Teenage girl killed in road crash (From Daily Echo)

How awful...god bless... love, strength and heartfelt thoughts sent to family and friends of this young person x

I think it is important to remember that speed is not the only killer on our roads today. There are many drivers who drive dangerously through lack of care or lack of awareness, and these people can kill even at low speeds. There is also the issue of bad road design, especially relevant on this piece of road. The design of the road means many drivers have to join without enough slip road to get up to speed of the flowing traffic. They also have to cross several lanes in quick succession to leave or join the dualcarriage way. These two factors mean that many people need to rapidly change speed and drive erratically to join and exit this stretch of road. I have witnessed many near crashes on this stretch of road through these two factors alone, and on some occassions fear for my life as people swerve across lanes of traffic not giving a **** about other road users.

I wish people, especially the council, would consider that there are other alternatives to blaming everything on speed, as speed is not always to blame. Take this from someone who has lost a family member in a road crash.

My thoughts go out to the family at this sad time.

I once rode my Lambretta to San Tropez in the south of France. So I know what I'm talking about when I say sixteen is too young to be on a scooter.

samwardenthomas wrote:
I think it is important to remember that speed is not the only killer on our roads today. There are many drivers who drive dangerously through lack of care or lack of awareness, and these people can kill even at low speeds. There is also the issue of bad road design, especially relevant on this piece of road. The design of the road means many drivers have to join without enough slip road to get up to speed of the flowing traffic. They also have to cross several lanes in quick succession to leave or join the dualcarriage way. These two factors mean that many people need to rapidly change speed and drive erratically to join and exit this stretch of road. I have witnessed many near crashes on this stretch of road through these two factors alone, and on some occassions fear for my life as people swerve across lanes of traffic not giving a **** about other road users.

I wish people, especially the council, would consider that there are other alternatives to blaming everything on speed, as speed is not always to blame. Take this from someone who has lost a family member in a road crash.

My thoughts go out to the family at this sad time.

Yes, and on a machine limited to 28 MPH you have little chance of getting up to a reasonable speed to cope with the flow, let alone cross it!

Too many trunk road scheme's don't allow for local traffic flow...

RIP.....

A sickening and outrageous collision. This girl put her trust in other road users. Everyone has a right to use the road – young and old, on foot, cycle, moped or any way they want – and drivers have a duty to give way to them whenever needed. Those who don’t understand this should hand in their licences.

Poor young girl bless her.

samwardenthomas wrote:
I think it is important to remember that speed is not the only killer on our roads today. There are many drivers who drive dangerously through lack of care or lack of awareness, and these people can kill even at low speeds. There is also the issue of bad road design, especially relevant on this piece of road. The design of the road means many drivers have to join without enough slip road to get up to speed of the flowing traffic. They also have to cross several lanes in quick succession to leave or join the dualcarriage way. These two factors mean that many people need to rapidly change speed and drive erratically to join and exit this stretch of road. I have witnessed many near crashes on this stretch of road through these two factors alone, and on some occassions fear for my life as people swerve across lanes of traffic not giving a **** about other road users.

I wish people, especially the council, would consider that there are other alternatives to blaming everything on speed, as speed is not always to blame. Take this from someone who has lost a family member in a road crash.

My thoughts go out to the family at this sad time.

Excellent post. Very well described. A thousand recomminds.

Some re configuration of this road and a few others would be a good start on road safety.

Only this means spending and is not a money spinner for the authorities like speed guns are.

good-gosh wrote:
A sickening and outrageous collision. This girl put her trust in other road users. Everyone has a right to use the road – young and old, on foot, cycle, moped or any way they want – and drivers have a duty to give way to them whenever needed. Those who don’t understand this should hand in their licences.

Totally agreed, my thoughts also go out to the girls family and those who were involved in someway.

samwardenthomas wrote:
I think it is important to remember that speed is not the only killer on our roads today. There are many drivers who drive dangerously through lack of care or lack of awareness, and these people can kill even at low speeds. There is also the issue of bad road design, especially relevant on this piece of road. The design of the road means many drivers have to join without enough slip road to get up to speed of the flowing traffic. They also have to cross several lanes in quick succession to leave or join the dualcarriage way. These two factors mean that many people need to rapidly change speed and drive erratically to join and exit this stretch of road. I have witnessed many near crashes on this stretch of road through these two factors alone, and on some occassions fear for my life as people swerve across lanes of traffic not giving a **** about other road users.

I wish people, especially the council, would consider that there are other alternatives to blaming everything on speed, as speed is not always to blame. Take this from someone who has lost a family member in a road crash.

