The two-second rule: If you're on a motorway and the vehicle in front of you passes under a bridge etc, count two seconds. If your vehicle passes that point before you're finished counting, then you're too close to the vehicle in front of you.
When I drove for UPS in their package delivery truck the rule was 4-6 seconds following distance for under I think it was 50mph and 6-8 seconds over. And more if conditions were not good (rain, ice etc)
I was living in Taunton at the time and I still remember seeing an abnormal amount of emergency services rushing somewhere and we spoke about it, like it was clear something big had happened. But the part that lives with me to this day is the first time I drove the stretch of the M5 after it was relayed. The silence of brand new tarmac over the normal drone of driving gave me chills. Like the road gave everyone who went by a moment of silence for those who lost their lives that day.
Tailgating is NOT the main cause at all Most accidents are caused by driving too fast. Not to be confused with speeding (though this is sometimes a factor), it means making manoeuvres without slowing down to a safe speed, such as taking a bend in the road or changing lanes. Dangerous weather conditions such as ice, hail and snow are also a common cause.
@@sarahblackburn1 This is just one of many links that confirms my comment. www.smmt.co.uk/2019/05/tailgating-is-the-number-one-cause-of-accidents-says-vw-commercial-vehicles-survey/
I dont know why the CZcams algorithm has recommended this to me 10 yrs later, I hope the survivors are all doing ok, and may the victims rest in peace.
I always remember these 3 things when driving : 1) Always leave at LEAST 6 car space in front of you (2 sec) 2). Never drive in a trucks blind spots even to overtake 3). Remember you are driving for 5 ppl... (yourself, front, back and sides) They have served me well for 40 years...
Driving at 70mph is 32mtrs per second. Assuming an average car is 5mtrs in length that would be leaving 6 car lengths in 1 second and that is being generous. You are way to close leaving 6 car lengths, it should be at least double that.
@@billyporter1389 If you notice I said at LEAST 6 cars in length obviously you adjust your driving speed/distance according to conditions/surroundings....that's where experience comes in .....
Apparently it was a very small, dense smog cloud from fireworks so they probably when from good visibility to 0 almost instantly when they entered the cloud. They didn't have any time at all to keep their distance and even if they could slowing down would have caused an accident anyway.
Yeah, that's true.. this was a one off...if you can't SEE the car in front, you don;t have a point of reference from which to count. But it's the old rule of thumb.. only go as fast as you need to so that in the event of something appearing in front of you, you can stop safely... this works best when ALL in a line of traffic adhere to that rule... it only takes one numpty....
Motorways are scary places when something goes wrong. Horrible tragedy what happened here 6 years ago, never nice to hear that 7 lifes were taken unnecessarily. People need to start treating roads and road users with respect.
you know whos fault is that ? I can tell You exactly whos fault is that if we talking in the matter of commercial vehicles drivers.Its the managers who terrorise drivers with YOU MUST DELIVER YOU MUST YOU MUST YOU MUST ! Thats when drivers having farely good salary crossing boundries without knowing they do that.Sorry to say that , you might not agree but thats the true (sure not every company do that) .They push all responsibility on drivers.Imagine you come to work on a morning let say 5 am which they tell you to come at that time and you have to wait for lorry to be loaded-you ask when...they tell you when its be loaded we let you know... your day as driver is ruined in few words of the manager...and that goes all day long with the driver.I know...driver should be rested and I am not saying this was the lorry driver fault or not...I am just saying as a lorry driver (DO NOT PROTECT LORRY DRIVER) If companies would treat drivers with respect many accidents in UK would have been avoided. Have many driver friends and some of them are foreigners as myself and some of them British born...all of them have similar opinion about most places they used to work or work currently.
@@ukaszjurys2475 absolutely, the pressure put on truck drivers is still unsafe, trucks can crush cars so its important that drivers don't 'cut corners' to deliver on time. more should be done
I am in the U.S...it needs to be taken seriously here...we need more videos from the perspective of witnesses, survivors and family of those who were killed. I see people messing with their phones constantly and it makes me angry, it is so selfish. I survived being run over while walking (by a distracted driver running the light), all she got was a ticket. While I was in the hospital, shhe caused another wreck. (this is in Texas). My injuries have healed,(besides brain damages) but it changes you forever.
