Motorhomer in a hurry!! (1 Viewer)

[Jim]

What a prat!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4968990/Maniac-40k-motorhome-hits-brand-new-HGV.html

 

[maison]

We had an almost identical incident with a red Audi, in France, near Laos. In our case there must have still been a gap between us as he didn't make contact.

It certainly increased my heart rate somewhat though.

 

[simsy56]

Unbelievable!

Craig

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[lawry]

Surely one reason for having a MH is to take life easy What a d**k head !

 

[Richard n Ann]

Certain people shouldn't be driving but what can you do? You've just got to think s**t happens.

 

[Don Quixote]

And you wonder why some people have a driving license.................. Prat is for too polite Jim.

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[Wildbill]

That will cost a bob or two to fix don't think the MH would have got away without damage did they get him i wonder?
bill

 

[funflair]

That will cost a bob or two to fix don't think the MH would have got away without damage did they get him i wonder?
bill

Yes the lorry driver spoke to him according to the report, when asked what he was doing his reply was that "he wanted to go that way"

Martin

 

[CWH]

Not excusing anything, but...

http://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/accident-blackspot-worst-crashes-cornwall-593061

Properly known as Chiverton Roundabout, on the A30.
It's a pig of a roundabout, really confusing layout, crashes and near misses almost daily. I used to use it every day going to work, and hated it. A lot of locals actually won't use it - some take back roads, some go to Penzance instead of Truro.
Before it was built, all the surveys said a flyover or a true interchange was needed but nobody could afford it. There have been frequent 'adjustments', none of which have improved things. Difficult for locals and regular users, who of course have developed their own way of negotiating it; so it's VERY difficult for out-of-towners. 5 roads on/off; some are 1 lane, some 2, some 3; 3 lanes around the roundabout; very long queues at times (I've been stuck there over an hour just due to volume of traffic) and often queues ON the roundabout as some of the roads off (eg into Truro) are totally inadequate. The road markings coming onto the roundabout from the west make the whole thing very unclear and I'd think it's likely that the motorhome anticipated that the HGV would take the previous turning, then panicked.

The daft comment ("I wanted to go this way") is typical of shock.

By the way, they're now planning a £290m upgrade of the A30 east (north) of Chiverton, which will no doubt bring more chaos in the shorter term; but maybe they'll manage to make more sense of the roundabout and improve safety.

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[Wildbill]

Yes the lorry driver spoke to him according to the report, when asked what he was doing his reply was that "he wanted to go that way"

Martin

what a prat if he should have just went round agane and position him self better to exit the roundabout
bill

 

[SpeedyDux]

Yesterday a red Citroen C1 undertook in my nearside blind spot ignoring my left indication as I was about to change lane. This was on a new roundabout with 3 lanes that become 5 lanes, very confusing. Saw the C1 at the last minute in the mirror and managed to avoid a collision.

Be. A. Lert. Always assume there is an idiot driver about to cut you up. Don't get angry. I've seen 2 awful road rage incidents in the past week, where someone totally lost all self-control over nothing at all. Chill, people.

 

[mikebeaches]

what a prat if he should have just went round agane and position him self better to exit the roundabout
bill

Hindsight is great...

Whilst no excuse for the MH's poor driving, interesting to hear what CWH - who knows the location well - says about the junction and how badly designed it is.

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[maison]

Just after reading this post we were approaching our house in our car. A car, visiting our next door neighbour, was attempting to reverse out of their driveway.

As a car was coming towards us we stopped, wound down the window, waved at him and shouted at him to stop. He clearly heard us as he shook his head and continued to reverse into the road, hitting the car coming the other way. That car was driven by a young girl who was obviously shocked.

When they both came to a halt all he could say was "I'm sorry" to the girl.

She is young and, presumably, an inexperienced driver in her first car, now badly damaged. He was about 50, in his relatively new Mazda 6, with damage to his rear bumper.

You just can't help some people, who appear to believe that they can do what they want and that their priorities exceed all others.

