Click the url, then click the left hand image, then click the symbol in the bottom l/h corner for full screen ~ www.flickr.com/photos/43576259@N04/?saved=1
typo corrected in header
Edited by Webmaster on 25/10/2009 at 17:21
|
|
What on earth was that driver thinking?
|
What on earth was that driver thinking?
What on earth was the Copper thinking more like!
those cars would have been blindsighted the the truck, and probably wouldnt have seen the bike until too late.
be damned if I would have moved out in front of the truck anyway, not knowing what it was carrying, I wouldnt have wanted to make it change direction as quickly as it did, in case of it losing its load.
IMO very bad call by the Copper.
|
|
|
You could blame the driver, but the police motorcyclist put himself at risk by sitting out in the carriageway. The driver had his view obscured by the truck till very late and would have had to swerve into lane 2 to avoid the collision.
|
I can't understand why the cop abandoned his bike. I would've thought the quickest way out for him would have been to ride out of the way.
Although hindsight is a perfect science and I wasn't there at the time.
|
...I would've thought the quickest way out for him would have been to ride out of the way...
Er, since there is no reverse gear on a bike, he would have ridden straight into the path of the vehicles that had managed to swerve to avoid him.
|
|
he should of picked his shattered leg up got his traffic bat out and side swiped that blind driver around the head,its not as if the car didnt have time to slow done/swerve is it (probably eating some cold ham at the time with jam on probably )
|
There was enough time for the black car in front of the lorry to move over. Then enough time for the yellow car after the lorry to slow down or move over. He/She was just not paying attention, though I consider the bikers actions a bit strange in the first place.
I hope he wasn't killed or too badly injured. That ambulance was a bit handy. And who happened to be filming at that moment. Its definately not a traffic or security camera.
|
|
|
What a terribly dangerous manoeuvre. It would be very hard for the yellow car to realise the bike was stationary, it would be like an optical illusion and the brain would not be able to comprehend such a absurd and unexpected view for at least a second or two.
I hope the guy was OKish, it could have been worse for him, he did seem to get hit at an angle which was not as severe as it could have been. :(
EDIT, here is the story...
tinyurl.com/yjmvd8q
Edited by Hamsafar on 25/10/2009 at 11:37
|
Crikey the English translation in your link is poor. Anyway, get the gist.
Having seen that picture of the lane joining the carriageway, it appears quite long. I would have parked the bike on the chevrons he initially stopped at, to show a presence to oncoming traffic, not block the lane. Then joined as a group with the main carriageway. There would have been enough time for the escorted ambulance and bikes to join the motorway safely IMO.
Edited by spood on 25/10/2009 at 11:49
|
|
|
|
|
>> What on earth was that driver thinking? What on earth was the Copper thinking more like! those cars would have been blindsighted the the truck and probably wouldnt have seen the bike until too late. be damned if I would have moved out in front of the truck anyway not knowing what it was carrying I wouldnt have wanted to make it change direction as quickly as it did in case of it losing its load. IMO very bad call by the Copper.
There was nothing in the second lane and he left plenty of room for the truck to move, the car behind the truck managed to move over.
It was quite some time after the truck moved and the Seat collided with the cop, also the seat did not even try to break, the cars behind him were on top of each other too
|
Sooooooooooo vulnerable on a motorbike! Having had another looksee - the yellow car did in fact try to avoid the bike, albeit far, far too late!!
Glad to hear he his recovering now.
IMHO the yellow car should have seen him in time - tragic :(
|
Having been at the scenes of a few accidents in my time (no not involved) and spoken to experienced traffic cops, they tell me that many drivers just don't look ahead and 'see' just in front of the bonnet....and they and the good old Wombles never take their eyes off approaching traffic...self prservation by experince i'd say.
