Traffic.... - Another A12 accident

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 14:05
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - oldroverboy.

This morning The A12 was closed southbound as a result of a pedestrian being in contact with a car. The pedestrian was (sadly) pronounced dead at the scene and a driver was arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence od either drink or drugs.

Now justice will undoubtedly take its course, but why in heavens name close the road for nearly 10 hours.

We turned around and went home and were not inconvenienced.

Is this yrt another case of closing a major road because "They can" ?

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 14:53
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - gordonbennet

Its standard practice ORB, M1 was shut for hours last week, apparently what i read a stolen car being chased in the small hours stopped on the motorway and someone tried to run across the carriageway and got themselves cleaned up, fortunately i was able to do some ducking and diving and avoided it at 4.30am, the road was still closed some 8 hours later so more ducking about to find a good route home.

Whilst these things might appear cut and dried to the man on the Clapham omnibus, the old bill have to cover all bases in case of foul play and determining where/who to point the finger at, mindful ever that they are being watched and monitored more than us, you can see how dotting every i and crossing every T so it doesn't come back and bite them on the behind years hence takes so long, they miss anything and that finger comes back to point at them.

As an aside it's amazing how few lorry drivers took sensible diversions of their own choice and instead followed the official diversion which would add up to three hours to their journey, good job for me cos if they used a map and common sense instead of relying on satnav the left field alternatives would have been jammed up too.

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 14:53
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - Chris M

If I were a relative of the pedestrian I'd want the incident fully investigated and charges brought if there was a case to answer. The investigaters need to do a thorough job otherwise a clever lawyer will get the accused off on a technicality.

Whether it takes 10 hours to do a thorough job......?

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 15:01
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - jc2

It's interesting that accident investigators on the continent are able to run or even keep a lane open.

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 18:16
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - Galaxy

Because the road is classed as a "Crime Scene", that's why.

It took me five hours to get to work a couple of years ago because some "Illegal", who I understand was about to be deported, had chosen to jump off a footbridge on the A13 in Beckton at about 6.00am in the morning and the police decided to close the road.

How people were supposed to get to work that morning, along what must be one of the busiest commuter roads in the country, wasn't even considered!

It was the worst journey to work I'd ever had, and certainly one which strongly influenced me to take early retirement a year or two afterwards. I arrived at 1.00pm in the afternoon, whereas I should have been there before 9.00am.

Did closing the road for five hours bring the poor chap back to life? No, of course it didn't!

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 19:35
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - Ethan Edwards

Agreed. I commute up and down the A12 during the week and it's a pita sometimes. In this case wtf was a pedestrian doing on the A12? That's like going for a stroll along the main Heathrow runway. My opinion is the pedestrian was really a suicide. Does that warrant a eight hour closure? I do not believe it does. If it's a crime scene is there a realistic prospect of arresting and convicting anyone If not then it's just kojak doing pointless busy work. If they want to waste their time let them choose another road to do it on.

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 19:51
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - gordonbennet

The problem is the probable suicide might really be the demoralised mentally and physically beaten victim who for the final nasty turn gets pushed onto a dark busy road by their tormentor.

Fantasy, wild imagination? probably, but the old bill don't know the severely injured or dead victim from a bar of soap, so they must extinguish all possibilities, i have no doubt if they swept up in 20 minutes flat and wrote suicide in the notebook without providing chapter and verse the coroner would be all over them for dereliction of duty.

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 20:27
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - nortones2

Not a road I know, but it's not a M-way, and there are at least in parts, (google maps) footways alongside, and no doubt minor crossings and footpaths. SFAIK all roads are open to traffic, except where prohibited. I don't quite know how, in the absence of facts, EE has decided the pedestrian is at fault. Apart from an unjust prejudice against pedestrians who just might need to get from A to B like other users.

Edited by nortones2 on 13/12/2015 at 20:28

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 20:35
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - Wackyracer

In this case wtf was a pedestrian doing on the A12? That's like going for a stroll along the main Heathrow runway.

People often walk on the A12 or should I say on the pavement/cycle track. Nothing unusual or illegal as it's still only an 'A' road, albeit a dangerous road.

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 22:23
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - Ethan Edwards

The part ORB and myself refer to is a 4 lane dual carriageway. There are no meandering crossings or wisteria covered bridleways. No sleepy villages. It has the charm and grace of well nothing. No picturesque vista's. It's concrete 1970s writ large. If you like that for your casual strolling then frankly your weird.

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Sun 13 Dec 2015 23:25
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - Wackyracer

I doubt it was casual strolling at 1:45am this time of year, most likely a drunk trying to get home. As no post here had actually mentioned the location apart from it being the southbound carriageway I didn't know the location.

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Mon 14 Dec 2015 11:42
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - jc2

The A12 only becomes a meandering country lane well past Ipswich.There is talk now of increasing the two lane parts to three lane but no mention of the years of single lane working whilst it's widened.

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Mon 14 Dec 2015 11:57
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - Wackyracer

Like you say jc2, All of it is 2 lane dual carriageway from Romford to a good way past Colchester but, I often see people walking along it around the area of the old 8ball diner to where the turn off is for Silver End.

Many years ago I was parked up in a layby on the A12 when 2 young girls knocked on the door of my truck and asked if I had a phone they could use. I have no idea how they got there but, they walked off in the direction for London.

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Mon 14 Dec 2015 12:01
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - jc2

I have seen accident sites on major roads where the traffic speeds up to get past the site before the police close the road.I was once stuck on the A12 on a Saturday afternoon for about two hours-unfortuneately just pass a sliproad-there were brides missing their weddings etc.When the traffic did eventually move,I expected to see the remains of a horrific accident-no,three car nose/tail.In another incident close to whereI live,the A12 was closed due to a diesel spillage most of the day whilst contractors were brought in to clear it.When they hadn't turned up by the evening rush hour(truck broke down west of London),the police reluctantly re-opened it-result,string of accidents?-no,not one.

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Mon 14 Dec 2015 12:56
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - pd

There are pedestriian paths on quite a few parts of the A12 along with bus stops and cycleways. All on a 70mph very bust 4 or 6 lane road.

This particular poor chap seems to have been walking on the A12 rather than beside it as the Police apparently had calls about him before he got run over.

The part between Witham and Hatfield Peverel is 6 lane with the inner lane peeling off into Hatfield Peverel then a bit of 4 lane for about 0.5 miles then 6 lane again.

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Mon 14 Dec 2015 13:02
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - corax

. It has the charm and grace of well nothing. No picturesque vista's.

Oh I don't know Ethan. There are some pleasant fields to gaze at while you sit there with the engine turned off and motorbikes whizzing past. I really envy them in those situations.

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Mon 14 Dec 2015 16:14
Traffic.... - Another A12 accident - hillman

"People often walk on the A12 or should I say on the pavement/cycle track. Nothing unusual or illegal as it's still only an 'A' road, albeit a dangerous road." Wackyracer

There are no 'dangerous' roads, only dangerous people. A number of years ago, before the police closed roads completely, I was diving in the opposite direction on the motorway past an accident site. The traffic had stopped and a young driver hadn't noticed because he was so intent on ogling the accident - result, a rear end shunt and hundreds of very cross drivers. The police have to take 'difficult' people into account.

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