|
|
Post by johnc on Oct 10, 2019 6:38:05 GMT
Last night (about 7.15) I was heading back from Paisley on my way back to the office. I had come off the M8 onto the 40mph dual carriageway which leads past the deathstar (Queen Elizabeth Hospital) and through the Clyde Tunnel. I had come off the motorway behind someone who considered that varying speed between 30 and 45mph with dabs on the brakes was normal, so I pulled to the outside lane and passed them before the road bends round to the right and takes you down towards the tunnel. Just as I was about to enter the corner, a black Audi A3 with no lights came up my side of the dual carriageway in the outside lane. I swerved to the left lane which was thankfully clear and just missed him/her - they didn't even slow down and just kept going. No lights, black car and dark with rain. I know 40mph isn't fast but 2 x 40mph (because he/she wasn't slowing down) is a serious accident. There are proper barriers between either side of the dual carriageway so where he/she had come from I don't know.
I am not one to get bothered by anything like this (and I've had a few close calls in life) but when I came out the other side of the tunnel I was shaking a bit. What kind of moron drives down the wrong side of a dual carriageway and keeps going?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2019 6:48:35 GMT
There were incidents with certain helicopter aircrew testing their nvg on the roads with some septics involved in wrong side of the road collisions. That was a while ago though.
|
|
|
|
Post by ChrisM on Oct 10, 2019 7:32:33 GMT
Only once have I been in the outside lane of a dual carriageway and been confronted by someone driving straight at me.
I was also "lucky" in being able to pull into a gap in the inside lane between the cars I was overtaking.
Yes it left me shaking too.... but almost worse was the attitude of the Police when I called 999 having pulled over as soon as it was safe to do so (in a handily paced layby just a few seconds after the encounter). First of all they had no idea where I was so goodness knows where the Surrey Police control room was at that time. Secondly they seemed to have almost a total "couldn't care" attitude, no sense or urgency to find out the precise location and sent a patrol to the road or any other action. I checked the local news later in the day and fortunately there were no reports of any head-on crashes in the area
|
|
|
|
Post by Roadsterstu on Oct 10, 2019 7:58:46 GMT
Police despatcher: Bravo Mike Two Four, please look on a dual carriageway way for a car going the wrong way.
Police Patrol: Whereabouts? Which dual carriageway? Whereabouts on that dual carriageway?
Police Despatcher: No idea, over.
Chris, if you ring up with little or no information then they are not really able to deal with it are they? However, they would assess your call along with any others that contained a bit more detail. Plus, you were tying up an emergency operator, no doubt with other calls from across the county pouring in.
John, sounds like a very near miss indeed. Frighting.
|
|
|
|
Post by Martin on Oct 10, 2019 8:58:04 GMT
Sounds like a really scary moment, pleased it passed without incident.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2019 9:23:45 GMT
Similar thing happened to my cousin and her husband, only that was a lorry. It left the road straight after.
|
|
|
|
Post by Boxer6 on Oct 10, 2019 9:24:02 GMT
Police despatcher: Bravo Mike Two Four, please look on a dual carriageway way for a car going the wrong way. Police Patrol: Whereabouts? Which dual carriageway? Whereabouts on that dual carriageway? Police Despatcher: No idea, over. Chris, if you ring up with little or no information then they are not really able to deal with it are they? However, they would assess your call along with any others that contained a bit more detail. Plus, you were tying up an emergency operator, no doubt with other calls from across the county pouring in. John, sounds like a very near miss indeed. Frighting. In fairness, Chris stated the control room staff didn't know where he was, not that he didn't! 
John, I'm with you in that it takes a lot to rattle me; I'm fairly sure that would have though! Glad you escaped unharmed. I must remember to stay away from the Clyde tunnel in future - never been that keen on it anyway to be honest.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alex on Oct 10, 2019 10:00:09 GMT
As you may remember from my lucky escape on the M23 a few years back, having someone coming towards you on a motorway is no fun at all and even less fun when they collide with you at 80mph. Still not sure how I survived that one!
|
|
|
|
Post by racingteatray on Oct 10, 2019 11:23:49 GMT
As you may remember from my lucky escape on the M23 a few years back, having someone coming towards you on a motorway is no fun at all and even less fun when they collide with you at 80mph. Still not sure how I survived that one! I vaguely remember. What happened in more detail?
