Yet another 'wrong way' motorway accident

Zubeneschamali · 13-08-2014 03:46PM

Mycroft H wrote: »

And then stop Ambulances, AGS and the Fire Service from getting to the scene of an accident?

Put the stinger across the straight-ahead, and allow emergency vehicles access over a solid white painted section to one side. Dopey people who pass "Wrong Way Turn Back" signs are going to drive straight, not cross a hatched area.

Mr McBoatface · 13-08-2014 04:00PM

I was exiting the M9 at Kilcullen 3 weeks ago, perfect weather and conditions. As I was driving up the exit slip road I meet an on coming car, it was surreal seeing a car coming down the wrong way. Flashed my lights and beep the horn, the auld lad knew straight away he F****d up and reversed back up the exit. I can only imagine what would have happened if he continued on had I not been in the way.

I've said it before and i'll say it again, there is a generation of older drivers that need retesting.....in many cases it would be the first driving test lots would have to face after they where handed a full licence in the 1970 amnesty fiasco. The driving habits of lots of older people on motor way is pure dangerous.

RIP to the young man

Sebastian Dangerfield · 13-08-2014 04:07PM

Saw something like this at Christmas - I was driving Dublin to Limerick and just before Nenagh I saw headlights coming towards me through the fog. Thought I was going mad but sure enough, an old man in a banger of a Bluebird drives up towards me, crosses lane and up the the "on" ramp of the M7. I thought it can only be a one off, but clearly it happens a bit...

dudara · 13-08-2014 05:03PM

I read a description of the accident this morning - apparently the smaller car was thrown in the air by the impact. Sounds absolutely horrific.

Truly scary that the elderly driver was in that position. Pretty much every incident of wrong motorway driving I've heard has involved an eldery person (purely anecdotal) but it seems to suggest that modern motorway signage just isn't getting through to them.

I've only had one accident ever - my car broke down on the N7 and I pulled it onto the hard shoulder. It was rear-ended by an elderly man in a Nissan Micra who was driving on the hard shoulder becuase he felt uncomfortable on the 3 lanes. He was so distraught and shook up by the accident. His (less) elderly brother came to collect him and confirmed that he drove on the hard shoulder pretty much all the time.

Kenny Logins · 13-08-2014 05:09PM

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0812/636702-two-people-taken-to-hospital-after-cork-crash/

guil · 13-08-2014 05:09PM

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Unless you have run flats :pac:

Good idea. Emergency vehicles would need to access the motorway the wrong way down a ramp in certain circumstances but they could probably come up with a way to disable them temporarily.

Are emergency vehicles allowed go down the wrong way on the motorway? An uncle of mine is a sub officer in a large fire station and he told me a few weeks ago that all the drivers there were warned that they would get instant dismissal if they reversed down an off ramp over H&S grounds.

rozeboosje · 13-08-2014 05:15PM

I remember living in the Netherlands, where they call people who drive the wrong way on a motorway "spookrijders" (literal translation "ghost drivers"). With depressing regularity the traffic reports on the radio would report that a "spookrider" had been reported on some stretch of road or another. Accidents were thankfully fairly rare, though. I even once met one on the A67 between Venlo and Eindhoven. Surreal experience to see someone coming up from the opposite direction on a motorway.

Can't say I ever remember hearing such a report on Irish traffic broadcasts, and I've been here since 1995. Are these occurrences much rarer here or do we just not hear about them?

blackwhite · 13-08-2014 05:34PM

Jesus. wrote: »

Was that really necessary? Up until that point I thought you'd handled it perfectly.

Should have been case closed once you got her on her way.

Are you for real?

It's obvious from this and other threads that you want zero enforcement of any laws on the road, but reporting something as incredibly dangerous as this is a no-brainer.

If someone is so incapable of reading road signs that they'll drive the wrong direction down a motorway then the guards need to be involved before they go and do it again.

coolemon · 13-08-2014 05:49PM

agent graves wrote: »

that sign is a glitch.. if you look from a diff angle it is pointing in the right direction..

I don't think its a glitch at all.

If you travel the roundabout you will see that most of it was photographed on a sunny day, and where the sign is in the correct place. But in the link the OP posted, it is taken on an overcast day, and the sign is clearly twisted to face the traffic.

This quite possibly could have been a contributing factor to the accident. The arrow is pointing traffic down the wrong way. The council should be partly responsible for this accident if it is the case.

Someone could have also intentionally twisted the sign to mislead drivers. A stupid thing to do if true.

Moneymaker · 13-08-2014 05:51PM

Jesus. wrote: »

Was that really necessary? Up until that point I thought you'd handled it perfectly.

