got the info above, what I don’t understand is a) how was the hgv driver injured? b) why the hell it’ll take till 8pm to open the road and c) why the opposite carriageway was going so slow - oh wait, I know this 1, nosey frickers.
I once spoke to a Collision Investigation Officer about the length of time some fatal incidents take to deal with.He explained that unlike a murder scene,he has one chance to gather evidence.He cannot come back the next day.As it is him that could possibly be giving evidence in a crown court,as well as coroner’s court,he will make sure his report is 100% correct.
Regarding,just clear bodies,debris and vehicles,if it was a member of my family killed,I would want to know why and if someone was to blame,I would want justice.And to be honest,if I had just lost a loved one then sorry,but I would not be worried about congestion.
To Somerset bus driver,nearly all motorway exit slip roads,all in my area because we checked them,have diversion route signs,showing the diversion symbol.EG: square,triangle,diamond etc. which would take you to next junction.
nearly all motorway exit slip roads,all in my area because we checked them,have diversion route signs,showing the diversion symbol.EG: square,triangle,diamond etc. which would take you to next junction.
You would be suprised how many pro drivers do not realise what these symbols mean . They are a tool we can all use and it’s got me out of trouble more than once .
I explained the system to my daughter , who lives in Sheffield (at uni ) and she ended up using the symbols a week later when the motorway was shut . Worked a treat for her , and gave her loads of kudos with her travelling companions 
I wouldn’t trust those diversion diamonds or whatever.
I dont recall seeing any special signs as implied by the police statements. Plus…the M6 was shut northbound from Junc 16 to Junc 18, so how do the diamonds help you then? Do you follow diamonds to Junc 17 to find that shut then follow more?
With so many roadworks and diversion signs how do you know if your following the right one?!
I still say get the road open, the rest of us dont need to be dragged into the problems of a few. M6 + Police = TV stars no doubt at all. I wonder if the camera crew were around today?
Years ago we didnt have this farce, so please change back whatever changed, murder laws, manslaughter etc etc whatever.
They have digital recorders now. A quick film of the scene then clear it up please.
hold on a minute, some poor begger, a fellow wagon driver has the death of two pedestrians to live with, not to mention the two fellas who actually killed and all people can do is moan about the delays and lack of diversions? ffs!
drove past on south bound today didnt look pretty, heart goes out to all involved.
Its easy to get annoyed about being held up and being late getting home but just remind yourself that someone is never going home again !
paul b:
hold on a minute, some poor begger, a fellow wagon driver has the death of two pedestrians to live with, not to mention the two fellas who actually killed and all people can do is moan about the delays and lack of diversions? ffs!
Quite agree, im sure that if it was a relative of mine that had been killed id want every avenue of investigation done to try and find out what happened and why.If being held up in traffic is such a disaster foo*** tough, some poor buggers been killed. Get a life ffs.
What it does say to me is that this happens all to often and it`s about time hard shoulders were made into what they are supposed to be, a safe place of refuge in an emergency, the ■■■■ things should be at least two feet wider than they are at present.
it.s very sad for everybody involved.
But why does it take so bloody long, other countries in Europe don’t have mayor routes closed off for this kind of time.
Is the British police that thick that they need 6-7 hours for an acident ivestigations■■?
Or are you gone tell now that other countries don’t do any investigation into fatalities?? Dream on.
They are better off to give the family of the victims a million cash and clear the site because the country come to a standstill, because we have incompotent police working on this.
There is more than 40 people doing the investigation, so 6 hours x 40 = 240 hours investigation, when a girl in our town got het throat slashed they didn’t take that amount of time, but again, there was no chance to come on TV or the radio.
I heard it was 2 hato’s that got killed. So much for MMTM 
There was another poor sap looked like he was receiving mouth to mouth in lane 2 of the M4 earlier by Delamere. Another MMTM who’s been in Chippenham truck stop for the last 2 hours just said it was a biker got swiped by white van man. Might be true cos i didn’t see any wreckage. Makes you think.
