VERY very bad crash at Carrs hill - main road from Cork City to Carrigaline

TheRiverman

Driver behaviour is the biggest problem, yes we do not have anything like he level of enforcement by Gardai, speed vans etc. that we need,but there are thousands of lunatic drivers on our roads every day who are taking no responsibility for their actions.

drury..

..

the beer revolu

This all brings to the mind just how insanely dangerous driving around in cars is. There's no getting away from just how dangerous it is. But what's really interesting is that modern society, the world over has completely normalised this risk and accept it! Full disclosure, here, I have a car but I like driving less and less and avoid it as much as is feasible. It's bonkers that with the technology that we have now, that we are still driving around in lethal weapons, routinely killing and maiming each other by accident, and we just keep doing it!

wexcap

I travel that road every day going to work and I can tell ya this the trucks using that road can be going fast it shows when your on your phone look at what can happen there be some amount of charges facing that driver for shake of checking there phone

wexcap

No they did not

JVince

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122037491#Comment_122037491

Nothing there is suggesting that the info system in cars are the distraction.

Phones are the primary distraction.

The car systems simply do what cars have always had - radio control, air system, sat nav and Bluetooth. All of which have been in cars for many many years.

The primary distractions are those that need a thought process that takes away from your normal driving, so a phone conversation, texting, watching a movie (yes that happens) and having headphones on so you are unaware of surroundings.

Changing a radio station or turning down heat are normal parts of driving and would not be seen as a distraction.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039632#Comment_122039632

It is still incredibly unlikely you will be inured in a car crash.

They are VERY rare things considering the amount of cars on the roads, and the amount of journeys undertaken every day.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122043274#Comment_122043274

I agree that phones are the most common distraction.

However there is quite a bit of discussion on the part played by screens too.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/5/24091043/euro-ncap-safety-rating-europe-2026-touchscreen-buttons-dials#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20overuse%20of%20touchscreens%20is%20an%20industry%2Dwide%20problem%2C,Euro%20NCAP%2C%20to%20the%20Times.

Gamb!t

Was the driver that caused the accident on a phone or was it a medical issue that caused them to cross the white line ?

bucketybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122044520#Comment_122044520

The medical issue is the psychological need to constantly check social media for meaningless shite.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122044520#Comment_122044520

That is part of the ongoing investigation.

Gooser14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122037685#Comment_122037685

Can you not change radio stations from controls on the steering wheel. My car has a central screen but I can change stations with controls on the steering wheel.

run_Forrest_run

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122044616#Comment_122044616

while most cars have this feature now, there are still low spec cars that don't

lawrencesummers

I think anyone who drives should watch the. video, and anyone who has kids learning to drive or in the first few years of driving should watch it as well.

The split second nature, and crossing the white line just briefly is frightening what the consequences are.

That said, this road is long past due upgrade, its been the site of many fatal accidents and this incident could not have happened with an upgraded road because cars driving in opposite directions would be separated by a wall. It doesn't change the drivers error but would have meant the driver verring onto rumble strips or causing an accident with cars going in the same direction therefore leas initial force.

It annoys the life out of me that the RSA will campaign all day for driver behavior safety on speed and phone use but never come out and say that a particular road or stretch of road is a contributing factor

HeidiHeidi

I drive a few different cars for work, and I have to say the touch screens are an absolute nightmare. Menus that you have to scroll through, and if you do have the correct screen up to do what you want, managing to hit the right "button" without taking your attention off the road is nigh on impossible.

One car I've driven recently has a touch screen button low down that you need to hit to switch between radio controls and heating controls. Whatever genius decided that was a good idea needs a slap around the head.

I have driven a car with HUD, and I found it brilliant. I don't know if there's variations on the theme, maybe some are better than others, but the one I used was great.

Big ugly physical buttons all the way for me. When I come to changing my own car, that's going to be high up the list of priorities.

mykrodot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122048242#Comment_122048242

what video, where? Its not readily available to watch is it?

magicbastarder

The video was shared but gardai asked people to not share it so a lot of places may have taken it down.

pah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039632#Comment_122039632

What's the alternative?

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122037601#Comment_122037601

The act of driving itself is already multi-tasking.

lawrencesummers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122048345#Comment_122048345

it was being shared on whatsapp very quickly, scarily quickly

Pauliedragon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122048488#Comment_122048488

I was in a shop in Douglas at half 3 and the guy behind the counter was showing it to people. It's still up on Twitter.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122048354#Comment_122048354

Right now, there's little alternative, it seems.

But we didn't have to end up where we are now. Alternatives could have been explored 50 years ago or more. We didn't need to develop society in such a way where cars are seen as a necessity by most people.

I think if we want to vastly reduce death and injury, we need to embrace self driving vehicles. If there was a will, it would be there already but we as a society just love driving around in cars and are extremely reluctant to let that go despite the incredible danger.

Harika

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122048547#Comment_122048547

That brings up an interesting thought experiment. Nowadays 200 people die each year on Irish roads. Lets imagine we could go all full self driving. Those self driving cars will still cause accidents and deaths as they won't be perfect. How many deaths would be an acceptable limit to swap over?

the beer revolu

The kind of disconnect in talking about really comes into play when talking about autonomous vehicles. People seem aghast that a self driving vehicle might kill even one person but we readily accept people killing people by accident all the time. What we are doing now doesn't work.

I don't know the answer to that question on how many deaths are acceptable , I just have no doubt that autonomous vehicles would kill at an exceptionally lower rate. I suspect we could get it close to zero!

lostinsuperfunk

Agree, touchscreens are a ridiculous idea for cars. Android and iOS are designed for distraction and maximum engagement, that is their underlying philosophy. In my own car (2008 - pre touchscreen) I know where all the controls are , I don't even have to look at them.

Chris_5339762

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122039632#Comment_122039632

I do agree, its absolutely mad when you think about it like that.

But to take it back to basics - how else am I going to get to work to earn money to provide for my family? The government won't provide public transport for my case, and if they try, people will moan and complain until it is cut.

So into the dangerous car I get.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122048644#Comment_122048644

The simple answer would be to allow them and then let insurance companies decide which they'd rather insure at a lower rate. They don't deal in emotion, just statistics.

Fully agree that banning them over one death while accepting thousands of deaths in non self drive cars is bizarre when you think about it.

lawrencesummers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122048507#Comment_122048507

Nobody should be sharing it for the first 24 hours to give relatives a change to be informed correctly, but i honestly think every person who drives a car should see it.

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122048547#Comment_122048547

I think the current generation of 'self driving' vehicles have some distance to go yet before they are fit for coping with all the situations a driver has to deal with. They are still marketed as driver assistance features.

Winding back roads with indistinct margins and faded or no road markings, signs hidden in overgrown ditches. Roundabouts on main roads with faded lane markings and seemingly random decisisions as to whether straight ahead should use the left lane or right lane. Road layout changes, either permanent realingments or temporary changes.

We are a long way from making drivers redundant. Even if we do get to fully self driving cars it will take decades after that before nearly all of the non self driving cars will be end of life and off the road.

Roads being used way beyond their design capacity does increase the risk we need to respond to the current reality and ensure roads are fit for purpose, not pin out hopes on some future self driving pipe dream.

volchitsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122048702#Comment_122048702

It may be more complicated than that though, because the question of responsibility for a crash is far harder to ascertain when the driver is not alone at the wheel, so to speak.