This stretch of road is now 50 mph,for at least 15 miles. We were stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes, there was a group of young lads panic on their faces as I think they were running out of petrol. Vauxhall cars were having recalls at the time, and a poor young lads car went up in flames on one of the slip roads. 5:55 What!!?? What a stupid question to ask! No the crash had nothing to do with the fuel tanks, rewind to drivers being distracted. It's how we drive on the roads that causes accidents. What an idiot.
Yeah I remember that section where its 50 mph. I don't know if it 50 mph rule is still on that section of the motorway since I haven't been on the M5 in about a year because of this coronavirus
I live near Bridgwater and often use this motorway. What a horrific accident - Even for those who survived this would haunt them for many years to come.
I always use a three second gap. If you think two seconds is enough, try slamming on your brakes (when it is safe to do so) in a ABS car and tell me you wouldn't get hit from behind if a car was two seconds behind you.
That's only if the vehicle in front comes to a sudden stop like hitting a brick wall. That doesn't happen. How would you join a busy motorway if everybody was to keep a 3 second gap? You would have to wait for a gap of more than 6 seconds for you to fit in between two vehicles.
I see more and more drivers looking at there phone on the motorway nowadays even truck drivers all it takes is a split second for something like this to happen
I remember this happening and it stayed with me for a long time.. People drive too close to the vehicle infont. As the man said thankfully these incidents are rare, perhaps complacency comes into play in these instances and when they do happen they are etched into our memories for a long while after.
If you want a proper in depth analysis into a road accident, type "Durham Constabulary look what you've done" into CZcams. It's 20 minutes long and recommended viewing for every driver.
I drive that way quiet often these days and had no idea this happened there. from now on whenever i go through that section of road i'll spare a thought for the people that died
I was coming past on the other side, about half an hour before, and noticed the foggy conditions then! I lived in Taunton, and this was news for a long time, with so-called firework display organiser getting off. I use this motorway quite frequently, and always watch for idiots, or road rage, which I have had on this stretch!
In fog and rain slow down and keep your distance , and once you’ve slowed down then slow down again and keep more distance , then do it all again until you feel like you are going too slow. Then you are halfway towards going the right speed.
What a tragedy! So many accidents like this are caused by people overdriving the road conditions. I used to live in Florida where fog is very common at dawn and dusk, sadly these accidents with 30 or 40 vehicles involved and its almost always caused by people driving too fast. If you can see 50 feet in front of you, it is insane to drive 65 mph.
This was caused by smoke from a nearby bonfire night fireworks display drifting over the motorway. I believe the organisers of the display were included in the investigation.
***** That was the original theory, but it was eventually discounted as contributing to the incident. The final conclusion was - as usual - drivers thinking they had X-ray vision and driving well beyond the safe speed for the conditions. To be fair the fog was patchy with clear areas and more dense ones, but many drivers failed to take it into account. Many years ago I was tootling down the M1 in a Moggy Thou and ran headlong into a single patch of *really* thick fog without any warning. All I could do was gently touch my brake pedal (no rear fog lights) to indicate my presence and allow friction to slow me down to a more reasonable speed. By the time I was down to 40 I was in clear air again, but I was shi**ing bricks for a while!
The police tried to stitch up the organiser of the nearby fireworks display don't forget, dragged on for a couple of years before the poor bloke's charges were dropped..
@@Matt-Durham He still runs a fireworks display firm. His insurance company carried out tests and it was proved that the smoke from the display was not the main factor of the accident on the night. I know the chap (I'm in the fireworks industry myself) and the police were determined to hold him responsible.
@@richardpengley6870 That sounds about right, the police never can hold their hands up and say sorry we got it wrong unless the public and media put heavy pressure on them. Thanks for replying back to me, I appreciate your help and info.