I'd be surprised if one our traffic officers would have had such faith in other driver's awareness and straddled a fast moving road in such a way, also the bike being side on the blue lights wouldn't have been strobing so brightly towards the traffic.
|
This happens in the UK too
A couple of years ago the police was escorting a limousine I guess from Birmingham airport and the bike cop came across both lanes to stop the traffic
|
|
|
|
There was nothing in the second lane and he left plenty of room for the truck to move the car behind the truck managed to move over. It was quite some time after the truck moved and the Seat collided with the cop also the seat did not even try to break the cars behind him were on top of each other too
watch again...less than 2 seconds from the truck and 1st car (which swerved into the other lane, and was unseen behind the truck until the lane change) moving over to impact,and there was a car in the other lane which may have taken the yellow cars concentration for a second.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
Edited by Manatee on 25/10/2009 at 19:03
|
|
|
|
A curious situation.
It's likely that there was only one patient in the ambulance, although it could have been the Queen of Holland, we just don't know.
The police motorcyclist, although well-meaning and doing his duty, put his own life at risk and was lucky to survive this incident.
The ambulance with the remaining escort could have merged with the traffic with a loss of only seconds in its total journey time.
Heavy emergency vehicles such as the ambulance cannot achieve high speeds anyhow, especially if paramedics on-board are working on a patient, so merging into existing traffic flow would have prevented the possibility of serious accidents further down the road as vehicles started to brake heavily.
If I were in charge of Dutch police policy then I would consider that this manoeuvre for the life of the ambulance occupant actually put, potentially, a large number of other road user's lives at risk.
I don't want to defend the inattention of the driver of the yellow Seat but surely the Dutch police must realise that many drivers do not look beyond the end of their bonnet.
Do they not have an air ambulance service?
|
I read on another forum that there was an accident on the other carriageway, the ambulance was leaving the scene with a police escort, the other paramedics were able to jump over the barrier and attend to the injured officer. The car involved in the crash was possibly rubber-necking.
|
I cannot see why with the very ordinary traffic flows the ambulance could not have merged as ordinary traffic would.
So the m/cycle copper was being a bit "self important" in needlessely attempting to stop motorway traffic
HOWEVER
the silly sod in the yellow car should have his licence taken away for a very long time, he had OODLES of time & distance to brake/swop lanes
|
|
And if the yellow Seat had pulled up, what are chances he would have been rear ended in the next few seconds? Blocking a lane with a motorbike, especially mid junction, was practically suicidal. But no doubt the Seat driver will get the book thrown at him.
|
The lack of forward vision shown by the Seat driver is very well known to those that work on 'fast roads'. They are exceptionally dangerous places to be, especially when something outside of the norm happens; people get lulled into a false sense of security, enter the 'I always drive like this' zone and no doubt get bored or easily distracted, thus taking their mind off the game.
I'd agree with the comment about it being suicidal to park yourself on a bike of any description sideways in lane 1 of a m/way or dual carriageway.
|
|
It's a shocking piece of footage and I'm sorry for all concerned. Can't help thinking it should become an essential part of the traffic police motorway training course, however.
|
|
|
I'd agree with the comment about it being suicidal to park yourself on a bike of any description sideways in lane 1 of a m/way or dual carriageway.
When police bikes stop traffic in towns/cities to let important traffic pass - well that works. But not at motorway speeds.
If they felt they needed to do this, surely a police 4x4 should have done the blocking?
And I cannot see why they could not just merge in anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
typo corrected in header
perro merely used the American spelling ~ maneuver.
|
So he used the American spelling of a French word ;-)
Dave is correct in his spelling the French derived word in British English.
|
>>>perro merely used the American spelling ~ maneuver. <<<
At first I consulted my spellchecker (who was doing the ironing) and she actually said manoeuvre but it looked strange to me, so I checked it with ispell and it came up with maneuver :)
|
came up with maneuver :)
Definately.
Yours faithfully
Elmer Cletus L'escargot Jnr
|
(((Elmer Cletus L'escargot Jnr)))
I didn't know you had an Arkansas connection L'escargot?
|
|
|
|
