£160,000 motorhome accident (1 Viewer)

Big bus man

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Thought that might get your attention!
A little story. last year my brother-in-law was driving towards the Dartford tunnel in his 40 ton lorry minding his own business when suddenly the smaller lorry in front sharply braked and swerved into another lane just avoiding tipping over, suddenly my brother-in-law was confronted with a stationary motorhome in the middle lane, choices; plunge into the back of it at 50mph probably killing the occupants or try and avoid it. He chose to avoid it and in doing so turned his lorry over and shedding his full load of timber making a mess of his arm in the process. 11am in the morning he was taken to hospital and later that day I set off to pick him up. Now 8pm and driving back round the M25 and the load was still being cleaned up, all this time the anti-clockwise carriageway had been closed and the stationary traffic went on for miles including many motorhomes, at least they could put the kettle on! Fortunately nobody was killed but the whole carnage was caused by a Motorhome. Just one of those things where nobody was to blame but the insurance bill for the entire operation came to £160,000. If you were one of those caught up in the jams that day all you would have heard is it was an overturned lorry, no mention of a motorhome being involved.
 
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Big bus man

Big bus man

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That was just the clean-up bill, the lorry and trailer were also a write-off, if you factor in the emergency services as well I hate to think, then there would be the millions lost from all the stationary motorists. I have no idea why the motorists were not turned back though.

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Big bus man

Big bus man

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A bit like us following a van you can't always see passed them, you can allow space to make things safe but I guess when you think about it is was caused by the forward lorry not reacting fast enough and 40tons takes a lot of stopping.
 

Minxy

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Fortunately nobody was killed but the whole carnage was caused by a Motorhome. Just one of those things where nobody was to blame but the insurance bill for the entire operation came to £160,000.

A bit like us following a van you can't always see passed them, you can allow space to make things safe but I guess when you think about it is was caused by the forward lorry not reacting fast enough and 40tons takes a lot of stopping.

Sorry, it wasn't ... the accident was actually caused by the 2nd lorry driver (the OP's BIL) who did not leave sufficient distance between his vehicle and the one in front in order to stop if the need arose ... not nice to think of it that way, but it is actually what happened. The fact that it was a motorhome that had stopped in the road doesn't have any bearing - it could have been a car that had stopped and the lorries would still have had to take evasive action due to their being too close.

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MattR

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Sorry, it wasn't ... the accident was actually caused by the 2nd lorry driver (the OP's BIL) who did not leave sufficient distance between his vehicle and the one in front in order to stop if the need arose ... not nice to think of it that way, but it is actually what happened. The fact that it was a motorhome that had stopped in the road doesn't have any bearing - it could have been a car that had stopped and the lorries would still have had to take evasive action due to their being too close.


I disagree. A vehicle travelling at 50mph should maintain a safe stopping distance but this would normally be based on the slowing or stopping of a moving vehicle (which would take time) rather than a stationary object.
 

Minxy

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Thought that might get your attention!
A little story. last year my brother-in-law was driving towards the Dartford tunnel in his 40 ton lorry minding his own business when suddenly the smaller lorry in front sharply braked and swerved into another lane just avoiding tipping over, suddenly my brother-in-law was confronted with a stationary motorhome in the middle lane, choices; plunge into the back of it at 50mph probably killing the occupants or try and avoid it. He chose to avoid it and in doing so turned his lorry over and shedding his full load of timber making a mess of his arm in the process. 11am in the morning he was taken to hospital and later that day I set off to pick him up. Now 8pm and driving back round the M25 and the load was still being cleaned up, all this time the anti-clockwise carriageway had been closed and the stationary traffic went on for miles including many motorhomes, at least they could put the kettle on! Fortunately nobody was killed but the whole carnage was caused by a Motorhome. Just one of those things where nobody was to blame but the insurance bill for the entire operation came to £160,000. If you were one of those caught up in the jams that day all you would have heard is it was an overturned lorry, no mention of a motorhome being involved.
I disagree. A vehicle travelling at 50mph should maintain a safe stopping distance but this would normally be based on the slowing or stopping of a moving vehicle (which would take time) rather than a stationary object.
I'd love to see you try to argue that one in court! Maybe in 'real life' that's what happens but unfortunately the law isn't that 'flexible'.

