A14 crash today

[Paul H]

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/stowmarket-haughley-woolpit-a14-collision-1-6034018?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social_Icon&utm_campaign=in_article_social_icons

Paul

[Bordfunker]

I hope they got out OK and weren’t seriously hurt.

Any idea if they are a TSSC member?

Karl

[Pete Lewis]

Says minor injuries .. says a lot , but shows where modern  rollover protects  better these days, the front end has had a serious whack

To escape with minor injuries is someone's lucky day ,   unlucky for the  Herald 

I find the A14 a most uncomfortable route   endless accidents  a place to avoid

Is it that small classic are thought to be slow, being small  cant work , think C1 or Smart  etc,  but would daylight running lights aid observation.

Pete

[Bordfunker]

I do about 500 miles a week in my C1 on the M40/25, and it’s well able to keep up with traffic, however to your point Pete, being small I find a lot of drivers think that they can intimidate you, or just under estimate your speed and pull out in front of you at junctions or on the motorway.

Overall the standards of driving out there are pretty poor, with many drivers far too focused on their phones, or simply lacking awareness of their surroundings, like the woman yesterday who came round a bend on the A1237 outside York on my side of the road, thinking it was a dual carriageway!

Karl

[thescrapman]

I don't recognise the car, but was probably out and about on the Ipswich to Felixstowe run.

I too have noticed that lots of other road users assume an old car is a slow car, Perhaps the lack of older cars on the road means people are either forgetting, or just not encountering any to learn.

[68vitesse]

Glad passengers are OK but accidents happen, a few years ago this happened to me, less than 30MPH and in the city, driver coming towards me decided to turn right.

These days I give way to everyone and fitted a servo, brakes where fine just wanted to reduce pedal force to make them easier.

Regards

Paul.

 

 

[JohnD]

As some may have noticed, I'm an advocate for Roll Over Protection (ROPs) on open versions of Triumphs, and I'm concerned that the flimsy roof structure is inadequate in saloons.  In this case, we can see that the right rear C-post has collapsed, and from the angle of the car on the road, so have the B and A-posts on that side.    All the windows, except possibly the right rear and quarter light have gone.   No information about speed or circumstamces, but that is severe distortion of the roof and wndscreen surround.  Nearly reduced to deck level all around.

Minor injuries only are reported for the occupants, but in view of the above, if I were they, I would go out and buy a Lottery ticket.   They are very lucky.

  We don't know how often inversion incidents occur, as - extraordinarily - the Dept.of Transport does not include that datum in the information it collect for road statistics.      But they agree that inversion  adds risk, and I hope they will note such cases in future.    

John

[Anglefire]

Driving standards in the uk are appalling. I do a lot of driving - I’ve had my new modern a month today and have done nearly 2000miles - would have been more had I not stopped away from home last week (and this week coming) 

i also went to Germany last weekend - not my car but a hired one (e class merc as it happens) and driving on the autobahns was a much more pleasant experience compared to over here. Even doing the speeds that they tend to do - cruise at 115mph with a peak of 130 and everything felt ok (yes I know anything can go tits up very fast at those speeds ) and was pretty relaxing - especially compared to the m25 and m40 on the return leg where 70 felt dodgy 

 

[mark powell]

Makes me glad that I have installed a twin tube roll over bar on the pick up...  The windscreen surround remains unprotected however...

[JohnD]

Anglefire,

Have you never watched any of those Russian dashcam videos?    Everyone there seems to be on autopilot, and so many involve what the Air Crash Investigators call "Controlled flight into ground", in other words, no evading or correcting action whatsoever.    Drink?  Drugs?   Russian fatalism?      Similar dashcam collections from western Europe (yes, I have a wasted life!) show "Tut! Tut!" moments at worst.

Mark,

There is a useful, and ?reassuring? diagram in the MSA Yearbook, SEction K, Safety.     It shows that a single hoop is useful in the abscence of a windscreen, as long as your head doesn't lie above the line!

John

[68vitesse]

Once had a roll bar for the Vitesse convertible never fitted it as being over six foot  it restricted leg room, fatalism or stupidity, preferred comfort over survivability.