The blame game taken too far. Fog happens. It's nature. It's dangerous. Slow down, keep your distance. When I was a lorry driver, the number of times people have cut in front of me to leave at an exit or not left any distance after overtaking me. Do the know what 40 odd tonnes would do to their vehicles?
I was in the M25 pile up near Godstone Surrey in all the fog , coming down the hill in thick as guts fog driving my loaded 9 car car transporter I was cautiously and slowly approaching the junction expecting the worse as often vehicles queued to get off there , people were still flying past me in cars in the outside lane . All of a sudden I saw the shadow of a stationary trailer in front of me so I pulled up and stopped 10 foot behind him handbrake on then it started . Thud , thud , thud , we all quickly got out ran up the side bank as listened up there from the ensuing carnage taking place . There was nothing we could do at all , it would have been suicide to try and stand in fog that thick in the dark to try and warn anyone . There were far more killed in that incident than this one .
Alan Legg mate accidents happen very easily, someone could easily hit the breaks by accident (Learner drivers driving manual vehicles) and cause a chain reaction that causes huge pileups
Listen to the police officer, incidents they are called, somebody or something causes things called accidents when it is a fact that each so called accident is caused by an error by a person, Incident, collision, bad judgement or whatever the classification is now that of an incident or a collision.
This incident is regarding magnitude & level of carnage and area equal more to a railway or avaition disaster than a normal road traffic collision.& because of this it should be treated & investigated by the authorities in the same way as a railway or avaition disaster as WHY are road traffic collisions not taken as seriously by the authorities as railway or avaition disasters?
Thankfully I was in school at the time of the crash and one of the staff said to me that her dog was in the crash and sadly died and now in 2018 I still remember the crash and when ever I go past that spot I always take a moment to remember those who died and lost their loved ones
@@Isafell2001 think about it. Where would a dog most likely be inside of a car? The rear or boot most likely. The poor animal most likely was crushed during a rear impact of said vehicle...!!
Howcome this motorway doesn't have adaptable speed limit signs? If it did, then the system would detect the fog and water, then adjust the speed limit to a safe speed, such as 15 MPH or whatever is necessary to prevent accidents. There should have been no surface water, as the motorway surface should have grooved water channels to take water off the surface.
Trouble is just because your adhering to the speed limit dosn't mean the car behind you is. Most people ignore the speed limit at the best of times and some will ignore warning speed reductions completely . When I drive I stick to the speed limit. I have a digital display and I know exactly how fast I'm going but 9 times out of 10 I've got an idiot behind me who's tailgating to try to make me go faster.
@@lukem4580 You think it is ok to drive over that speed when you can't see 50 yards in front of you? You're the kind of driver which will cause these accidents
@@shhmule I think that 30/40 MPH is probably about right considering the immense braking distance of most modern vehicles. Not to mention the safety that modern cars provide. I guarantee that there wouldn’t be any fatalities or injuries if people kept at 30-40 in fog.
Looks like it might of been fog seeing that last car tucked up under the back of the truck. No place to pull over and you will always have someone going slow in fear of hitting someone and someone driving faster in fear of someone hitting them. This is where computers will definitely take over someday and save lives.
I remember this was the bad one caused by smoke drifting across the motorway from a nearby firework display? (according to media reports at the time) Horrific sight for first responders and all colleagues and other motorists involved.
I know the chap who ran the fireworks firm who the police tried to blame for the accident (he's still running his firm to this day). His insurance company got behind him, carried out lots of tests and proved that the smoke from the display was not the causing factor of the accident. The smoke from the display did not cause this accident and they dropped his charges.
I don't believe it was due to smoke. You cannot blame the conditions. You drive to a speed that suits those conditions whether it be fog, rain, snow, or smoke etc. You slow down, keep a safe distance.
@@Seanmcdhuibhne It happened so suddenly because the wind changed direction in a heartbeat, the smoke then drifted over the M5. As, it was not the weather there were no reports or warnings in time and drivers doing exactly what you described , which is the correct thing to do. Were the reason the accident occurred as those vehicles behind them did not slow down enough or slowed down too late and hit the slowing or stationary vehicles. Are you nineteen or sixteen by any chance?