John - very glad you avoided it! That sort of thing comes as a serious shock, not least because you get virtually no warning. It's only happened to me once as a student when I came around a downhill blind bend and found myself facing an oncoming Nissan Micra which was attempting to overtake going uphill towards said blind bend. I stood on the brakes, they locked (Mk2 Golf - didn't have ABS), we missed each other by the narrowest of whiskers thanks to the quick reactions of the driver being overtaken who stood on their brakes, enabling the Micra to swerve back onto the correct side of the road. Like you, I got a attack of the shakes and in fact had to stop in the next layby and get out of the car in order to pull myself back together again.
|
|
|
|
Post by ChrisM on Oct 10, 2019 12:52:16 GMT
Chris, if you ring up with little or no information then they are not really able to deal with it are they? However, they would assess your call along with any others that contained a bit more detail. Plus, you were tying up an emergency operator, no doubt with other calls from across the county pouring in. I was very clear and specific: I'm on the Hog's Back, the main A31 road out of Guildford town centre, about a mile from where it changes from single carriage way to dual carriage way as you head from Guildford to Farnham. Anyone who knows that part of Surrey should easily be able to identify the road and location. I also gave the make and colour of the car that was travelling the wrong way but cannot recall what it was after all this time |
|
|
|
Post by Alex on Oct 10, 2019 15:38:45 GMT
Chris, if you ring up with little or no information then they are not really able to deal with it are they? However, they would assess your call along with any others that contained a bit more detail. Plus, you were tying up an emergency operator, no doubt with other calls from across the county pouring in. I was very clear and specific: I'm on the Hog's Back, the main A31 road out of Guildford town centre, about a mile from where it changes from single carriage way to dual carriage way as you head from Guildford to Farnham. Anyone who knows that part of Surrey should easily be able to identify the road and location. I also gave the make and colour of the car that was travelling the wrong way but cannot recall what it was after all this time They probably came off the slip road from Puttenham and turned right instead of left. Jonny, my accident happened when I was travelling south on the M23 and a driver heading north lost control and hit the very section of crash barrier that had been damaged the day before and shot straight through it, ricocheted off a fiesta in lane 3 and slammed into the side of me sending me spinning backwards down the fast lane. Not an experience I'd recommend! |
|
|
|
Post by grampa on Oct 10, 2019 16:40:50 GMT
No where near as scary, but a couple of weeks ago I was overtaking in the middle lane of a 3 lane carriageway and had to pull in because of what looked like a roadworks sign in centre of the overtaking lane. I did stop and phone to let the police know - the bloke on the phone confirmed the location and thanked me for giving such an accurate description and assured me he would be getting someone to go and take a look. To be fair, it is a very much quieter part of the country.
|
|
|
|
Post by racingteatray on Oct 10, 2019 17:03:41 GMT
I was very clear and specific: I'm on the Hog's Back, the main A31 road out of Guildford town centre, about a mile from where it changes from single carriage way to dual carriage way as you head from Guildford to Farnham. Anyone who knows that part of Surrey should easily be able to identify the road and location. I also gave the make and colour of the car that was travelling the wrong way but cannot recall what it was after all this time They probably came off the slip road from Puttenham and turned right instead of left. Jonny, my accident happened when I was travelling south on the M23 and a driver heading north lost control and hit the very section of crash barrier that had been damaged the day before and shot straight through it, ricocheted off a fiesta in lane 3 and slammed into the side of me sending me spinning backwards down the fast lane. Not an experience I'd recommend! Yikes. I hadn't remembered that. |
|
|
|
Post by Roadsterstu on Oct 10, 2019 18:39:33 GMT
Chris, if you ring up with little or no information then they are not really able to deal with it are they? However, they would assess your call along with any others that contained a bit more detail. Plus, you were tying up an emergency operator, no doubt with other calls from across the county pouring in. I was very clear and specific: I'm on the Hog's Back, the main A31 road out of Guildford town centre, about a mile from where it changes from single carriage way to dual carriage way as you head from Guildford to Farnham. Anyone who knows that part of Surrey should easily be able to identify the road and location. I also gave the make and colour of the car that was travelling the wrong way but cannot recall what it was after all this time I apologise, then. You were rather specific and the operator was clearly hopeless! Sorry. |
|
|
|
Post by Roadsterstu on Oct 10, 2019 18:41:36 GMT
No where near as scary, but a couple of weeks ago I was overtaking in the middle lane of a 3 lane carriageway and had to pull in because of what looked like a roadworks sign in centre of the overtaking lane. I did stop and phone to let the police know - the bloke on the phone confirmed the location and thanked me for giving such an accurate description and assured me he would be getting someone to go and take a look. To be fair, it is a very much quieter part of the country. A few years ago on an unlit section of the M42, I saw half a sofa appear in the beams of the headlights, in lane 1. Glad I didn't hit that in the MX-5 I had at the time! |
|
|
|
Post by Alex on Oct 10, 2019 23:03:03 GMT
I was once coming down the M23 and traffic in the middle lane started swerving left and right due to a rear bumper sitting in the middle lane. I pulled off at the Gatwick turn and dialled 999 as I was convinced it was an accident waiting to happen but the call handler did rather treat me as if I was wasting their time.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Oct 11, 2019 7:34:16 GMT
Going down the A19 one morning a large steel table fell off a skip wagon and, in slow motion it seemed, bounced on the road in front of me and then disappeared over my roof and into the ditch. At the time I just muttered "that' was lucky" and went on my way. It was only after when I related it to someone else that I thought about how serious that could have been.
My dad once lost a colleague at work when he was killed by a cat's eye flicked up by a vehicle in front and then through his windscreen, delivering a fatal blow to the head.
|
|