My thoughts go out to the family at this sad time.

great post , i see lots of drivers who swerve last minute to go off at junctions cos they want to be first , indicators also are either not used or are used last minute and on this road there are often drivers who don,t know the area well .the road signs warning of a split maybe should be placed earlier on the route but having said that untill we know the cause we can only give our thoughts to the family of the girl

mickey01 said:
"i see lots of drivers who swerve last minute to go off at junctions cos they want to be first , indicators also are either not used or are used last minute"

I witnessed a Police BMW (an ARV to boot) do just that at J8 of the M27 this morning, the driver stood on the brake's in lane 3 then cut across to get off at the 100M marker board, no blues and two's so 'not in a hurry', much.

Niel wrote:
mickey01 said:
"i see lots of drivers who swerve last minute to go off at junctions cos they want to be first , indicators also are either not used or are used last minute"

I witnessed a Police BMW (an ARV to boot) do just that at J8 of the M27 this morning, the driver stood on the brake's in lane 3 then cut across to get off at the 100M marker board, no blues and two's so 'not in a hurry', much.

Firstly, my sympathy is with the young girl's family, and also any others who were involved or witnessed it. An awful thing to happen.


In reply to your post Niel (or mickey01's really):

An awful lot of people seem to see indicators as an optional extra, especially if there are no other cars/bikes near them.

It's incredibly dangerous if you're a pedestrian crossing a minor road, and then a car turns on to it without indicating. My son and I were almost run over a couple of weeks ago for just that reason. The driver was very apologetic, but that wouldn't have been much consolation if we'd been hit.

Mind you, most drivers don't seem to have a clue that in that situation the pedestrian has the right of way anyway. Even if they're indicating, they should stop and wait for them to cross. Most drivers appear to think that the correct action is instead to lean on their horn or shout expletives whilst waving their fist. I believe that those drivers are technically referred top as "tw@s".

Indicators are for signalling to other road users, and many drivers don't seem to understand that includes people on the pavement in case they wish to cross.

Seriously, how much effort does it really take to move your finger enough to flick the stalk?

Apologies for the hobby-horse tangent, but people trying to run me and my family over tends to make me a little irked.

I'd like to see more traffic police stopping people for poor driving, rather than concentrating all their efforts on speeding. Someone driving aggressively at the speed limit is far more dangerous than someone breaking the speed limit but driving with sense and consideration. Hunt down the aggressive drivers and those that drive without due care in populated areas.

cantthinkofone wrote:

Niel wrote:
mickey01 said:
"i see lots of drivers who swerve last minute to go off at junctions cos they want to be first , indicators also are either not used or are used last minute"

I witnessed a Police BMW (an ARV to boot) do just that at J8 of the M27 this morning, the driver stood on the brake's in lane 3 then cut across to get off at the 100M marker board, no blues and two's so 'not in a hurry', much.

Firstly, my sympathy is with the young girl's family, and also any others who were involved or witnessed it. An awful thing to happen.


In reply to your post Niel (or mickey01's really):

An awful lot of people seem to see indicators as an optional extra, especially if there are no other cars/bikes near them.

It's incredibly dangerous if you're a pedestrian crossing a minor road, and then a car turns on to it without indicating. My son and I were almost run over a couple of weeks ago for just that reason. The driver was very apologetic, but that wouldn't have been much consolation if we'd been hit.

Mind you, most drivers don't seem to have a clue that in that situation the pedestrian has the right of way anyway. Even if they're indicating, they should stop and wait for them to cross. Most drivers appear to think that the correct action is instead to lean on their horn or shout expletives whilst waving their fist. I believe that those drivers are technically referred top as "tw@s".

Indicators are for signalling to other road users, and many drivers don't seem to understand that includes people on the pavement in case they wish to cross.

Seriously, how much effort does it really take to move your finger enough to flick the stalk?

Apologies for the hobby-horse tangent, but people trying to run me and my family over tends to make me a little irked.

I'd like to see more traffic police stopping people for poor driving, rather than concentrating all their efforts on speeding. Someone driving aggressively at the speed limit is far more dangerous than someone breaking the speed limit but driving with sense and consideration. Hunt down the aggressive drivers and those that drive without due care in populated areas.

I hope the Highway Code (Section 7) doesn't come as too much of a shock when you eventually get around to reading. it will certainly dispel some of the myths you are treasuring.

Torchie1 wrote:

cantthinkofone wrote:

Niel wrote:
mickey01 said:
"i see lots of drivers who swerve last minute to go off at junctions cos they want to be first , indicators also are either not used or are used last minute"

I witnessed a Police BMW (an ARV to boot) do just that at J8 of the M27 this morning, the driver stood on the brake's in lane 3 then cut across to get off at the 100M marker board, no blues and two's so 'not in a hurry', much.