This was eventually put to fault of the fireworks. The smoke went out into the road, leading to the rule now of no fireworks near roads. My dad was there
this is 1 of the reasons i have not used a motorway for the past 5 yrs. my journey make take longer, but it is also safer, i still get tail gaters on normal roads but i just slow down, it pisses them off, But then again, it pisses me off them doing it. And until these idiots learn to STOP tail gating, STOP drink driving, STOP using mobiles whilst driving. then Deaths on roads will never STOP, bad weather happens everywhere, carefull driving, needed in all weathers, bad or good
Nothing has changed regarding the 2 second rule. I find that because drivers fill my two second gap I find I am down to fifty or forty frequently. My journeys need a huge amount of extra time to allow for 'other' drivers inconsiderateness.
It's been a bad few days for M5 and M6 motorways. Learn to drive people or get the train. Witnessed to many idiots taking risks travelling home on Friday.
18 wheelers need their own lanes. Greedy corporations can definitely afford to pay it but chose to risk the lives of civilians to get their product converted to cash.
I was just behind this when it happened, and only because of traffic at the junction. I consider myself lucky just by timing. RIP to all involved and love to their family’s.
One of the greatest issues today is people on phones and depending on adaptive cruise control and self steer which many newer cars today have, this is a huge mistake because adaptive cruise control can not adapt quick enough if the car in front breaks hard, adaptive cruise can't see beyond the car in front. Most people get fixated on the car in front and do not read the road ahead enough and others have just normal cruise control and go brain dead and the car can't even try slow down. One thing for sure, mobile phones and these new touch screen infotainment was the worst thing every to enter cars.
I always had an idea this might have been caused by someone on the slip road trying to push in to the traffic causing people to try and take avoiding action . 😢
William pope the Club and Organizer was all cleared, if your going to post try and get your facts rights. The Hgv`s was moving to close. 1st vehicle slowed coming into the Fog (not smoke for display which had finished 15mins before) 2nd vehicle was 2.6 sec behind and he killed his m8.
3:47 "it was dark..," 0:21 'accident occurred at approx 8:25pm ..8:30 pm (2 August) how was it 'dark' at that time? SUNSET in UK 2 August is approx 8:43pm , and that obviously is well before anyone would say that it's 'dark' outside.
It is absolutely insane to believe that this event occurred in August. Look at the trees!!! It's clearly late September since the trees are well on the way towards autumn. Never in a million years do leaves turn that colour in August.
This stretch of motorway is so deadly, I drive it every day and there's not a day that goes by when there isn't an accident. The worst part of it has zero lighting for miles at night you can't see 3 feet infront of your cab and its nearly always foggy because of the terrain down here and the weather can change very fast one second clear the next you'll hit a dip in the road and be plunged into thick fog. Very scary if your not experienced or a local that travels this motorway frequently and shown here even professional drivers can be caught off guard and pay with their lives. I 100% believe the fireworks did cause this combined with the fog, not because of distraction but when you mix fireworks with fog the smoke from fireworks mixes with fog creating an impenetrable veil. I think people just slowed down to a crawl because they couldn't see Jack sh*t and the people in the lorry are kind of used to it so they didn't slow down and this is the result. It's disgusting that the event organiser basically got away with this.
English Grammar error at 4:49 "...specialist collisions unit who will....". A "unit" is manned by humans, but is, itself, NOT human, therefore the use of "who" in reference to it, is incorrect. That should have been "which" or "that". "Who" is reserved, in English Grammar, solely for humans.
I often wonder with everyone carrying cell phones as well as having dash and rear cams in their vehicles, if these people end up causing more accidents or worsening the one already there. It seems everyone wants to be the first to get the horrific pictures on the off-chance some news agency is willing to pay for said pictures. I've read often enough that the pictures have helped with investigations and that's a very good thing but it still worries me. I'm not sure what the best answer would be.
