Nearly died on the M4 this morning

taxiphil

facade wrote: »

Happens quite often at the M6/M6Toll junction.

You are minding your own business on the M6, overtaking heavy traffic when suddenly overhead signs appear telling you that the lane you are in will cost 2 arms and 2 legs because it is the Toll Road, and to carry on on the motorway you have to turn off.

There have been a couple of pile-ups here, not caused by this lunacy, oh no definitely not.

A terrible bit of road layout, I agree, the toll shouldn't be the default option but it's been blatantly designed that way to boost toll revenue. Understandable if it's going into government coffers like on the French motorways, but here it's going to a private company.

While there's no excuse for last minute dangerous lane changes or incidents like the OP experienced, I can see how the M6/M6 Toll interchange catches people out when their sat nav or road atlas tells them to simply follow the M6 for 200 miles, only to be confronted with road signs telling them they must turn OFF the M6 in order to stay ON the M6 (if that makes any sense).

mgdavid

'nearly died' - really?
OTT.

[Deleted User]

vaio wrote: »

Glad there was no contact/injury but I'd have thought with 100m to play with the move into the other lane (where nothing was coming?) could have been done in a more controlled manner than swerving such that other cars almost ploughed into you.

I might be tempted not to invite the police to start looking at any CCTV and hope that the cars that almost ploughed into you because you swerved into their lane don't make a complaint about your driving either.

Theres always one.... :T

[Deleted User]

Crabman wrote: »

This incident is worth reporting to the police, it's up to the OP as to whether they do so. However, the police generally don't seem to take action without another witness to an alleged incident.

VOSA on the other hand can and do stop HGVs for detailed inspections including tachographs examinations. They use intelligence from reports and other sources to decide which vehicles to stop.

If the HGV driver is prepared to break the law and risk killing innocent drivers in the manner described by the OP, it's probable that they will have taken shortcuts with regard to other aspects of the law too.

I did email the police. They came back with, did I have any witnesses, would I be willing to go to court? Nice one. Look at the CCTV, I'm just trying to make sure this !!!!!!! doesnt kill someone when he does it again.

[Deleted User]

mgdavid wrote: »

'nearly died' - really?
OTT.

Are you superhuman then and immune to dying if you shunt a stationary lorry at 70mph and then proceed to get shunted by 4/5 other cars?

Motorway pile-ups happen. Lots of people get killed every year in them. Not helped by idiots like this, is it?

[Deleted User]

almillar wrote: »

As TrickyWicky hints to - the lorry driver should have stayed in the sliproad, and in many, not all, cases could have slipped right back on after a roundabout or other junction.
Was there no hard shoulder the driver could have used to get up to speed?

I guess so but is pretty narrow since this is the bridge above the roundabout below and it was a big lorry. No room to accelarate I dont think.

And of course, theres a tunnel coming up shortly with no hard shoulder...

redux

albionrovers wrote: »

Gets on my baps that vehicles carry a "How's My Driving" slogan but bosses can't be bothered to react to complaints because it's just another overhead especially seeing as no-one was hurt. As above, glad you're ok.

I rang up a coach company that had that invitation on the back

The person answering the phone was rude and said this is outside normal office hours.

I said well your coach is also driving outside office hours, and it might be relevant to make sure the driver isn't going to do the same again

F off you boring c was the succinct reply before hanging up.

I suspect I was talking via a diverted call to the actual driver.

Fortunately I wasn't making this call while I could still see the coach, and I hope he didn't assume I was and try running someone else off the road as revenge.

So I told the police as well.

Crabman

mgdavid wrote: »

'nearly died' - really?
OTT.

Watch the following video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3MPKLy9qHU

notanewuser

[quote=[Deleted User];61585263]I guess so but is pretty narrow since this is the bridge above the roundabout below and it was a big lorry. No room to accelarate I dont think.

And of course, theres a tunnel coming up shortly with no hard shoulder...[/QUOTE]

This was before the Brynglas Tunnels? :eek::eek:

vaio

[quote=[Deleted User];61585147]Theres always one.... :T[/QUOTE]

Thanks, but in my experience there is usually more than one.

Then again, it wasn't me that....[quote=[Deleted User];discussion/4628067].......Crapped myself, but had to swerve into outside lane (luckily nothing coming) and then watched as cars behind me almost ploughed into the back of me.....[/quote]

because a slow moving lorry pulled into my lane 100m away.

Just for clarity, as the lane you swerved into luckily had nothing coming where did the cars that almost ploughed into the back of you come from? Did they also change lanes to pass the slow moving lorry? Suddenly "uncloaked" a la Klingon battleship? Were there all the time but just got missed in all the drama?