Should have been case closed once you got her on her way.

Your devils advocate act is getting very tiresome.

RIP to the young man. Awful tragedy.

enfant terrible · 13-08-2014 06:00PM

Chimaera wrote: »

Why? She very nearly did something extremely dangerous, and as we've seen potentially lethal. Calling the Gardaí to advise them of the incident seems quite sensible to me.

I monitor motorway traffic and report these ghost drivers.

The problem is usually when the guards see they are elderly drivers, they usually let them off on there way with a warning.

R.O.R · 13-08-2014 06:18PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I was driving from Dublin to Limerick and taking the off ramp in Limerick when a car was coming towards me the wrong way. It wasn't travelling too fast, so I blocked the way and falshed headlights and blew horn. She - yes a female of about 70 - looked annoyed at me until she saw a huge truck behind me also blocking her way. She did a u turn and headed back the way she had come. There are traffic lights at the end of that slip road and they were green. However, the ones the other way were red, so she started to go, then stopped when she saw the red! I stayed behind her as she went out the Tipperary road. She pulled over after a mile or so and seemed confused. I decided not to confront her, but rang Gardai and gave her details. I've heard nothing since.

Was that yesterday, round lunch time? If so, the same dozy old bint almost left our 2 little fellas without grandparents. They were on their way to join us on hols in Killarney and the father in law saw a car pull a u turn up ahead, near the Shannon exit. Only just got back in to the inside lane, past the 40 foot truck on the inside, to avoid her.

Ignore the posts of a certain individual who seems to think everyone should just be allowed to drive as they want. That particular poster always pops up in threads like these, like the apologist they are.....

curiosity · 13-08-2014 06:18PM

The southbound side of the M8 from exit 13 to exit 14 has a pretty decent downhill section. A heavy vehicle like a Land Cruiser on a downhill 120km/hr stretch, hitting a smaller car face-on, it's amazing that the female passenger only sustained minor injuries.

ardmacha · 13-08-2014 06:24PM

coolemon wrote: »

I don't think its a glitch at all.

If you travel the roundabout you will see that most of it was photographed on a sunny day, and where the sign is in the correct place. But in the link the OP posted, it is taken on an overcast day, and the sign is clearly twisted to face the traffic.

This quite possibly could have been a contributing factor to the accident. The arrow is pointing traffic down the wrong way. The council should be partly responsible for this accident if it is the case.

The one with the misleading sign is Nov 2010 and the sunny one August 2011. Either way it does not tell us what the situation is now.

Someone could have also intentionally twisted the sign to mislead drivers. A stupid thing to do if true.

Another of these old people, no doubt.

alias no.9 · 13-08-2014 06:24PM

coolemon wrote: »

I don't think its a glitch at all.

If you travel the roundabout you will see that most of it was photographed on a sunny day, and where the sign is in the correct place. But in the link the OP posted, it is taken on an overcast day, and the sign is clearly twisted to face the traffic.

This quite possibly could have been a contributing factor to the accident. The arrow is pointing traffic down the wrong way. The council should be partly responsible for this accident if it is the case.

Someone could have also intentionally twisted the sign to mislead drivers. A stupid thing to do if true.

Remember that Google will be using odd lenses and software to create a 360 degree view from images captured by multiple cameras, what you see on streetview is always a bit distorted.

Jesus. · 13-08-2014 06:55PM

jobyrne30 wrote: »

I was exiting the M9 at Kilcullen 3 weeks ago, perfect weather and conditions. As I was driving up the exit slip road I meet an on coming car, it was surreal seeing a car coming down the wrong way. Flashed my lights and beep the horn, the auld lad knew straight away he F****d up and reversed back up the exit.

And that was the end of it. Lesson learned.

You sorted it out yourself and that's the way it should be done.

Stheno · 13-08-2014 06:57PM

I was driving up the N7 just past the Naas exit last Saturday.

A driver who had missed the next exit, pulled into the hard shoulder, did a Uturn INTO the traffic in front of me, narrowly avoided hitting me, and being creamed by a truck.

They merrily drove the wrong way down to the exit, and took the exit.

They appeared completely clueless that what they were doing was way ott

13-08-2014 07:06PM

R.O.R wrote: »

Was that yesterday, round lunch time? If so, the same dozy old bint almost left our 2 little fellas without grandparents. They were on their way to join us on hols in Killarney and the father in law saw a car pull a u turn up ahead, near the Shannon exit. Only just got back in to the inside lane, past the 40 foot truck on the inside, to avoid her.

Ignore the posts of a certain individual who seems to think everyone should just be allowed to drive as they want. That particular poster always pops up in threads like these, like the apologist they are.....