Cell phones are a risk, but dashcams are passive devices and require *zero* driver input to operate. If you have a dashcam then you don't need to whip your cell phone out because your car has/is recording the entire time for you. I have a Viofo in both my cars and its so nice that all I have to do is drive the car and worry about pulling the footage later. A 128GB card gives me 2 week's worth of recording time, so there's no worry nor rush about losing data. I even have a GoPro set up for my motorbike that passively runs every time I go for a ride. Passive > Active.
I remember being on the other side when this happened and was freaked out hard in my bmw I was in and after it I got a Vauxhall for my son and a bmw for my son this year and whenever we drive past this I remember this
Modern cars have adaptive cruise control. Use it! Many are radar operated. Will keep a safe gap between you and the car in front. Or just use your brain!
A motorway can be deceptive to people. Never take them for granted. I think also we as people take cars for granted. They are not toys. This is not a game. Anyone could have been involved. Some people seem to want to learn the hard way. Sorry for this sermon but I get upset. I think of the people involved. The families too.
The two-second rule: If you're on a motorway and the vehicle in front of you passes under a bridge etc, count two seconds. If your vehicle passes that point before you're finished counting, then you're too close to the vehicle in front of you.
Ok, that is more risk to take. 3 seconds here and four if rainy.
When I drove for UPS in their package delivery truck the rule was 4-6 seconds following distance for under I think it was 50mph and 6-8 seconds over. And more if conditions were not good (rain, ice etc)
Way more than that. I learned 3 seconds minimum then 4 seconds at 40mph, 5 at 50 and so on
@@Bearssuperfan 0.2km is far more than necessary!
Only a fool breaks the two second rule.
rest in peace to those who passed away in this and i hope any survivors are okay
I was living in Taunton at the time and I still remember seeing an abnormal amount of emergency services rushing somewhere and we spoke about it, like it was clear something big had happened.
But the part that lives with me to this day is the first time I drove the stretch of the M5 after it was relayed. The silence of brand new tarmac over the normal drone of driving gave me chills. Like the road gave everyone who went by a moment of silence for those who lost their lives that day.
I never have sympathy for drunk drivers, dangerous or careless drivers, that includes tailgaters. Tailgating is the main cause of motorway collisions.
Slow? Get out of speeding lane. Dont tailgate the moron. Blind them with your high beams.
Nineteen Sixteen - arguments
Drop your ciggerette mobile fone
It could be alot of reasons to have cauzed the accidents
@@healthandsocial5223 They would both come under driving without due care and attention which is a subsetion of careless driving.
Tailgating is NOT the main cause at all
Most accidents are caused by driving too fast. Not to be confused with speeding (though this is sometimes a factor), it means making manoeuvres without slowing down to a safe speed, such as taking a bend in the road or changing lanes. Dangerous weather conditions such as ice, hail and snow are also a common cause.
@@sarahblackburn1 This is just one of many links that confirms my comment. www.smmt.co.uk/2019/05/tailgating-is-the-number-one-cause-of-accidents-says-vw-commercial-vehicles-survey/
11 years later and still very sad R.I.P :(
I dont know why the CZcams algorithm has recommended this to me 10 yrs later, I hope the survivors are all doing ok, and may the victims rest in peace.
I've just passed my HGV test. Google knows my every move. That's why it was in my feed today.
I always remember these 3 things when driving :
1) Always leave at LEAST 6 car space in front of you (2 sec)
2). Never drive in a trucks blind spots even to overtake
3). Remember you are driving for 5 ppl... (yourself, front, back and sides)
They have served me well for 40 years...
Driving at 70mph is 32mtrs per second. Assuming an average car is 5mtrs in length that would be leaving 6 car lengths in 1 second and that is being generous. You are way to close leaving 6 car lengths, it should be at least double that.
@@billyporter1389 If you notice I said at LEAST 6 cars in length obviously you adjust your driving speed/distance according to conditions/surroundings....that's where experience comes in .....
I've never heard of 'youre driving for 5' before, I'll make sure to remember this, thank you 🙏
@@Rachael-fg8le 👍 Be safe...