At the end of the day no-one was seriously injured and that's what we should be grateful for.

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Steve

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If we all left enough room to stop in an emergency then we probably don't have enough road in the whole country. What we should do and actually do are most times different. A 40 ton lorry travelling at 60mph takes a lot of stopping and swerve and you over.
 

sdc77

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If we all left enough room to stop in an emergency then we probably don't have enough road in the whole country. What we should do and actually do are most times different. A 40 ton lorry travelling at 60mph takes a lot of stopping and swerve and you over.
In fairness .. that wasn't what was originally said. What was said. . Quite rightly .. is we should be able to stop in the distance we can see to be clear. Now this isn't a new theory .. and doesn't involve witchcraft .. it's plain common sense and has been around as a principle for a long time. It's something that perhaps some people .. often in huge trucks .. but not exclusively .. forget to adhere to. It's sadly not a problem until something happens. Luckily on this occasion everyone survived.
 

Abacist

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I disagree. A vehicle travelling at 50mph should maintain a safe stopping distance but this would normally be based on the slowing or stopping of a moving vehicle (which would take time) rather than a stationary object.

That philosophy would work well when a pedestrian walks out in front of you or the vehicle in front of you, something falls off the load in front of you.

So the Motorhome is stopped in the middle of the road in the middle lane - there could be a pedestrian, motorcyclist or small car in front of it that you couldn't see or perhaps it had a mechanical failure and the inside lane was too busy to get over to the side of the road and he had no choice but to stop safely in the middle lane but the lorry drivers were not driving appropriately to stop in time themselves.

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sdc77

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I disagree. A vehicle travelling at 50mph should maintain a safe stopping distance but this would normally be based on the slowing or stopping of a moving vehicle (which would take time) rather than a stationary object.
Again this is incorrect. If the lorry drivers were being alert with good forward vision they would have seen brake lights and vehicles moving around the hazard etc etc. Unfortunately only being able to see the doors of the truck in front is going to end in disaster when the front truck suddenly has issues.. for whatever reason. Most lorry drivers know this and drive accordingly and professionaly.
 

ukbill

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nope i read it all thx
 
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Well that`s our 13th year & still loving it.
Truth is wether it`s this particular incident or not, we all see that continuous line of Arctic trucks driving far too close to each other along the motorways, it really is mind boggling just how close they are, certainly not enough for a car to get between them, a bloody pain when you are approaching the Junction you want to exit on.

Personally I would like to see it be Law that heavy goods can only use the inside lane of a motorway with a minimum speed limit on all motorways as well as a maximum, which according to our Laws isn`t 70 mph but actually 70 mph + 10% +2 mph.
Which of course adds another 7 mph to a heavy goods top speed, (if it isn`t governed of course).
 

Enword

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Anyone who's ever driven a lorry will know its impossible to leave a good distance between you & the one in front, Because you will get 3 or 4 dicks in cars slot in there, which means you just got to keep dropping back & back. A minimum speed limit for cars (60) would be good to stop this

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Anyone who's ever driven a lorry will know its impossible to leave a good distance between you & the one in front, Because you will get 3 or 4 dicks in cars slot in there, which means you just got to keep dropping back & back. A minimum speed limit for cars (60) would be good to stop this
You are of course correct but only to a point. If the lorry driver had left say another 30 meters, he wouldn't have had to swerve quite so violently. It wouldn't matter if a car slotted in the gap because he could see over it. The point is being so close to a large vehicle in front so that all you can see is his rear doors is asking for trouble. Leave enough gap so that you can either stop or safely take avoiding action is sensible. Being so close that you have no view and no chance of taking avoiding action is not.

That said, I am just relieved that no one was seriously injured or killed in this incident.
 
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, then there would be the millions lost from all the stationary motorists. I have no idea why the motorists were not turned back though.


