Car towing caravan driving the wrong way down M40

[Duck Truck]

very very sad all round

 

[Northernraider]

I've done this just recently
Managed over 9 months in Spain portugal and France and never once drove on the wrong side.
But arrived back in UK off the tunnel drove to Stafford stopped overnight and the next morning when I drove off I drove about a mile down a quiet road on the rhs before turning out on to a main road on the wrong side of the road it was only then i realised as there were cars coming towards me.
Very lucky I didn't have an accident bit so easy to do.
Although I can't understand why he kept going and at that speed also.

 

[Ivory55]

May be it’s a road that they drive on every morning and they suffer like a lot in that they are on auto pilot and genuinely would not expect a car driving on the wrong side of the road or they could of been foreign drivers. Who knows.

 

[Hilewaychile]

'going through a no entry sign'. Not 'A' no entry sign. Four. I visited that junction on Google as well. Four are visible on the approach in this direction plus the triangle going the wrong way. Further down this slip road are X's on both lanes and a little further on, arrows indicating a left and a right turn ahead at the junction pointing the 'wrong' way. And also, they drove over those double- dotted lines. You don't have those if you are going in the right direction.

Coming from the A40 side of the off-ramp you see this

The M40 is a very busy m/way, particularly in that section, approaching Oxford from London. As soon as the m/way came in sight, at the bottom of this slip road, the driver will have seen 3 lanes of vehicles flashing past from his front/right.

The day before my birthday next year my licence will expire. Next day I will be 70 and have to get a new one. I think I should be tested, and again at 75 and 80. And because by then I will be registered as a resident of Spain, I WILL have to take a medical before they give me the licence.

A thought occurs to me. In this very sad event, if the caravan car had run into an artic, the driver of that would very likely have survived. It is heartbreaking that the stupidity - however that came about - of the driver of this car has taken the life of another person.

 

[Richard n Ann]

All the signage and road markings yes, but why did they continue for 8 miles EIGHT MILES in the wrong direction with no doubt plenty of near misses, flashing headlights & horns sounding. Strange suicide?

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[Hilewaychile]

I am afraid to say that clearly their last moments were 'senior moments'.

I wrote to a friend about this last night. I was trying to bring to mind those 'awards' given to people who are such a drag on the beneficial evolution of the human species that when they do something so stupid that it results in their demise, they 'receive' one of these awards - in that they are noted by the 'awards' outfit.

The awards are named after the author of 'Origin of the Species' and discoverer of the process of evolution. But could I bring his name to mind? No. I was stuck with 'Dickens' for about five minutes before 'Darwin' finally popped up. A Senior Moment but no casualties.

Sadly, these two people - because although the passenger was not in control of the car, he/she was in control of a brain and in a position to influence events - are a shoo-in for a Darwin Award. If only they had not taken another life in the process.

We are approaching Remembrance Day. Recall the words we will hear just before the Last Post, from The Ode To The Fallen " ... age shall not wither them, nor the years condemn..." Because the years do condemn.

I gave up a job I loved, driver/guiding battlefield tours, because I realised that my night vision had become significantly worse - I considered dangerously so - and I could not take the risk of being caught on the road with a substantial drive in darkness, with the lives of 16 people in my hands. When my PSV licence needed renewal, after taking the CPD course, I told the boss I would not go on.

And now, driving a vehicle of much the same size as the 16 seater Merc Sprinter mini coaches of back Roads Touring Co, my day on the road ends well before dusk sets in. Everybody's safer that way.

 

[Richard n Ann]

I am afraid to say that clearly their last moments were 'senior moments'.

I wrote to a friend about this last night. I was trying to bring to mind those 'awards' given to people who are such a drag on the beneficial evolution of the human species that when they do something so stupid that it results in their demise, they 'receive' one of these awards - in that they are noted by the 'awards' outfit.

The awards are named after the author of 'Origin of the Species' and discoverer of the process of evolution. But could I bring his name to mind? No. I was stuck with 'Dickens' for about five minutes before 'Darwin' finally popped up. A Senior Moment but no casualties.

Sadly, these two people - because although the passenger was not in control of the car, he/she was in control of a brain and in a position to influence events - are a shoo-in for a Darwin Award. If only they had not taken another life in the process.

We are approaching Remembrance Day. Recall the words we will hear just before the Last Post, from The Ode To The Fallen " ... age shall not wither them, nor the years condemn..." Because the years do condemn.

I gave up a job I loved, driver/guiding battlefield tours, because I realised that my night vision had become significantly worse - I considered dangerously so - and I could not take the risk of being caught on the road with a substantial drive in darkness, with the lives of 16 people in my hands. When my PSV licence needed renewal, after taking the CPD course, I told the boss I would not go on.

And now, driving a vehicle of much the same size as the 16 seater Merc Sprinter mini coaches of back Roads Touring Co, my day on the road ends well before dusk sets in. Everybody's safer that way.

I think Darwin awards are only awarded to people with no children. ie they've caused thier own genes extinction .

 

[Hilewaychile]

I think Darwin awards are only awarded to people with no children. ie they've caused thier own genes extinction .

No. They must only have extinguished their own genes, to prevent the gene pool being degraded. Don't forget that the blood relatives of the canditate share genes but also possess genes of another person.

And the case in question would not be subject to an award .. "The nominee must be at least past [ie of] the legal driving age and free of mental defect . Northcutt considers injury or death caused by mental defect to be tragic, rather than amusing, and routinely disqualifies such entries". And it is inconceivable that mental deficiency was not involved here.