It's all good saying that but all it takes is one tw*t to swerve a few lanes and boom you have a pile up or a death
Only a fool breaks the two-second rule.
Double it and add 1 for average motorway speed.
Apparently it was a very small, dense smog cloud from fireworks so they probably when from good visibility to 0 almost instantly when they entered the cloud. They didn't have any time at all to keep their distance and even if they could slowing down would have caused an accident anyway.
Yeah, that's true.. this was a one off...if you can't SEE the car in front, you don;t have a point of reference from which to count.
But it's the old rule of thumb.. only go as fast as you need to so that in the event of something appearing in front of you, you can stop safely... this works best when ALL in a line of traffic adhere to that rule... it only takes one numpty....
U are a sheep
Or like how I learnt it; only a c*nt hits the bloke infront
Motorways are scary places when something goes wrong. Horrible tragedy what happened here 6 years ago, never nice to hear that 7 lifes were taken unnecessarily. People need to start treating roads and road users with respect.
you know whos fault is that ? I can tell You exactly whos fault is that if we talking in the matter of commercial vehicles drivers.Its the managers who terrorise drivers with YOU MUST DELIVER YOU MUST YOU MUST YOU MUST ! Thats when drivers having farely good salary crossing boundries without knowing they do that.Sorry to say that , you might not agree but thats the true (sure not every company do that) .They push all responsibility on drivers.Imagine you come to work on a morning let say 5 am which they tell you to come at that time and you have to wait for lorry to be loaded-you ask when...they tell you when its be loaded we let you know... your day as driver is ruined in few words of the manager...and that goes all day long with the driver.I know...driver should be rested and I am not saying this was the lorry driver fault or not...I am just saying as a lorry driver (DO NOT PROTECT LORRY DRIVER) If companies would treat drivers with respect many accidents in UK would have been avoided. Have many driver friends and some of them are foreigners as myself and some of them British born...all of them have similar opinion about most places they used to work or work currently.
@@ukaszjurys2475 absolutely, the pressure put on truck drivers is still unsafe, trucks can crush cars so its important that drivers don't 'cut corners' to deliver on time. more should be done
I am in the U.S...it needs to be taken seriously here...we need more videos from the perspective of witnesses, survivors and family of those who were killed. I see people messing with their phones constantly and it makes me angry, it is so selfish.
I survived being run over while walking (by a distracted driver running the light), all she got was a ticket. While I was in the hospital, shhe caused another wreck. (this is in Texas). My injuries have healed,(besides brain damages) but it changes you forever.
It's now 2022. Still SO sad. RIP.
I remember reading about this when it happened, I can't believe it's been almost 12 years already. May the victims RIP
Remember comeing back from holiday as a kid seeing a crash like this 20 years later what I seen has stayed with me for life
This stretch of road is now 50 mph,for at least 15 miles. We were stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes, there was a group of young lads panic on their faces as I think they were running out of petrol. Vauxhall cars were having recalls at the time, and a poor young lads car went up in flames on one of the slip roads.
5:55 What!!?? What a stupid question to ask! No the crash had nothing to do with the fuel tanks, rewind to drivers being distracted. It's how we drive on the roads that causes accidents. What an idiot.
Baby Blue Eyes Eyes wide open is he ok???
Yeah I remember that section where its 50 mph. I don't know if it 50 mph rule is still on that section of the motorway since I haven't been on the M5 in about a year because of this coronavirus
@@Appleduck2007 Its still in effect but with narrow lanes because of road works
This is just like the 1984 pile up in fog on the M25 near Godstone Kent Surrey boarder. Many burnt alive in their trucks and cars.
Not the formal 'in the record books' but 'as long as anyone can remember'
That really is horrific. I saw some of the doors open on some of the burnt cars, i hope those people got away
I live near Bridgwater and often use this motorway.
What a horrific accident - Even for those who survived this would haunt them for many years to come.
I always use a three second gap. If you think two seconds is enough, try slamming on your brakes (when it is safe to do so) in a ABS car and tell me you wouldn't get hit from behind if a car was two seconds behind you.