 

[Chris]

Typical driver of a continental van

 

[chrisgreen]

I am shocked Jim.






















you admit on an internet forum that you read the

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[tonyidle]

It is surprising how much (often subconsciously) you rely on road markings. I used to leave M6 northbound at junction 36 on my way home from work. It's an unremarkable junction with a long slip road - the left lane of which has a filter for westbound traffic that avoids the roundabout. One evening when it was dark and raining lightly the exit had been modified by cones in preparation for roadworks. The cones also reduced the slip to one (RH) lane. When leaving the motorway via a known exit with a long slip road it's my practice not to begin slowing until I've left the motorway. This technique is obviously modified for short or unknown slips and those with poor visibility but I always try, where possible, not to inconvenience following traffic on the motorway. Although it was dark and raining I could see clearly the full length of the slip and the new exit point from the motorway marked by the cones. The part of the slip that ran alongside the motorway before it diverged to become the slip road proper was shortened by the coning so I slowed to perhaps 50mph and made the turn following the line of cones. That line led be directly to the kerb that edged the grassy triangle dividing the motorway from the slip road. I managed to turn away, brake hard, and miss the kerb. Two cars leaving the motorway behind me weren't so lucky and both hit the kerb. One had to reverse off the grass. I never did work out what exactly was wrong with the cone positions & I only stopped briefly at the top of the slip to catch my breath & make sure that the two cars behind made it safely. I got home, phoned the Police and explained what had happened. They said they'd sort it & sure enough it was fine the next evening. Looking back at the cones from the top of the slip road I couldn't see what was wrong with them and the following evening I couldn't see what had changed. Only when I came to use it (initially at an even lower speed than on the previous occasion) could I tell that it was now as it was supposed to be. Under the right circumstances it doesn't take much of a road marking error to cause an accident.

 

[Don Quixote]

Typical driver of a continental van

Steady on...................

 

[rangi]

Have to agree with @CWH That R/about is very confusing to anyone using it for the first time.
It's particularly dangerous in the tourist season. We use it a lot and have had a few near misses right where that truck copped it. A lot of it is just caused by impatience.

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[CWH]

Have to agree with @CWH

Ooh you want to be careful there Rangi, you could start a dangerous trend

 

[Chris]

Have to agree with @CWH That R/about is very confusing to anyone using it for the first time.
It's particularly dangerous in the tourist season. We use it a lot and have had a few near misses right where that truck copped it. A lot of it is just caused by impatience.

I must admit I find all multi lane roundabouts confusing.

It’s a source of some amusement to my wife and I in the car or the van

 

[tonka]

BURSTNER owner !!!!!!
They are like the BMW drivers of the motorhome world.
You NEVER see an Autotrail driver doing stuff like that...




Sits back ready for incoming...

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[Poursay]

Our daughter had a similar experience on the nearby A27 recently. She was going along the dual carriageway and just passing a sliproad when a car passed her and cut straight across the front of her to take the slip road. Unfortunately for the driver, the car hit the kerb and went over a fence and landed on its wheels in an adjoining field. Our daughter was so shocked that she carried on, also not wanting to stop, in the dark, on a dual carriageway. She felt rather lucky as the car could have been catapulted the other way and hit her, causing a bigger accident.
The car was left in the field for a couple of weeks, probably because there was no easy way of getting a breakdown truck into the field.
The stupid driver should have carried on to the next exit, only a mile or so away, and come back that way. Perhaps he / she has learned their lesson.

 

[Rapido925M]

The stupid driver should have carried on to the next exit, only a mile or so away, and come back that way. Perhaps he / she has learned their lesson.

Easy to say, especially if you know the road. I was travelling down the M4 in a car to do a job somewhere near Reading, in the good old days before satnavs. I realised I should have taken a junction but had no choice other than to continue for approx 15miles, turn round and come back. Needless to say, I was half-an-hour late and that had knock-on effects throughout the rest of the day.

