Dual carriageway from Shannon this morning

MarkR

Quite a few accidents there this morning, I got caught in a tail back from just after Setrights. Crawled all the way into Limerick City.

According to local radio, at least seven cars have been abandoned at the side of the road after accidents, but I only saw two.





Don't worry about me taking the picture from the drivers side of the car. Traffic was stopped in each case, I swear!

topper75

I can guess the second car just slid and went up the bank.

The first pic though?? It's facing the traffic?

Gryzor

Was heading ennis direction this mornin, and saw the one facing the opposite way. couldn't figure out how they managed it??

Very bad driving conditions this mornin, on untreated roads from what i saw...are they supposed to get a salt delivery today???

ludwit

Anyone see the crash by McDonalds in the Crescent Shopping center?

Raiser

Was talking to a Taxi Driver the other night who said he has had no major skids since the icy roads became an issue; He reckoned you have to just be very careful, watch for changes in the surface you're driving on with the extra consideration of invisible black ice and respond appropriately on loss of traction.

There's luck, there's bad luck and there's driving quickly enough and carelessly enough to spin your car backwards onto a bank in the worst driving conditions in 50 years - Try doing that where theres a Mother with a buggy and then ask why its just you when everyone else is actually on the road.

- I had some absolute Moron in a 4X4 speed up behind me and relentlessly tailgate me this morning on a sheet of ice. Only consolation is he/she is probably in a ditch somewhere now & hopefully didn't kill or injure any others in the process :mad:

Berty

ludwit wrote: »

Anyone see the crash by McDonalds in the Crescent Shopping center?

Yeah the Hyundai accent. Straight over the kerb into the wall. They must have slid down the hill.

buzz55

Does anyone know if this road is/has imroved any bit by now? I have to travel from Kilmallock to Galway later on this afternoon, am bricking it now

Casperbhoy

the roads were dangerous. If I knew they were that bad. I would have stayed in bed. Grit the roads:mad:

h3000

buzz55 wrote: »

Does anyone know if this road is/has imroved any bit by now? I have to travel from Kilmallock to Galway later on this afternoon, am bricking it now

Not too sure about the condition of the road but if you are traveling just take everything smoothly. Be extra careful of the secondary roads (Kilmallock to Limerick city)

• Accelerate and brake smoothly

• Steer smoothly - no sharp movements

• Just give yourself plenty of room between other vehicles and leave yourself loads of time for the journey

Twin-go

Shannon to Raheen took me over an hour and a half this morning.

MarkR there were 3 cars at the location of your photos when I was passing at around 7.50am and two more at the Coonagh Roundabout.

There didn't seem to be any grit/salt on the section by the Radisson.

Squeeky bum time all the way to work.:o

langdang

Berty wrote: »

Yeah the Hyundai accent. Straight over the kerb into the wall. They must have slid down the hill.

There was a truck failed to make that corner around the same time, stopped at the kerb though.
Don't know if the Accent was down in that hollow at the time, but if it had been you'd have got some fright seeing a truck skidding down toward you!!!

TestTransmission

Nice to see all the morons are back to work

maddogcollins

buzz55 wrote: »

Does anyone know if this road is/has imroved any bit by now? I have to travel from Kilmallock to Galway later on this afternoon, am bricking it now

Drove Shannon to Ennis this morning and they were grand. As long as you take the advice of previous poster. Just dont go fast. Iv said all the time in this weather. the slower you are going the less damage you will cause. There are times when the ice may take control but id rather it take control at 20mph than 50+ mph..

On a side note. Roads were gritted last night from Shannon to Ennis around 9:30, but rain/sleet fell after that and froze on top of it. Was no sign of grit then this morning when most people were going to work.

Drive with caution.

buzz55

ok, hopefully if I take my time I will get there without any damage. Heard the Coonagh roundabout in Limerick also very bad this morning, any update on there at lunchtime?

Casperbhoy

buzz55 wrote: »

ok, hopefully if I take my time I will get there without any damage. Heard the Coonagh roundabout in Limerick also very bad this morning, any update on there at lunchtime?

The dual carriageway is closed between Limerick & Shannon, serious accident

Twin-go

Casperbhoy wrote: »

The dual carriageway is closed between Limerick & Shannon, serious accident

6 car collision at Bunratty according to www.aaroadwatch.ie

Hope nobody is hurt. May take a while longer to get home from work tonight.:(

Itsdacraic

jackncoke wrote: »

Nice to see all the morons are back to work

And posting on the internet

MarkR

Is aaroadwatch down for anyone else?

TestTransmission

Itsdacraic wrote: »

And posting on the internet

I hope that wasnt directed towards at me as some form of personal abuse.
Im off today and was working all over the Christmas period so surely It couldnt be.