Thanks. No it was 2 months ago. On a Thursday about 2pm on a lovely bright sunny day.

coolbeans · 13-08-2014 07:09PM

Jesus. wrote: »

And that was the end of it. Lesson learned.

You sorted it out yourself and that's the way it should be done.

Are you dense? That's obviously not the way it should be done in any civilised, civic minded society. You honestly don't see the benefit of reporting a potential killer on the roads?? How do you know they don't habitually do this kind of stuff?

Jesus. · 13-08-2014 07:22PM

coolbeans wrote: »

You honestly don't see the benefit of reporting a potential killer on the roads??

Well that's one way of looking at it. Another would be someone who made a one-off mistake and had it corrected by another vigilant motorist.

Of course you could say we're all potential killers in one form or another but it sensationalises things out of all proportion.

coolbeans wrote: »

How do you know they don't habitually do this kind of stuff?

How do you know they do?

mrsoundie · 13-08-2014 07:23PM

There was another thread that discussed the idea of retests, it was not received with much enthusiasm.

I believe after this that everyone should be retested, every ten years for under 60s, then five years after that. Successful completion should then rewarded with reduced Insurance premiums. (I know there is a similar post to this idea, thanks to that man).

And from what I gather, is that after your are disqualified from driving for whatever reason, all you do is apply and get it back. Why not have to re-sit the entire test again from the start. Just an idea.

coolbeans · 13-08-2014 07:32PM

.

coolbeans · 13-08-2014 07:33PM

Jesus. wrote: »

Well that's one way of looking at it. Another would be someone who made a one-off mistake and had it corrected by another vigilant motorist.

Of course you could say we're all potential killers in one form or another but it sensationalises things out of all proportion.

How do you know they do?

I'm not gonna bother engaging with you as you seem to get a rise out of people by going against the grain with your seemingly total opposition to road traffic law enforcement. You'll follow up with questions rather than answers, then refer to a high horse, and finally round it off with some lameass self referential Jesus joke that nobody finds funny. Yawn.

Red Nissan · 13-08-2014 07:33PM

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Please for the love of god bring in mandatory retests every 20/30/40 years or whatever interval, and bring in a mandatory medical once you turn 65.

Make that 50.

With modern health care one can actually become better the older one gets, than in their earlier years.

By 50, one's immediate health issues can be detected, driver will start to compensate for eyesight, memory, heart, breadth from this time onwards.

ardmacha · 13-08-2014 07:36PM

Jesus. wrote: »

Well that's one way of looking at it. Another would be someone who made a one-off mistake and had it corrected by another vigilant motorist.

Of course you could say we're all potential killers in one form or another but it sensationalises things out of all proportion.

Jesus. You may favour turning the other cheek, but others of us prefer to see law enforcement.

Red Nissan · 13-08-2014 07:38PM

A point to keep in mind here, is that some people in jeeps have been taking the wrong way deliberately to shorten their own journeys, after the motor way took away cross roads.

We've had a a few, maybe even quite a few reports from this part of the country from drivers doing just that.

I would book mark this case to follow it's outcome.

marklazarcovic · 13-08-2014 07:44PM

ive seen this first hand in galway, scary

the_syco · 13-08-2014 08:26PM

dudara wrote: »

I've only had one accident ever - my car broke down on the N7 and I pulled it onto the hard shoulder. It was rear-ended by an elderly man in a Nissan Micra who was driving on the hard shoulder becuase he felt uncomfortable on the 3 lanes. He was so distraught and shook up by the accident. His (less) elderly brother came to collect him and confirmed that he drove on the hard shoulder pretty much all the time.

Jaysus. I'd wonder how many people he had hit on the motorway, if he never saw your car!

Cuddlesworth · 13-08-2014 08:41PM

mrsoundie wrote: »

There was another thread that discussed the idea of retests, it was not received with much enthusiasm.

And I pointed out in that thread that most of these drivers have probably suffered a stroke.

They won't be aware of it and within a couple of hours they will be completely lucid again without symptoms unless it was very really bad. Its the reason most stroke victims in normal country's are banned from driving for at least a month.

Retesting would be great, but you can't account for random health issues. You don't drive up the wrong side of the motorway unless you have a death wish or your brain is shot. Most of these elderly drivers struggle to hit 70kph going to right way up the road while holding the steering wheel in the death grip of fear and yet they drive the wrong way down it and around people without a bother on them?

Chimaera · 13-08-2014 08:45PM

An easier solution for now than a full driving test at each renewal is resitting the theory test to renew. It'd force people to stay somewhat abreast of changes and updates to road traffic rules and regulations here.

Yet another 'wrong way' motorway accident

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