Why? Traffic collision images...

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

Hi all.

We had a terrible traffic crash this Sunday afternoon on one of our local "A" roads, 60mph speed limit, single carriageway.

A Ford Focus saloon car and a motorcycle (size not known)  Were in a head on collision.

the car was carrying a family of four, mum dad and two girls aged 9 and 4 years old. 

The bike had a male rider and female pillion passenger. 

On impact the bikes fuel tank ruptured and ignited, spraying the car with burning petrol. All four occupants were killed.

Both those on the motorbike died instantly. 

 

 

You look at the images and tell me, who was in the wrong here. 

The car was on its correct side of the road by the way and the road is pretty much straight as a die. 

Look at the intrusion into the drivers side of the Ford, the bike was obviously travelling well in excess of the 60 limit. Why he was on the wrong side is the question, but I'll bet my pension he was going for an overtake.

An entire young family gone in the blink of an eye in the most horrific way I can imagine. 

And all for the vanity of an idiotic motorbike rider who also killed his passenger.  

Let's hope the coroner has the guts to rule five of the deaths as unlawful killing, this is murder on the road, pure and simple. 

And the biggest reason, because our traffic police have been decimated and drivers very rarely get stopped these days as a matter of routine. It's basically a lawless race track out there most days.

Why do we allow vehicles on public roads that are capable of such speeds? Why do we allow drivers to ignore the laws of the road by diluting policing to levels that are useless. 

Why did this family have to die that day?

There's a solution but it's not on anyone's political agenda, too unpopular to clamp down on vehicle manufacturers and drivers.

 

[peter lena 8,620]

@Mickwhitt think todays drivers are just brain dead , very scary out there , no signals , no courtesy , no  on car warning  given for anything . watch people drive into  interstate traffic , at 40 mph  !  not a clue ! today there multiple  cars/ trucks just caught up in not knowing where they are going , or how to get there . more interstate , driving thru , railings . cabling , down into  traffic buffers . much more interested in the cell phone , than what's going on  . car mirrors , ?  what are they for ?  pete  

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

As a post script, the family had an 11 year old daughter who had not gone out with her family, she is now an orphan.

How on earth must she be feeling right now? Words can't describe how disgusted this makes me feel that we can be so shallow and uncaring for others just for the thrill of riding fast. 

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

38 minutes ago, peter lena said:

think todays drivers are just brain dead

Pete,   

I'm so glad it's not just over here. 

They pass their test at 17, which is way too young in my opinion,  and then nothing unless they get caught by a speed camera. 

Cops don't stop motorists any more, if the ANPR says the documents are in order then it's OK.

Just wish the rider was still alive to see what he'd done and serve some serious jail time .

[rmaynard 15,436]

As I approach my 75th birthday, I am aware of the fact that I will be watched closely by my children, and when they tell me to hand over the keys, I will probably fight them, tooth and nail. Which brings me to my point. People over here have suggested that older drivers be retested when they reach a certain age. I disagree. I think ALL drivers should be retested, both road test and rules of the road. This should occur every two years just like vehicle registration. If you fail, you lose your privilege to drive until you pass. My nephew is a motorcycle cop. He says that the majority of tickets he gives out are mainly for being stupid.

Edited July 22 by rmaynard

[SylvanLakeWH 25,547]

Tragic...

 

Recent similar event here...

 

The car thief who killed the young couple in the accident got off with injuries... 

 

6 kids... Mom and Dad gone...

 

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2024/01/09/michigan-couple-killed-in-wrong-way-crash-leaves-behind-6-children/72164664007/

 

Sad on so many levels...

Edited July 22 by SylvanLakeWH

[lynnmor 7,305]

I live in a rural area that has no local police, only the occasional state cop happens by.  There is no effort to do speed and traffic control.  Why do we pay taxes when the road in front of my house is an outlaw racetrack?  We now have Amish moving into the area, I am completely surrounded, and I cringe whenever they go by in their buggy's since there are places with a sight distance of well under 100 feet.  Example from yesterday: https://www.abc27.com/local-news/eight-people-including-infant-hospitalized-in-lancaster-county-horse-and-buggy-crash/

[ri702bill 8,316]

A few years back, while my wife was alive, she mentioned to me that the sudden uptick of young drivers in fatal accidents with others MAY be due to the younger driver looking at operating a motor vehicle as a "grown up video game".Too much time playing "Grand Theft Auto" gives the wrong sense of proper skills and NO sense of the real life ramifications of being the cause of fatalaties....They seem to figure it out in jail though...

[953 nut 55,198]

4 hours ago, rmaynard said:

I think ALL drivers should be retested, both road test and rules of the road.

Bob, this sounds good in theory but passing a test and implementing safe driving habits while on the road are two totally different things. Comedian Gallagher has a better idea.

