While i do agree that this is a very bad crash, im a regular user of this strecth of road, as well as too many other roads.
on tuesday night, i was somewhere on my way from bournemouth to southampton, it was dark, SLAMMING it down with rain (wipers on full pelt wasnt clearing the screen) and on a dual carriageway, i slowed down to around 35 mph, those who know me know that i normally drive at full speed, everywhere, i go as fast as the car in front of me, or as fast as the engine will allow, whichever is slowest. but this time, i was going slow as it was so bad
when i drive, im generally aware of everything around me, including behind me, and when its raining like this, you can see better behind you than you can in front, and i could see a car FLYING up behind me. now i was onyl doing about 35, but the speed this guy came up behind me, passed me, and got to about quarter of a mile ahead of me, he was doing at least 70, then, someone who doesnt bother using their mirrors, pulled out in front of him
there was break lights, then headlights towards me, break lights, i instantly put the hazards on and slowed down untill i stopped. the guy was sideways half in the fast lane, half in the central reservation, mud grass and gravel everywhere, its a miracle nobody was hurt, and the 'other' car that caused all of this, didnt even realise, and kept on going
yes there was 2 cars at fault, the one going way too fast for the conditions, and the muppet who pulled out in front of him, but, what if i was also going at 70+ behind this guy?
in those conditions, id have slammed into the side of him, and shunted him into the car that pulled out on him, who would have gone into the back of the car in the left lane that he originally pulled out to over take, theres 4 cars, all going sidways, at a minimum of 40 mph, with traffic approaching them, in spray, but who cannot see their lights as theyre all sideways
you can see how quickly something like this can become very bad very quickly
i have a dash mounted camera, and pressed the record button after all of this, but, as its a chinese import, the record button erases anything thats not already saved onto the SD card, it records automatically, pressing anything resets it, otherwise youd all be able to see what i saw
the way i see it, 'poor driving conditions' is not an excuse for a crash like this, 'poor driving experience' is what has caused this
ive driven extreme conditions, ive paid to drive on a skid pan, ive had people crash into me on the public highways, ive been prosecuted for speeding, ive driven road cars on private tracks at recorded speeds of over 145 mph. 'poor driving conditions' are something that is part of driving, just like reversing is, motorway driving is, an emergency stop is, even changing a tyre on the side of a road (in my opinion) should be a part of everyday driving
things like this, PROVE that there are too many people on the roads who are not competent to hold a license.
dirve according to the conditions, leave enough of a gap, when (not if) someone pulls into that gap, drop back a little more
but the 'driving conditions' cannot really be blamed for this, drivers need to learn to adapt to the 'conditions' that they drive in
awful news