 

[Hilewaychile]

Another thought occurs to me - you can't discount it - that these two elderly peoople had decided to commit suicide by RTA. There are repeated examples of elderly couples who decide to 'go out' together, esp if one of them has a serious/terminal condition.

One of the things you have to 'fess up to in obtaining a PSV licence is whether you suffer from depression. You may recall the incident at Moorgate Tube Station in London when the driver ran the train at full speed into the blind end of the tunnel.

It is characteristic of incident of suicides like this that the person committing suicide has no regard for the consequences of the action on others.

Remember this? "Lubitz had a history of depression and a doctor had grounded him and ordered his pilot training suspended in 2008 during a severe episode. The fight data recorder shows that Lubitz made inputs into the aircraft’s autopilot ordering it to make a rapid descent and fly into the Alps." He killed himself and 150 other people.

 

[Grianan]

It can be very hard to help elderly people to come to the decision that it’s time to give up driving. And I understand why because it severely impacts their independence.
My mum was never the most confident driver and my dad normally took the wheel. When he was terminally ill she had to drive ... a tiny frail old lady in an automatic Range Rover Evoque.
She had two accidents ... one whilst he was in hospital, the other a couple of days after his funeral. In both cases she had hit the accelerator instead of the brake.
The first accident was in a carpark and she hit a bollard ... the second time (and the last time she drove) she was aiming to reverse into a parking space and ended up spinning 180 degrees and knocked a delivery van’s door into the driver who, luckily, was only bruised.
I suggested she saw her GP. He told her she was fine to drive.
The police had been called and they took about 6 weeks before eventually calling round to see her. They checked she could read a number plate and told her she could drive and no action was to be taken.
She agreed to sell the Evoque as it was too big and wait until she moved house before buying another car. The following year we found her a flat in walking distance of the shops and she hasn’t mentioned getting a car since.

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[nicholsong]

'going through a no entry sign'. Not 'A' no entry sign. Four. I visited that junction on Google as well. Four are visible on the approach in this direction plus the triangle going the wrong way. Further down this slip road are X's on both lanes and a little further on, arrows indicating a left and a right turn ahead at the junction pointing the 'wrong' way. And also, they drove over those double- dotted lines. You don't have those if you are going in the right direction.

View attachment 262334
View attachment 262337
View attachment 262338

Coming from the A40 side of the off-ramp you see this
View attachment 262339

The M40 is a very busy m/way, particularly in that section, approaching Oxford from London. As soon as the m/way came in sight, at the bottom of this slip road, the driver will have seen 3 lanes of vehicles flashing past from his front/right.

The day before my birthday next year my licence will expire. Next day I will be 70 and have to get a new one. I think I should be tested, and again at 75 and 80. And because by then I will be registered as a resident of Spain, I WILL have to take a medical before they give me the licence.

A thought occurs to me. In this very sad event, if the caravan car had run into an artic, the driver of that would very likely have survived. It is heartbreaking that the stupidity - however that came about - of the driver of this car has taken the life of another person.

 

[nicholsong]

The day before my birthday next year my licence will expire. Next day I will be 70 and have to get a new one. I think I should be tested, and again at 75 and 80. And because by then I will be registered as a resident of Spain, I WILL have to take a medical before they give me the licence.

.

This topic of should older people be re-tested is debatable.

At 76 I have 3-yearly medicals to keep my UK Licence, including C1.

I would object to having to travel to the UK for a test. I could exchange my licence for a Polish one and then need no test nor medical.

I recently had a 'test' of my reactions on a German Autobahn, when a car in lane 2 swerved a cross into our lane 1 about 20m in front of us to avoid a rear-ender. I was quick enough to react to dab on brakes and veering onto hard shoulder. No panic, just automatic avoidance - was quite pleased with my response.

The problem with the debate about re-testing with age is what is the experience of each driver, because experience does dictate how one drives and reacts to situations. From age 60 to 69 I was driving professionally all over UK in a variety of vehicles up to 7.5t. Since then aged 67 till now I have been driving our 3850kg MH an average of 5,000 miles a year. I believe this sort of continuity(including an advance course at my last job) provides a 'buffer' against incompetence/lack of attention and that coupled with medicals should ensure an element of safety.

The problem is how to sort out those drivers, who were less competent before age started to deteriorate their performance, from those who were well competent.

Geoff

 

[joka250]

The question of giving up driving through age and/or infirmity is very emotive but my own opinion is that some form of driving and health check should be carried out from age 70 or thereabouts. I have a specific health check twice a year at the insistence of DVLA, have done since age of 59. I do find it difficult to accept that failure means loss of licence but it easier to accept than if I killed someone. Next year I reach 70 and will have to have extended health tests to keep C1, if I fail I don't think I would have the conviction of mind to downsize and will be very upset but that's life i/We have to accept it.

 

[Miss Trinity]

I did it myself over 30 years ago in thick fog. Came off a roundabout near coventry and onto the dual carrigeway. It was very poor vis, but quiet so i pulled into overtaking lane to get past a few lorries and cars. I just pulled back in when instantly a vehicle passed head-on in the over-taking lane. I looked at my passenger and we both suddenly realised we were actually on the adjacent road which was two way. Talk about a lucky escape as we'd all have been killed travelling at 60mpm... Pleased to say i'm still here =~,~=