Firstly, my sympathy is with the young girl's family, and also any others who were involved or witnessed it. An awful thing to happen.


In reply to your post Niel (or mickey01's really):

An awful lot of people seem to see indicators as an optional extra, especially if there are no other cars/bikes near them.

It's incredibly dangerous if you're a pedestrian crossing a minor road, and then a car turns on to it without indicating. My son and I were almost run over a couple of weeks ago for just that reason. The driver was very apologetic, but that wouldn't have been much consolation if we'd been hit.

Mind you, most drivers don't seem to have a clue that in that situation the pedestrian has the right of way anyway. Even if they're indicating, they should stop and wait for them to cross. Most drivers appear to think that the correct action is instead to lean on their horn or shout expletives whilst waving their fist. I believe that those drivers are technically referred top as "tw@s".

Indicators are for signalling to other road users, and many drivers don't seem to understand that includes people on the pavement in case they wish to cross.

Seriously, how much effort does it really take to move your finger enough to flick the stalk?

Apologies for the hobby-horse tangent, but people trying to run me and my family over tends to make me a little irked.

I'd like to see more traffic police stopping people for poor driving, rather than concentrating all their efforts on speeding. Someone driving aggressively at the speed limit is far more dangerous than someone breaking the speed limit but driving with sense and consideration. Hunt down the aggressive drivers and those that drive without due care in populated areas.

I hope the Highway Code (Section 7) doesn't come as too much of a shock when you eventually get around to reading. it will certainly dispel some of the myths you are treasuring.

Actually they are right to an extent, if a pedestrian is already crossing then they have priority, pedestrians also have priority at zebra crossings, there's a lot of youtube videos of drivers ignoring this fact.

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

Torchie1 wrote:

cantthinkofone wrote:

Niel wrote:
mickey01 said:
"i see lots of drivers who swerve last minute to go off at junctions cos they want to be first , indicators also are either not used or are used last minute"

I witnessed a Police BMW (an ARV to boot) do just that at J8 of the M27 this morning, the driver stood on the brake's in lane 3 then cut across to get off at the 100M marker board, no blues and two's so 'not in a hurry', much.

Firstly, my sympathy is with the young girl's family, and also any others who were involved or witnessed it. An awful thing to happen.


In reply to your post Niel (or mickey01's really):

An awful lot of people seem to see indicators as an optional extra, especially if there are no other cars/bikes near them.

It's incredibly dangerous if you're a pedestrian crossing a minor road, and then a car turns on to it without indicating. My son and I were almost run over a couple of weeks ago for just that reason. The driver was very apologetic, but that wouldn't have been much consolation if we'd been hit.

Mind you, most drivers don't seem to have a clue that in that situation the pedestrian has the right of way anyway. Even if they're indicating, they should stop and wait for them to cross. Most drivers appear to think that the correct action is instead to lean on their horn or shout expletives whilst waving their fist. I believe that those drivers are technically referred top as "tw@s".

Indicators are for signalling to other road users, and many drivers don't seem to understand that includes people on the pavement in case they wish to cross.

Seriously, how much effort does it really take to move your finger enough to flick the stalk?

Apologies for the hobby-horse tangent, but people trying to run me and my family over tends to make me a little irked.

I'd like to see more traffic police stopping people for poor driving, rather than concentrating all their efforts on speeding. Someone driving aggressively at the speed limit is far more dangerous than someone breaking the speed limit but driving with sense and consideration. Hunt down the aggressive drivers and those that drive without due care in populated areas.

I hope the Highway Code (Section 7) doesn't come as too much of a shock when you eventually get around to reading. it will certainly dispel some of the myths you are treasuring.

Actually they are right to an extent, if a pedestrian is already crossing then they have priority, pedestrians also have priority at zebra crossings, there's a lot of youtube videos of drivers ignoring this fact.

Exactly.

Torchie1 has neatly illustrated just how ignorant most users seem to be about this fact.

Raxx wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

Torchie1 wrote:

cantthinkofone wrote:

Niel wrote:
mickey01 said:
"i see lots of drivers who swerve last minute to go off at junctions cos they want to be first , indicators also are either not used or are used last minute"

I witnessed a Police BMW (an ARV to boot) do just that at J8 of the M27 this morning, the driver stood on the brake's in lane 3 then cut across to get off at the 100M marker board, no blues and two's so 'not in a hurry', much.

Firstly, my sympathy is with the young girl's family, and also any others who were involved or witnessed it. An awful thing to happen.


In reply to your post Niel (or mickey01's really):

An awful lot of people seem to see indicators as an optional extra, especially if there are no other cars/bikes near them.