Have been asked if I would ever sell the car, my answer we go together or I go first.

Regards

Paul

[Qu1ckn1ck]

Not sure the unbraced roll bar in my Westfield would have afforded much protection but it inspired confidence in the passenger     

 

[Anglefire]

31 minutes ago, JohnD said:

Anglefire,

Have you never watched any of those Russian dashcam videos?    Everyone there seems to be on autopilot, and so many involve what the Air Crash Investigators call "Controlled flight into ground", in other words, no evading or correcting action whatsoever.    Drink?  Drugs?   Russian fatalism?      Similar dashcam collections from western Europe (yes, I have a wasted life!) show "Tut! Tut!" moments at worst.

John, yes I have - they are mad. 

And it will only get worse as the car takes over more and more of the driving!

Have you seen Arthur Tussik? Repairing said smashed up cars? 

Skills are amazing - just not sure I'd want to trust the car again!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJDyqaoyVtWKhCiTPZVOoyA

[68vitesse]

Wish I had a tenth of his skill.

Regards

Paul

 

[mark powell]

John,

 I suspect that the single hoop survival chances would be dependant on a full harness... My lap and diagonal, not so good.

[JohnD]

Indeed!  What he is "repairing" are crumple zones.  he pulls'em  straight, so that they can bend even more easily, absorbing much less energy next time, injuring the occupants more.   But do they care?  It's a Mercedes, comrade!  Na zdorovye!

John

[ShaunW]

Journalistic standards leave a lot to be desired these days too, they really shouldn't have published that poor persons registration number. 

I see comments regarding whether old cars are too slow, but I see a lot of elderly people driving too slow regardless of the age of their car. 

[JohnD]

2 minutes ago, mark powell said:

John,

 I suspect that the single hoop survival chances would be dependant on a full harness... My lap and diagonal, not so good.

I think the opposite!    A six or five point will hold you upright - you might have a chance to lean sidewasys and reduce your height in a L&D.

J.

[JohnD]

Shaun,

we often see obscured numbers, but all that can be found about it is on the DVLA site and that's what it is (Herald), date first registered and is it licenced.     What's the scamming value of that?

[ShaunW]

Getting personal info from a reg isn't too hard if you have the right connections. And it's not just a matter of scamming, it's just being respectful. Perhaps this being a distinctive car it's slightly different but it's about not unduly worrying people or family who might know your reg. 

.. I'd have thought a full harness would hold you upright under the hoop which is a good thing, certainly better than flopping around with an l&d I'd have thought. 

[NonMember]

My brother once rolled a Mk2 Spitfire. No roll cage or hoop, even had the roof down. The windscreen frame just folded. He got out with only a sprained wrist, having realised what was happening and pulled himself across with the passenger grab handle so his body was "below" the door line. As John says, a five point harness would have prevented that.

[Colin Lindsay]

8 hours ago, Anglefire said:

Driving standards in the uk are appalling.

Three times today returning from a show I met drivers head on, on my side of the road, and they had to swerve at the last minute. I was in a huge white Freelander, too.

 

[ShaunW]

17 hours ago, NonMember said:

My brother once rolled a Mk2 Spitfire. No roll cage or hoop,........ As John says, a five point harness would have prevented that.

That's why you should NEVER have a 5point harness without an appropriate cage or hoop. But if you do have a hoop etc then a 5point is the correct restraint to prevent you from ending up half out of the window. Mixing and matching safety systems isn't a good idea. The two items go together. 

[Waynebaby]

A friend of mine who had a Capri managed to clip the nearside verge on a county lane, resulting in a slow-motion roll of the car onto the drivers side. He thought that if he put his arm out of the window and pushed against the road he could prevent the car going onto its roof. He was sadly mistaken and it didn't end well - I can't now remember how many fractures his arm ended up with.  Ouch.

[ShaunW]

The drummer Rick Allen from Def Leppard lost his arm like that rolling a Corvette C4 in 1984 and continued to play in the band.