They are too lazy. I was stopped on the M20 this year , @ J2. Specifically designed/widened to turn back vehicles. I was literally at the end of the queue at 11a.m.- To be told it will "likely be 2,30pm by the time we have scraped the illegals off the road." No attempt to allow anyone to turn & exit , even though they had a patrol 'guarding' the slip road off the roundabout & when eventually the road was reopened they allowed the traffic to exit the roundabout on to the slip road/motorway even though the motorway hadn't started moving.:mad:

If we all left enough room to stop in an emergency then we probably don't have enough road in the whole country. What we should do and actually do are most times different. A 40 ton lorry travelling at 60mph takes a lot of stopping and swerve and you over.

Correct. If everyone obeyed the " keep to chevrons distance between vehicles " That would mean that there would only be 14 vehicles per km of road. ( rather than the 100+ when only leaving 10m ) That's 2867 per whole 205km lane of the M25 , when vehicles enter at the rate of 7000 per hour. We can all dream up these wonderful ideas :rolleyes:but the reality is that there is too much traffic .
" Only a fool invents the two chevron rule."
In fairness .. that wasn't what was originally said. What was said. . Quite rightly .. is we should be able to stop in the distance we can see to be clear. Now this isn't a new theory .. and doesn't involve witchcraft .. it's plain common sense and has been around as a principle for a long time. It's something that perhaps some people .. often in huge trucks .. but not exclusively .. forget to adhere to. It's sadly not a problem until something happens. Luckily on this occasion everyone survived.

Yes we all know what should & shouldn't be done. The chances of doing it in & around major cities is negligible.

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Mel

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Amazing there are any accidents when we are all very good drivers who never make any mistakes.

I have seen Bad driving from Trucks-Cars_Motorhomes-Buses-Motorcycles-
-Cycles.
The bigist problem is we all think the other driver is Stupid.

If we all practised defensive driving it might be safer on the roads
My son in law would ban all drivers over 60 I am 66
Yesterday he rang me to ask how to repair his back wing whete he hit a post:whistle:
 

Carol

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This happened this year going through Birmingham M6, we had pulled on to the motorway the congestion lane was been used and traffic was very heavy and sometimes barley crawling maybe 10 mile a hour. So we are crawling along in the first lane, I think to my self you should always be able to see the tyres of the vehicle in front (but thought shut up Carol) Ed's got enough concentrating on what's going on.

Next thing in the congestion lane almost next to us 5 vehicle pile up Lorry/van/little red car/van/lorry, they really were jammed into one another and the red car really stuck, and that was at 10 mile a hour, just shows you don't have to be doing any speed, but leaving some stopping distance is advisable . (Bet they wished they had left enough room to see the tyres in front.)
 

PeteH

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Those of you who have been HGV drivers will know 2 things. 1) Yes, some Drivers Tailgate the truck in front, some even at night on an otherwise empty motorway!. 2) We have ALL experienced the "Fill the gap" syndrome, where you leave a decent gap which is instantly filled by 2 or 3 Cars! ,and if you back off? Another 3 or 4 Cars fill that gap!!!. So in reality it is the old "catch 22", Dammed if you do, Dammed if you don't!. Not forgetting that schedulers work on a different planet to drivers. Which is why you spend your time "pushing" to make the over optimistic "Time Slot" he / she has set, for delivery!!.

Pete

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Correct. If everyone obeyed the " keep to chevrons distance between vehicles " That would mean that there would only be 14 vehicles per km of road. ( rather than the 100+ when only leaving 10m ) That's 2867 per whole 205km lane of the M25 , when vehicles enter at the rate of 7000 per hour. We can all dream up these wonderful ideas :rolleyes:but the reality is that there is too much traffic .
" Only a fool invents the two chevron rule."


Yes we all know what should & shouldn't be done. The chances of doing it in & around major cities is negligible.

Which is precisely why variable speed limits were introduced so that safe separation distances can be maintained whilst still coping with the amount of traffic.