It's incredibly dangerous if you're a pedestrian crossing a minor road, and then a car turns on to it without indicating. My son and I were almost run over a couple of weeks ago for just that reason. The driver was very apologetic, but that wouldn't have been much consolation if we'd been hit.

Mind you, most drivers don't seem to have a clue that in that situation the pedestrian has the right of way anyway. Even if they're indicating, they should stop and wait for them to cross. Most drivers appear to think that the correct action is instead to lean on their horn or shout expletives whilst waving their fist. I believe that those drivers are technically referred top as "tw@s".

Indicators are for signalling to other road users, and many drivers don't seem to understand that includes people on the pavement in case they wish to cross.

Seriously, how much effort does it really take to move your finger enough to flick the stalk?

Apologies for the hobby-horse tangent, but people trying to run me and my family over tends to make me a little irked.

I'd like to see more traffic police stopping people for poor driving, rather than concentrating all their efforts on speeding. Someone driving aggressively at the speed limit is far more dangerous than someone breaking the speed limit but driving with sense and consideration. Hunt down the aggressive drivers and those that drive without due care in populated areas.

I hope the Highway Code (Section 7) doesn't come as too much of a shock when you eventually get around to reading. it will certainly dispel some of the myths you are treasuring.

Actually they are right to an extent, if a pedestrian is already crossing then they have priority, pedestrians also have priority at zebra crossings, there's a lot of youtube videos of drivers ignoring this fact.

Exactly.

Torchie1 has neatly illustrated just how ignorant most users seem to be about this fact.

Indeed he has but a lot of pedestrians don't know that they have priority if they're already crossing, causing them to run and possibly trip or something when a vehicle comes along, if you have started to cross, and a vehicle pulls up and starts revving their engine, just keep walking at the same pace, must be embarrassing for drivers when people with no formal training on using the road knows more than the driver... Then again I have had driving lessons before.

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

Raxx wrote:

Ginger_cyclist wrote:

Torchie1 wrote:

cantthinkofone wrote:

Niel wrote:
mickey01 said:
"i see lots of drivers who swerve last minute to go off at junctions cos they want to be first , indicators also are either not used or are used last minute"

I witnessed a Police BMW (an ARV to boot) do just that at J8 of the M27 this morning, the driver stood on the brake's in lane 3 then cut across to get off at the 100M marker board, no blues and two's so 'not in a hurry', much.

Firstly, my sympathy is with the young girl's family, and also any others who were involved or witnessed it. An awful thing to happen.


In reply to your post Niel (or mickey01's really):

An awful lot of people seem to see indicators as an optional extra, especially if there are no other cars/bikes near them.

It's incredibly dangerous if you're a pedestrian crossing a minor road, and then a car turns on to it without indicating. My son and I were almost run over a couple of weeks ago for just that reason. The driver was very apologetic, but that wouldn't have been much consolation if we'd been hit.

Mind you, most drivers don't seem to have a clue that in that situation the pedestrian has the right of way anyway. Even if they're indicating, they should stop and wait for them to cross. Most drivers appear to think that the correct action is instead to lean on their horn or shout expletives whilst waving their fist. I believe that those drivers are technically referred top as "tw@s".

Indicators are for signalling to other road users, and many drivers don't seem to understand that includes people on the pavement in case they wish to cross.

Seriously, how much effort does it really take to move your finger enough to flick the stalk?

Apologies for the hobby-horse tangent, but people trying to run me and my family over tends to make me a little irked.

I'd like to see more traffic police stopping people for poor driving, rather than concentrating all their efforts on speeding. Someone driving aggressively at the speed limit is far more dangerous than someone breaking the speed limit but driving with sense and consideration. Hunt down the aggressive drivers and those that drive without due care in populated areas.

I hope the Highway Code (Section 7) doesn't come as too much of a shock when you eventually get around to reading. it will certainly dispel some of the myths you are treasuring.

Actually they are right to an extent, if a pedestrian is already crossing then they have priority, pedestrians also have priority at zebra crossings, there's a lot of youtube videos of drivers ignoring this fact.

Exactly.

Torchie1 has neatly illustrated just how ignorant most users seem to be about this fact.

Indeed he has but a lot of pedestrians don't know that they have priority if they're already crossing, causing them to run and possibly trip or something when a vehicle comes along, if you have started to cross, and a vehicle pulls up and starts revving their engine, just keep walking at the same pace, must be embarrassing for drivers when people with no formal training on using the road knows more than the driver... Then again I have had driving lessons before.

You know, this is how I always *wish* I responded. But the truth is that if they don't slow down you're going to come off worse in the clash between mammal and tonne of powered metal.

The feeling of being in the right would be scant consolation...