MarkR

Itsdacraic wrote: »

And posting on the internet

Care to elaborate? You seem to be implying through your quote that the previous poster is a moron.

Anyway, back on topic.

Clare - Gardai have cleared a 6 car collision from the N18 Shannon/Limerick Rd at Bunratty
Updated: 05/01/2010 14:10:47
All restrictions have been lifted. Black ice has been reported along this route.

Mr E

Warning given to Itsdacraic for insulting other users.

Itsdacraic

jackncoke wrote: »

I hope that wasnt directed towards at me as some form of personal abuse.
Im off today and was working all over the Christmas period so surely It couldnt be.

Sorry JnC it wasn't directed at you, I should have put a smiley after it or something.

langdang

MarkR wrote: »

Is aaroadwatch down for anyone else?

Yup, haven't been able to open it any time I've tried today..

Itsdacraic

MarkR wrote: »

Is aaroadwatch down for anyone else?

Ya it seems to have crashed

MarkR

This afternoon's accident seems to have been cleared according to aa.

One person has been rushed to hospital after a five-car pile-up on the main N18 Limerick to Ennis road.

The incident, which happened shortly before midday, has blocked the Ennis-bound lane of the dual carriageway near the Hurlers Cross exit.

Several units of the fire brigade along with ambulance services are at the scene and diversions are in place.

Drivers are asked to approach the area between Shannon and Bunratty with extreme caution due to icy conditions

h3000

Road has reopened.

aaroadwatch.ie wrote:

*CLARE/LIMERICK* Gardai have cleared a 6 car collision from the N18 Shannon/Limerick Rd at Bunratty. All restrictions have been lifted. Black ice has been reported along this route.

4tothefloor

Raiser wrote: »

Was talking to a Taxi Driver the other night who said he has had no major skids since the icy roads became an issue; He reckoned you have to just be very careful, watch for changes in the surface you're driving on with the extra consideration of invisible black ice and respond appropriately on loss of traction.

There's luck, there's bad luck and there's driving quickly enough and carelessly enough to spin your car backwards onto a bank in the worst driving conditions in 50 years - Try doing that where theres a Mother with a buggy and then ask why its just you when everyone else is actually on the road.

Load of ****e that mate. I had a crash this morning on black ice, was exiting a housing estate, getting ready to stop and going well well below 20km. I slid for 50 yards out on to the main road and could do absolutely nothing about it, ran smack bang in to a passing vehicle. 20 mins later a second car almost hit the squad car which had arrived on the scene from the same exit on the same ice. Taxi drivers know it all of course but in truth know very little. And there's pretty much very little you can do once you skid on black ice, regardless of how fast or slow you are going.

ludwit wrote: »

Anyone see the crash by McDonalds in the Crescent Shopping center?

There was a couple of crashes in the crescent today. One hyundai badly damaged and another one stuck down an embankment. There was also a third car taken away on a recovery truck outside Heatons but I didn't get to see if there was any damage to it

Skuxx

4tothefloor wrote: »

Taxi drivers know it all of course but in truth know very little.

I have to agree 100% with that!

wylo

4tothefloor wrote: »

Load of ****e that mate. I had a crash this morning on black ice, was exiting a housing estate, getting ready to stop and going well well below 20km.

how much well below? if your driving on proper black ice you genuinely have to go to almost walking speed so when you do skid there'll be no momentum.
It all depends on the ice. I find seeing a 'sparkly' kind of road is easier than black ice.

wylo

anyone know if they put grit down from limerick to shannon yet? i was off the last 2 days so ive no idea what to expect. If its still as bad as what people are saying, ill have to leave early early!!

Gryzor

wylo wrote: »

anyone know if they put grit down from limerick to shannon yet? i was off the last 2 days so ive no idea what to expect. If its still as bad as what people are saying, ill have to leave early early!!

Assuming this info is accurate , it appears its been treated, but wet...

buzz55

I didn't chance driving it today, figured after the 6 car pile up at lunchtime and the burst mains water pipe on the dock road that it would take me forever so didn't risk it.

Anyone know what time of the day/night the roads are gritted? Are they only done once a day, if even?

zuroph

4tothefloor wrote: »

Load of ****e that mate. I had a crash this morning on black ice, was exiting a housing estate, getting ready to stop and going well well below 20km. I slid for 50 yards out on to the main road and could do absolutely nothing about it, ran smack bang in to a passing vehicle. 20 mins later a second car almost hit the squad car which had arrived on the scene from the same exit on the same ice. Taxi drivers know it all of course but in truth know very little. And there's pretty much very little you can do once you skid on black ice, regardless of how fast or slow you are going.


There was a couple of crashes in the crescent today. One hyundai badly damaged and another one stuck down an embankment. There was also a third car taken away on a recovery truck outside Heatons but I didn't get to see if there was any damage to it

if you skidded that far its dvd to too much momentum. Ready to stop, and stopping are two different things.