 

[Brockport Bill 1,661]

4 hours ago, rmaynard said:

As I approach my 75th birthday, I am aware of the fact that I will be watched closely by my children, and when they tell me to hand over the keys, I will probably fight them, tooth and nail. Which brings me to my point. People over here have suggested that older drivers be retested when they reach a certain age. I disagree. I think ALL drivers should be retested, both road test and rules of the road. This should occur every two years just like vehicle registration. If you fail, you lose your privilege to drive until you pass. My nephew is a motorcycle cop. He says that the majority of tickets he gives out are mainly for being stupid.

sadly driver re-testing would have zero effect of driver misbehavior -- reckless or impulsive behavior - the concept of re-testing only tests a drivers ability to answer written questions on a paper exam -- or perform basic driver functions on a road exam -- which arguably would remove some percent of drivers no longer worthy of being on the road -- but would do nothing to remoive the ill behaved reckless ( brainless ) drivers causing many of the accidents

[peter lena 8,620]

@rmaynard  when driver training , with the grandkids , always emphasised , what's going on in your mirrors ?  frontal views , paying attention to  ANY  VISUAL / OPERATIONAL CHANGE , IN MOVEMENT , emphasize  using 4 way flashers to show a problem / issue coming up . regularly see people drive right into a visual problem , no reaction , equals  face time on the phone . never show them anything in a sarcastic way , always a " WHAT DO YOU THINK ?  about  driver issues , draw them in , get them involved , show them the reason for  constant attention . was just in a isolated  heavy ROAD FOG , going over a water storage area , as I approached , there was a solid fog wall covering both , north / south lanes , yet not a single 4 way flasher engaged as cars drove into it att 75 mph , talk about brain dead . pay attention out there , very scary , pete

[Sailman 1,291]

Awful tragedy....I have been and continue to be a responsible Harley rider. I am the one driving with a super heightened awareness of other cars and use defensive driving ALL the TIME. We have all heard the horror stories of left hand turns in front of a motorcycle with the usual " I didn't see him" as he lays dead on the road. This problem works both ways but the sport bike drivers "in my opinion" can be a huge problem. They drive like they are invincible, ride at excessive speeds, pass when they should not, etc. My bet is this was a sport bike going way too fast and trying to pass when he shouldn't have. Very sad for the family...

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

Today it seems a man has been arrested for causing death by dangerous driving regarding this collision.

Police are appealing for information about a Porsche car seen in the area of the crash.

From that you can pretty much read that the porsche and bike were racing before the collision.  

It's hard to see another explanation as to why the bike rider had the tap open so wide. 

I will of course keep you up to date on any developments in the case. If the rider wasn't in the wrong I'll let you know, but I doubt it. 

We have a term over here "Born again bikers" guys who rode a 125cc bike in their teens, grew up and had a family away from bikes, and then bought a monster rocket bike in their 50s, thinking they could handle ridiculous power to weight ratios. It rarely ends well...

[Beap52 811]

Dadgum cell phones scare me.  We just returned from vacation.  As a passenger, I took to noticing drivers and even truckers were on cell phones. 

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

10 hours ago, Beap52 said:

Dadgum cell phones scare me.

You don't even have to be actually using the thing either. There was some research that even if it rang as you were driving your mind was instantly overloaded with activity and unable to make room for driving decisions... "is that the wife, is everything OK, could this be the call about my illness, have I won the lottery"

I dealt with a fatal where a young man's cell phone had fallen into the passenger footwell. It rang and he reached down to try and grab it. Of course his opposite hand pushed against the steering wheel to support him and his vehicle moved over into the opposing lane whilst he was out of view of the road. Killed an oncoming motorcyclist instantly,  he never got to answer the call, he ran off from the scene and had to be traced, ironically by the cell phone still in the footwell of his vehicle. 

Remember we are basically a bipedal ape designed to travel at not much over 15mph for very short periods without bumping into something. Our primitive brain was never intended to handle such complex tasks. It's a miracle we are surviving the industrial revolution. (Or are we? Will all our advances lead to our extinction in decades after thousands of years as a slow species).

 

[Handy Don 12,216]

On 7/25/2024 at 2:31 AM, Mickwhitt said:

Our primitive brain was never intended to handle such complex tasks.

I’m not sure I agree totally here, but I will add that we’ve become adept at creating “assists” that are intended to simplify many complex tasks. Each assist comes with its own set of demands, though, right?

My niece had only minor injuries when she totaled her parents’ car. It was hit by a big truck when she drove through a stop sign while intent on changing the radio station from “old stuff” to “young stuff"--thankfully the trucker was unhurt and truck not much damaged.

Edited July 28 by Handy Don

[Lee1977 6,657]

  

There is always some one changing lanes trying to get a couple cars ahead when heavy traffic slows down . 

Edited July 30 by Lee1977

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

The most recent update is that a Porsche sports car was being overtaken by the bike but refused to slow and allow him in front, thus forcing him into the path of the oncoming Ford. 

A high speed game of chicken with the highest stakes.

The fact remains that the rider had the option to drop the throttle and live to fight another day. 

We will see if any charges or court case follow.

[adsm08 2,048]

On 7/22/2024 at 5:55 PM, lynnmor said:

I live in a rural area that has no local police, only the occasional state cop happens by.  There is no effort to do speed and traffic control.  Why do we pay taxes when the road in front of my house is an outlaw racetrack?  We now have Amish moving into the area, I am completely surrounded, and I cringe whenever they go by in their buggy's since there are places with a sight distance of well under 100 feet.  Example from yesterday: https://www.abc27.com/local-news/eight-people-including-infant-hospitalized-in-lancaster-county-horse-and-buggy-crash/

 

 

But the cops out your way are quick to crack down on "illegal yard sales".

 

Last summer I was down there buying a porch swing from a guy, right across form the PSP barrick and we had to go around back, behind the house, careful nobody was watching, because the neighbors were nosy and the cops had already been called out twice to talk to him about illegal selling on the property. He'd just bought the house, was renovating it, and was trying to sell off some good items that had been left behind that he didn't want, but didn't want to just throw out.