Terrible crash management on the M50

Carawaystick

rrpc wrote: »

Otherwise I can't see how you couldn't have seen a truck coming from a mile off.

because it was dark and there was a concrete wall between the trucks headlights and the driver posting upthread?

This happens the whole time on the M6 eastbound, especially from Moate to Kinnegad section.

MrWalsh

rrpc wrote: »

Otherwise I can't see how you couldn't have seen a truck coming from a mile off.

How would you have expected the driver to see the truck when the trucks headlights were obscured by a concrete wall, the truck had no lighting higher than its headlights and it was dark?

rrpc

MrWalsh wrote: »

How would you have expected the driver to see the truck when the trucks headlights were obscured by a concrete wall, the truck had no lighting higher than its headlights and it was dark?

Just for reference, this is the concrete wall that's being referred to.



I drive this route from Dublin to Galway and back again regularly, usually returning to Dublin in the dark. A lot of the motorway is unlit, but I've very seldom had to use my high beams since it's a good straight road and easy to follow if you're staying within the speed limit.

I don't think I've ever been unaware of oncoming traffic on the opposite carriageway although I have been hit by high beams coming towards me on many occasions and I drive a car.

murphaph

Schadenfreudia wrote: »

The Gardai here seem to make no distinction between minor crashes and major ones.

I personally don't rate AGS as a particularly credible police force any more, certainly not in matters of road traffic policing. They strike me as a very amateur outfit, compared to even the PSNI.

I'd rate them along with most southern European police forces I'm afraid.

A fender bender on a UK motorway (or a German Autobahn) would typically see the police car (assuming it got there before the fire brigade) actually dragging the blocking vehicle to the hard shoulder (if it wasn't in a drivable state) to get the traffic moving again.

SpaceTime

rrpc wrote: »

All the data you've given us about this situation suggests that you were in the overtaking lane, with your high beams on, on a lit stretch of motorway with a central barrier no higher than the roof of a car... and it was a very twisty section of motorway too.

Otherwise I can't see how you couldn't have seen a truck coming from a mile off.

Nope, I was in the driving lane, with high beams on on a slightly drizzly-misty night on a twisty section that goes through the mountains in South Tipp / North Cork.

It's a Volvo with xenon lights so they're pretty seriously powerful when in high beam mode.

The truck was absolutely invisible on the other side.

It was on a rural section of the M8, so absolutely no question of it being a 'lit section'. We hardly have any of those in Ireland other than the M50, a bit of the M1 and a few junctions.

While the road isn't difficult to follow, in slightly foggy / misty weather and in that somewhat more curvy area, the high beams are useful.

snoopy84

whenever I drive galway to Shannon I find it nearly impossible to see on the motorway and have to flash my fulls at intervals just to get my bearings, I've seen better lit back roads out in the country than that motorway

SpaceTime

murphaph wrote: »

I personally don't rate AGS as a particularly credible police force any more, certainly not in matters of road traffic policing. They strike me as a very amateur outfit, compared to even the PSNI.

I'd rate them along with most southern European police forces I'm afraid.

A fender bender on a UK motorway (or a German Autobahn) would typically see the police car (assuming it got there before the fire brigade) actually dragging the blocking vehicle to the hard shoulder (if it wasn't in a drivable state) to get the traffic moving again.

Ireland's legal system or at least fear of possible civil action tends to turn minor incidents into a massive deal a lot of the time.

molloyjh

Mé féinism is the single biggest issue on Irish roads in general and is the source of numerous issues on the M50 daily. People who feel they are more important than those around them and so have the right to cut into an off-ramp at the last minute to avoid a queue (regardless of whether that requires stopping dead on the motorway to do it). People who feel that others should be making way for them which sees them weave between lanes or try and get from the right-hand lane across 2-3 other lanes to make their exit. People who cannot wait 10 minutes to take a phone call and so sit on the M50 with the phone up to their ear.

All of this type of behaviour is less about education or awareness and more about self centred ignorance. If someone suddenly merges into your lane with no indicator and no warning when there isn't enough space between you and the car in front to do so safely do you think that person will get out of the car an apologise profusely for their poor driving? Or do you think they'll place all of the blame on you? There's a fairly substantial percentage of Irish people who don't believe the law should apply to them and refuse to do those around them the simple courtesy of considering their existence.

A few months ago I came off the M50 at Dundrum and arrived up by the side of the Beacon to turn into the Sandyford Industrial Estate. The road by the side of the Beacon has 3 lanes. 2 of these lanes are for turning right into Sandyford (the 2 right lanes) and the other is for continuing on straight and turning left. This guy was in the left lane and at the last second decided to turn right directly in front of me with absolutely no warning. The road there is congested enough with the 2 lanes turning and that he didn't cause an accident was blind luck. We both had to slam on our brakes and when I looked at him to try and vent some of my frustration he simply kept staring straight ahead and forced his way in front of me. Initially I thought he was looking to skip the queue in the turning lanes for Sandyford until further down the road he turned left. He had just decided and the last second that he wanted to avoid the queue in front of him (going straight) and was prepared to cause an accident to do so. He's done it again since too. This is an attitude problem, simple as. And the same shows itself on the M50 constantly.

I'd wholeheartedly agree with the idea of wind breakers or something similar to prevent rubbernecking too.

Schadenfreudia

Agree fully. Changing lane on a motorway (or any road) without indicating should be a six-point offence if you are within 40m of any vehicle behind.

Maybe we should allow dashboard camera evidence in traffic claims like they do in Russia?

Are Garda cars equipped with them?

Van.Bosch

murphaph wrote: »

I personally don't rate AGS as a particularly credible police force any more, certainly not in matters of road traffic policing.

A fender bender on a UK motorway (or a German Autobahn) would typically see the police car (assuming it got there before the fire brigade) actually dragging the blocking vehicle to the hard shoulder (if it wasn't in a drivable state) to get the traffic moving again.

The port tunnel has been closed both ways for the last hour due to a crash. How can it close both directions and not be cleared for an hour?

Irish Steve

The bore the incident is in has to be cleared, they're probably using the other bore for cross access to the scene, and depending on the vehicles involved, they may have to deploy specialist cutting and lifting equipment to remove the damaged vehicles.

Hopefully, the person responsible will be considered for prosecution, there's way too many people that speed or ignore the separation requirements, which are very much in place for safety, given the nature of a tunnel.

serfboard

Irish Steve wrote: »

there's way too many people that speed or ignore the separation requirements, which are very much in place for safety, given the nature of a tunnel.

I've driven tunnels on the continent and the speed and (lack of) separation is frightening.