Wetbench4

Try to stay in a higher gear so as to reduce to torque, and also gently pump the brakes when you start to skid rather than just hold them. It goes against instinct to leave off the brake pedal when you can't stop but it does help to slow the car faster.
If you drive a rear wheel drive car it might be worth putting something heavy in the boot while the cold spell is here, to push the driving wheels down and give more grip.

buzz55

How is the road this morning folks? AA roadwatch website seems to be down again.

Gryzor

travelled the road at 07:30 this morning, found it grand. Much improved from yesterday.

Itsdacraic

buzz55 wrote: »

How is the road this morning folks? AA roadwatch website seems to be down again.

Ironic that it keeps crashing

MarkR

I'd no problems about the same time this morning. Then again, I'd no problem yesterday, so maybe I'm just lucky.

I did find that traffic was a lot reduced, I assume more people are staying home as a precaution.

Estates and secondary roads are where you'll have problems. Near UL was very icy yesterday. I had slippage going to the kilmurry rounadabout from plassey park road.

I also nearly got shunted outside the entrance to UL by a small van who managed to steer his slide away from my boot. Leave plenty of braking distance.

buzz55

Thanks v much for the info, Boards.ie beats aaroadwatch hands down!

phog

buzz55 wrote: »

How is the road this morning folks? AA roadwatch website seems to be down again.

Check the link in Gyrzor's post above, it gives road and air temp and the status of the road. It covers about 50 locations nationwife, very useful.

BravoMike

buzz55 wrote: »

Anyone know what time of the day/night the roads are gritted? Are they only done once a day, if even?

I think they do them twice a day. I saw them gritting the roads at 5 this morning and around 10 pm some nights

4tothefloor

wylo wrote: »

how much well below? if your driving on proper black ice you genuinely have to go to almost walking speed so when you do skid there'll be no momentum.
It all depends on the ice. I find seeing a 'sparkly' kind of road is easier than black ice.

About 10 kmph approaching, which is about as slow as you can go in a BMW 320 with rear wheel drive. I wasn't even feeding the accelerator. The road was a mix of 'sparkly' and black ice. I started braking to control the car in prep for stopping about 45yards from the actual stop line and just started gliding 5 yards in. Ice was a few layers thick and rear wheel drive didn't do any favours either!

zuroph wrote: »

if you skidded that far its dvd to too much momentum. Ready to stop, and stopping are two different things.

You can't stop 45 yards away from the actual stop line so preparing to stop from that distance is pretty much all you can do.....

I made a few enquiries today and found out that there were no fewer than 3 crashes at the same entrance last Saturday. You'd think they'd have copped on and gritted that area as a priority from that point on. Gonna ring the council tomorrow to see what they have to say. Four crashes in and around the Crescent the same morning as well.

FutureGuy

I'm supposed to be collecting my brother from Shannon Airport tonight. I haven't travelled this road since the freeze...it take it that it's a no-go?

Probably better for him to stay in the airport hotel and get home tomorrow sometime?

Gryzor

Assuming you're coming from the city side, the road is grand. The only thing that will change that is more rain or snow, but i don't think thats forcast...

FutureGuy

Gryzor wrote: »

Assuming you're coming from the city side, the road is grand. The only thing that will change that is more rain or snow, but i don't think thats forcast...

Apologies, yes, I'll be travelling from Limerick city centre

clint_eastman

FutureGuy wrote: »

Apologies, yes, I'll be travelling from Limerick city centre

Regardless you'll be travelling in both directions, correct?

The road is fine if you drive relatively slowly, stay well back from the cars in front and do not overtake or make any manoeveurs that could cause a loss of traction/control.

Be especially careful around the radisson roadworks as the temporary surface finish is very smooth and hence a bit more tricky.

1000's of people are at work in Shannon today having used these roads, the accidents i've seen on the road have been (in the main) down to speed......

Melion

I travel in and out of Shannon every day and have yet to encounter an accident. Id mostly drive home on it at night(after 12) and its been fine, i havent even slipped on it and thats in a RWD 318.

Claregirl

Anyone know condition of of the N18/M18 this morning???

Travelling from Ennis to Limerick I understand roads are good as far as bunratty any info between Bunratty and Limerick City. Thanks!

bazz26

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/

Claregirl

Thanks for that Bazz am well acquainted with aaroadwatch and rsa.ie and Clare co. co. website. :rolleyes:

Was hoping for local knowledge i.e. someone who may have travelled on the road already this morning!

farmer12

Claregirl wrote: »

Anyone know condition of of the N18/M18 this morning???

Travelling from Ennis to Limerick I understand roads are good as far as bunratty any info between Bunratty and Limerick City. Thanks!

The road is fine mainly slush @7am this morning