But you need the car behind you to adhere to that 3 second rule too...or your gap in front becomes irrelevant. 🤷♂️
@@stuartdove8814 if you get rear ended its not your fault :)
That's only if the vehicle in front comes to a sudden stop like hitting a brick wall. That doesn't happen.
How would you join a busy motorway if everybody was to keep a 3 second gap? You would have to wait for a gap of more than 6 seconds for you to fit in between two vehicles.
I naturally drive at 3seconds and about 6-7seconds in light traffic on a two-way road
I see more and more drivers looking at there phone on the motorway nowadays even truck drivers all it takes is a split second for something like this to happen
I remember this happening and it stayed with me for a long time.. People drive too close to the vehicle infont. As the man said thankfully these incidents are rare, perhaps complacency comes into play in these instances and when they do happen they are etched into our memories for a long while after.
Your so right, too many Tailgaters around that cause this type of accident.
my history teacher was ordered by court to go to a class on road safety once and he was shown the CCTV footage of the whole accident.
If you want a proper in depth analysis into a road accident, type "Durham Constabulary look what you've done" into CZcams. It's 20 minutes long and recommended viewing for every driver.
I drive that way quiet often these days and had no idea this happened there. from now on whenever i go through that section of road i'll spare a thought for the people that died
2011 and only just in my CZcams feed, these horrific motorway pile-ups should feature in dedicated TV shows.
I was coming past on the other side, about half an hour before, and noticed the foggy conditions then!
I lived in Taunton, and this was news for a long time, with so-called firework display organiser getting off.
I use this motorway quite frequently, and always watch for idiots, or road rage, which I have had on this stretch!
In fog and rain slow down and keep your distance , and once you’ve slowed down then slow down again and keep more distance , then do it all again until you feel like you are going too slow. Then you are halfway towards going the right speed.
Time goes so quick 12years since since this horrific tradegy so sad
It’s easy to see from the many channels on CZcams which show traffic accidents that people drive too fast and too close, especially in poor weather.
What a tragedy! So many accidents like this are caused by people overdriving the road conditions. I used to live in Florida where fog is very common at dawn and dusk, sadly these accidents with 30 or 40 vehicles involved and its almost always caused by people driving too fast. If you can see 50 feet in front of you, it is insane to drive 65 mph.
This was caused by smoke from a nearby bonfire night fireworks display drifting over the motorway. I believe the organisers of the display were included in the investigation.
*****
That was the original theory, but it was eventually discounted as contributing to the incident. The final conclusion was - as usual - drivers thinking they had X-ray vision and driving well beyond the safe speed for the conditions. To be fair the fog was patchy with clear areas and more dense ones, but many drivers failed to take it into account.
Many years ago I was tootling down the M1 in a Moggy Thou and ran headlong into a single patch of *really* thick fog without any warning. All I could do was gently touch my brake pedal (no rear fog lights) to indicate my presence and allow friction to slow me down to a more reasonable speed. By the time I was down to 40 I was in clear air again, but I was shi**ing bricks for a while!
***** you r right it was the smoke could u reply. It was a very sad day for me because that was my dad in the ginsters truck
SirHenryofRR u r wrong
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_M5_motorway_crash
The police tried to stitch up the organiser of the nearby fireworks display don't forget, dragged on for a couple of years before the poor bloke's charges were dropped..
what happened after that ?
@@Matt-Durham He still runs a fireworks display firm. His insurance company carried out tests and it was proved that the smoke from the display was not the main factor of the accident on the night.
I know the chap (I'm in the fireworks industry myself) and the police were determined to hold him responsible.
@@richardpengley6870 That sounds about right, the police never can hold their hands up and say sorry we got it wrong unless the public and media put heavy pressure on them. Thanks for replying back to me, I appreciate your help and info.
Went to court was 7 counts of manslaughter but they was dropped. Was tried under 1 count of H&S laws and found NOT GUILTY.