Now that we have satnavs, we are less likely to miss a junction but ensuring we're in the correct lane is not necessarily simple, even with "lane guidance". I can imagine the driver deciding that he was in the wrong lane and desperately trying to decide if he could squeeze through in front of the lorry or slow down and see if he could get in behind the lorry, without being smacked up the rear. It's ever so easy to criticise when it would probably be better to sympathise and say "there but for the grace of ........".

Gordon

 

[John&Kate]

TO55ER .. Dont care what he was driving, MH Car Van Bike whatever .. Too many idiots like this on the road. If people were to read the signs before entering a roundabout, 99.9% (if not 100%) of junctions like this tell you which lane to be in.
If your in the wrong lane, go around the rounabout or carry on to the next junction. Lots of money involved for saving a bit of time ??
Too many people on the road that care about themselves only and what impact it has on them and their time.

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[maison]

@John&Kate
I agree with your comments but, I am currently helping my granddaughter to learn to drive. I have now noticed how many road markings, i.e. Arrows on the surface giving lane guidance are too close to the junction.

If there are one or two cars ahead you cannot see the arrows until you are right up to the junction. Cars therefore end up n the wrong lane.

Motorists should use common sense when they find themselves in the wrong lane but extra arrows, which can be seen earlier, would help to avoid the situation in the first place.

 

[Enword]

What a prat!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4968990/Maniac-40k-motorhome-hits-brand-new-HGV.html

Nice to see Mr S Vettle visits us down yer sometimes on his holidays

 

[Jim]

@John&Kate
I agree with your comments but, I am currently helping my granddaughter to learn to drive. I have now noticed how many road markings, i.e. Arrows on the surface giving lane guidance are too close to the junction.

If there are one or two cars ahead you cannot see the arrows until you are right up to the junction. Cars therefore end up n the wrong lane.

Motorists should use common sense when they find themselves in the wrong lane but extra arrows, which can be seen earlier, would help to avoid the situation in the first place.

I agree about all the lanes now painted on roundabouts. They are stupid, your transit around a roundabout is lane fluid. To many inexperienced people take these lanes seriously and don’t negotiate the roundabout properly, suddenly finding themselves in the wrong position for exiting.

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[CWH]

On this particular roundabout, the A30 where it joins from the west splits into 3 lanes, the left lane separated from the other 2. It's a very fast bit of dual carriageway(or, as its known in Cornwall, "the motorway" - it's the closest there is to a M in the county).
BUT the 2 left lanes are both marked A30East.
Think about that, & the confusion it causes.
Then there are 2 exit roads before you get to the A30E.
As maison says, the markings are VERY close to the junction. You can see them here:

OK there are other markings much further back, and a big roadside sign, but that's BEFORE the road splits into 3 with a divider between the left and centre lanes.
So the left lane is marked for the first 3 exits; the middle lane for the 2nd & 3rd; and the right lane for the 4th exit only.
It appears both vehicles were coming from A30W (bottom of page) or possibly the motorhome from A390 (bottom right). Motorhome was going onto the A3075 (top left) and the HGV A30E (top right). Remember, the HGV was in the left hand lane throughout, even though passing 2 exits, as per road markings. The motorhome was in the centre lane, also as per road markings.
My guess is the motorhome expected the HGV to turn left onto the B3277, which would have given them plenty of room to turn onto the A3075.
Then factor in unfamiliarity: the motorhome knew they wanted to go to Newquay, which is signposted on the A3075, BUT if their satnag is set up for a larger vehicle, it could well have been suggesting the A30E.
So the motorhome realised they were about to miss their turning and, I suggest, panic set in. And many motorhome drivers are not that experienced with their big vehicles, unsure about length, width and acceleration. Don't come back with "shouldn't be on the road then" - we all have to learn and if you're not regularly driving a brick, it's easy to get confused in a moment of mini-crisis.
Yes of course the motorhome should have gone round again. But we've all made mistakes. I've seen the exact same manoeuvre in this same spot endless times.

None of which helps the HGV owner/ driver.