Near miss on M9 - car stopped in overtaking lane

Noobye

I had a very nasty near miss on the M9 in south Kilkenny this morning at J10 northbound (Knocktopher exit). A car was stopped in the outside lane, and a truck had apparently stopped on the hard shoulder to help. The truck had its orange flashing lights on, so I had moved out into the overtaking lane.

It was only barely getting light and there was a lot of rain, so it was only at the last minute really that I saw the car, with a guy standing next to it, waving a flashlight. There was no warning triangle behind the car, and it didn't have its hazards or other lights on.

I shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn't been able to swerve into the left lane, etc., but it begs the question: how the hell can a modern car (I think it was an Insignia) develop a fault to the extent that it can't get over to the hard shoulder, and how can it be left without hazard lights?

The truck didn't help, because while I saw his lights from a long way back, it drew my attention away from the stopped car.

I hope to God everyone else coming behind me was able to avoid it. With the speed that some people do, tearing along that motorway, it was a very dangerous situation.

scheming_gypsy

Noobye wrote: »

how the hell can a modern car (I think it was an Insignia) develop a fault to the extent that it can't get over to the hard shoulder, and how can it be left without hazard lights?

.

sounds like an electrical failure. I had a car repaired a couple of years ago and they put my battery on charge, so they could move it they put another one in. I went to collect it and the person who was there didn't know about the battery, roll forward to the next morning and i lose all power and electrics on the motorway. One of the battery terminals wasn't connected, but i managed to get to the hard shoulder.

marlot

Hope you called it in to the police on the emergency number!

jay1181

were you driving at the appropriate speed for the conditions eg not at 60 / 70 mph more like 50 . see this all the time on m74/m8 pelting down with rain cant see two feet in front of you then people with no lights on flying past you at 60 / 70 mph then a few miles down the road you see they have had an accident. if i see somebody in the hard shoulder i slow down just incase there has been an accident as this has happened to me before and if you had hit the car it would have been your fault for not seeing him . i know its laughable but true.

rodenal

I've only ever experienced rain on the m8 that gave fog-like visibility and meant driving 50ish or below maybe twice in the last ten years, so not sure where you're travelling!

colino

Unless the car had a catastrophic engine/transmission failure where the driving wheels actually locked, the driver should be charged for dangerous driving for stopping in such a stupid place. Even if the engine had spontaneously stopped, dipping the clutch in a manual or knocking it in to neutral in an auto at dual/motorway speeds would give any driver enough momentum to get it to the left of the road or on to the hard shoulder.
Staring at the reducing speed on the speedometer and nothing else seems to be par for the course for most recent, unskilled, uncaring "drivers".

Keith

He was trying to take out people in the fast lane whilst the lane to the left was empty

Crabman

Noobye wrote: »

I hope to God everyone else coming behind me was able to avoid it. With the speed that some people do, tearing along that motorway, it was a very dangerous situation.

If people drive according to the conditions and are able to stop in the distance they can see to be clear, there will be no problem

If you had to swerve to avoid a non-moving object, perhaps you need to evaluate your driving style. It's a bit silly to expect someone to put a safety triangle in lane 3, isn't it? If you didn't see the car (which has reflectors in the rear light clusters) what difference would a small triangle on the road surface make?

Next time, drive according to the conditions, leave a proper distance and make sure you can stop in the distance that YOU can see to be clear.

Imp

marlot wrote: »

Hope you called it in to the police on the emergency number!

Don't be silly. Nobody stops. My wife recently witnessed an accident on a busy M25, with a car shunted into the central reservation by a lorry. She pulled over, took our 10 month old child out of the car, called the police and went to offer any assistance. Other than the vehicles involved and one lorry driver, no-one else from the hundreds of cars passing stopped, but they did slow down to drive around the strickenned car and driver.

The two lorry drivers stopped the traffic and moved the vehicle onto the hard shoulder before the police arrived, and allowed all those people with busy and important lives to get on with living them without inconvenience.

Mark_Hewitt

If I had stopped in the outside lane I'd be wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible, nevermind standing around waving a torch, that's a good way to get killed.

In such a situation the police need to set up a rolling road block or even close the road to get the obstruction out of the way.

Crabman

Imp wrote: »

Don't be silly. Nobody stops. My wife recently witnessed an accident on a busy M25, with a car shunted into the central reservation by a lorry. She pulled over, took our 10 month old child out of the car, called the police and went to offer any assistance. Other than the vehicles involved and one lorry driver, no-one else from the hundreds of cars passing stopped, but they did slow down to drive around the strickenned car and driver.

It seems common for drivers in such circumstances to commit the offence of failing to stop under S170 of the RTA 1988.

They tend to regret it when the unlucky ones receive a summons to magistrates court and they then can't obtain insurance or have to pay several thousands for a policy after a conviction

Good on your wife for stopping to help :T