I understand why it is so important to fiind out exactly what happened at fatal accidents, and If it were one of my family, i would want to know. but we have such advanced technology nowadays, I fail to understand why it takes so long to investigate things. we are the most spied on nation in the world, there are cctv cameras on almost every mile of our motorways, add to that the latest digital cameras, and high definition digital camcorders, computer technology that can take this information and recreate things virtually on a screen, and yet they still send a plod with a stick of chalk and a ruler to investigate things!
I would imagine that any event similar to that on the M6 today will affect not hundreds, or thousands of people, but take into account the disruption to local services and people on the diversion routes, possibly millions of people. There has to be a sensible balance between investigation and re opening the motorway, and I believe the police are often too going far too much on trying to find evidence that is not there. how can it possibly take seven or eight hours to measure up and take pictures?
In some countries the debris is pushed onto the hard shoulder to allow the road to be reopened, then it is cleared away later.
how can it possibly take seven or eight hours to measure up and take pictures?
Its not just that though, there is the clean up, sometimes resurfacing and other infrastructure repairs. Maybe multiple vehicles to pull apart from each other, carefully though to preserve evidence. Police want everything as untouched as possible, even finding the brake light bulbs and determining whether it was on or off at the time of impact can potentially change a case and therefore charges brought against someone. I remember being at a fatal where it took nearly 2 hours just to locate all the major bits and bobs of a person, never mind cleaning it all up (thanks to very long grass!)
That said, it does seem to take longer in the UK than in europe. Maybe its another example of 'elf and safety gone mad?
I dont like sitting in a queue any more than the next person, but at the same time I would want the police to do everything they could to capture evidence and prosecute if it was my family member or friend that had died.
somerset bus driver:
Typical daft comments that people in charge make in these circumstances eh?!He said: “Drivers should, if possible, seek alternative routes and avoid the area around the motorway as traffic congestion is likely to be very heavy. The southbound carriageway has also been closed from junction 18.”
What else can you do? Park on the hard shoulder until its all over?
I was going northbound and the first we knew about this was the overheads flashing “M6 North shut between J16 &18” just before junc 16.
Diversion signs? Hmmm I didnt see any, but I just queued to get off at Junc 16 then A500 and A34 to Manchester.
In this day and age, what a farce events like these become. Recover the bodies, vehicles and debris then re-open the road ASAP.
I did see plenty of HATO, and other yellow jacket wearers, doing nothing much at the closed junction though.
Typical daft fellow “professional” 
comment well it does say “bus” not truck , it would have been quicker to type highways.gov.uk/mobile/breakingnews.aspx to find out what they may be , that’s the mobile version just in case you get stuck in a queue 
First thing i try and do on any closure is find out the diversion symbol for “numpties”
Also when your parked up on nights try and be a better driver and find out about things, highways.gov.uk/knowledge/16947.aspx
i must be a sad barsteward 
as i still flick through commercial motor, truck and driver etc whilst in a service area just to keep up to speed
paul b:
hold on a minute, some poor begger, a fellow wagon driver has the death of two pedestrians to live with, not to mention the two fellas who actually killed and all people can do is moan about the delays and lack of diversions? ffs!
At the end of the day Paul. The poor buggers are dead, and nothing will bring them back or ease the Driver’s conscience. My big fear is that all them people flying up the A6 A34 for example? Have been sat for ages and are stressed, late and basically P’d off. So not only are they trying to do motorway speeds on A roads through towns and villages, they are trying to make up the time they have lost too.
I foresee an occasion when a lot bigger accident will occur while people are being diverted round a fatality. With Cameras & GPS etc the Police should aim to record all the information they need to perform their investigation, then get the road open as soon as humanly possible so they don’t have to attend another one.
I’ll get off my soapbox now
I think the story in the local paper tells the story.
An empty car was parked on the hard shoulder at the scene.
Officers are trying to establish if it belonged to the victims, who might have broken down and tried to cross the carriageway, or might have been struck as they were emerging from the car.
Simply an argument to bring in motorway testing for drivers or charge them treble road tax until they do take the exam.
DaiDap:
I heard it was 2 hato’s that got killed.
I can categorically state that none of my colleagues have been harmed in this tragic incident. 