Morons like Clarkson said how can you get anywhere faster by slowing down!......but it works.......to a point.
 

Steve

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Those of you who have been HGV drivers will know 2 things. 1) Yes, some Drivers Tailgate the truck in front, some even at night on an otherwise empty motorway!. 2) We have ALL experienced the "Fill the gap" syndrome, where you leave a decent gap which is instantly filled by 2 or 3 Cars! ,and if you back off? Another 3 or 4 Cars fill that gap!!!. So in reality it is the old "catch 22", Dammed if you do, Dammed if you don't!. Not forgetting that schedulers work on a different planet to drivers. Which is why you spend your time "pushing" to make the over optimistic "Time Slot" he / she has set, for delivery!!.

Pete
Very, very true. But getting back the post subject i think that the true amount is much higher. But as said they all lived to tell the tell. Its only money and good for bussiness.
 
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Hi.
I am SURE i read a post about,"Draughting ?" (Hugging the rear bumper /..Yes!) a HGV, by a m/homer and getting good MPG.i mentioned at the time,that the HGV driver was now driving for two,himself and the T....ulip behind. It only takes a mini second for the vehicle in front to do a manouver from the norm, it takes just a smidgin longer to check all is OK behind.in the big frying pans they call mirrors. (But of course,a good soldier never looks behind him ?)
In another post, the driver of a M/home,struck a stationary vehicle from behind on a road, causing some minor damage,he posted,"i thought it was going to move off before i hit it." Some of the replies.from M/homers."He should have not been stopped on the road,report them to the police" Another, Try to get his insurance details and claim."
It's make your mind up folks,you cannot have it both ways.
When the M1 was opened up to Crick,once you were on it southbound,you could go for miles and not see another car,a few years back now,if you could not clear London for 15.30 hrs friday,you pulled into Watling street and had an early night,(After a couple of pints in the Horse and Jockey)and journey home next day. All roads now are handling traffic that they were never intended to serve,so to get back to original design numbers,shall we lets say,have cars/lorries registered in odd years driving one day and even numbered cars/lorries driving the next day on a rota basis,sorted, If this still causes traffic jams,try,alternate cars in the jams,crossing the central reservation and driving the wrong way up the road to the front of the queue.
Tea Bag Oh for the days when cabs/ships were wood,and the men were steel

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They are too lazy. I was stopped on the M20 this year , @ J2. Specifically designed/widened to turn back vehicles. I was literally at the end of the queue at 11a.m.- To be told it will "likely be 2,30pm by the time we have scraped the illegals off the road." No attempt to allow anyone to turn & exit , even though they had a patrol 'guarding' the slip road off the roundabout & when eventually the road was reopened they allowed the traffic to exit the roundabout on to the slip road/motorway even though the motorway hadn't started moving.:mad:



Correct. If everyone obeyed the " keep to chevrons distance between vehicles " That would mean that there would only be 14 vehicles per km of road. ( rather than the 100+ when only leaving 10m ) That's 2867 per whole 205km lane of the M25 , when vehicles enter at the rate of 7000 per hour. We can all dream up these wonderful ideas :rolleyes:but the reality is that there is too much traffic .
" Only a fool invents the two chevron rule."


Yes we all know what should & shouldn't be done. The chances of doing it in & around major cities is negligible.
It isn't two chevrons - it's 2 seconds. The chevrons work for 60 / 70 mph. The gap varies with speed so on congested city motorways running much lower speeds maintaining a sensible gap should cause little reduction in road space.
 
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Which is precisely why variable speed limits were introduced so that safe separation distances can be maintained whilst still coping with the amount of traffic.

Morons like Clarkson said how can you get anywhere faster by slowing down!......but it works.......to a point.

Both this year & last in all the variable speed limit areas I was in I was basically stopped.:(
It isn't two chevrons - it's 2 seconds. The chevrons work for 60 / 70 mph. The gap varies with speed so on congested city motorways running much lower speeds maintaining a sensible gap should cause little reduction in road space.

Have you never seen these ?

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