The blame game taken too far. Fog happens. It's nature. It's dangerous. Slow down, keep your distance. When I was a lorry driver, the number of times people have cut in front of me to leave at an exit or not left any distance after overtaking me. Do the know what 40 odd tonnes would do to their vehicles?
I was in the M25 pile up near Godstone Surrey in all the fog , coming down the hill in thick as guts fog driving my loaded 9 car car transporter I was cautiously and slowly approaching the junction expecting the worse as often vehicles queued to get off there , people were still flying past me in cars in the outside lane . All of a sudden I saw the shadow of a stationary trailer in front of me so I pulled up and stopped 10 foot behind him handbrake on then it started . Thud , thud , thud , we all quickly got out ran up the side bank as listened up there from the ensuing carnage taking place . There was nothing we could do at all , it would have been suicide to try and stand in fog that thick in the dark to try and warn anyone . There were far more killed in that incident than this one .
A friend joined the police, and the crash you were in was one of the first things he attended. Horrific .
Tailgating is a world wide problem. Maybe psycho-exam included with the driving test is a considerable parameter?
No such thing as an accident, collision, they are always caused
Alan Legg mate accidents happen very easily, someone could easily hit the breaks by accident (Learner drivers driving manual vehicles) and cause a chain reaction that causes huge pileups
@@28291973 well that's driver error then
mike peugeot and driver errors are always *accidents*, so yes there’s a reason to it but it’s still an accident
So you can't cause an accident?
Listen to the police officer, incidents they are called, somebody or something causes things called accidents when it is a fact that each so called accident is caused by an error by a person, Incident, collision, bad judgement or whatever the classification is now that of an incident or a collision.
I feel so bad for the families what lost some people on this Bad Crash :c
D:
This incident is regarding magnitude & level of carnage and area equal more to a railway or avaition disaster than a normal road traffic collision.& because of this it should be treated & investigated by the authorities in the same way as a railway or avaition disaster as WHY are road traffic collisions not taken as seriously by the authorities as railway or avaition disasters?
The President actually singled out who's liable for this accident in his final words.
Thankfully I was in school at the time of the crash and one of the staff said to me that her dog was in the crash and sadly died and now in 2018 I still remember the crash and when ever I go past that spot I always take a moment to remember those who died and lost their loved ones
dog??
@@Isafell2001 think about it. Where would a dog most likely be inside of a car? The rear or boot most likely. The poor animal most likely was crushed during a rear impact of said vehicle...!!
@@245thegreat i understand that now. i just thought he misspelt something lol
I thought the M3 or M25 were the worst for accidents as on the M3 I once saw a twelve car pile up.
My thoughts are with those involved and those who didn’t survive. An horrific accident to have happened. 🙏🏻💐💐💐💐🇬🇧
10 years later....
I live in bridgewater and so much accidents are caused there
We just never know what time, day, month or year death will take us. Or, for that matter, how we will die. That is how fragile life is.
I can recall some worse crashes like the fog pile up on the M6 near Stoke and one in the south east again due to fog.
10 years ago in just a few weeks time but I remember it on the news like it was yesterday.
tailgating needs jailtime
WHY DO PEOPLE DRIVE TOO CLOSE
I was probably not even 1 minute ahead of this
Howcome this motorway doesn't have adaptable speed limit signs?
If it did, then the system would detect the fog and water, then adjust the speed limit to a safe speed, such as 15 MPH or whatever is necessary to prevent accidents.
There should have been no surface water, as the motorway surface should have grooved water channels to take water off the surface.
It isn't a legal requirement to have such measures. In addition smart motorway systems are being scrapped in the near future.
Trouble is just because your adhering to the speed limit dosn't mean the car behind you is. Most people ignore the speed limit at the best of times and some will ignore warning speed reductions completely . When I drive I stick to the speed limit. I have a digital display and I know exactly how fast I'm going but 9 times out of 10 I've got an idiot behind me who's tailgating to try to make me go faster.
15 mph? On a motorway? What planet are you living on?
@@lukem4580 You think it is ok to drive over that speed when you can't see 50 yards in front of you? You're the kind of driver which will cause these accidents
@@shhmule I think that 30/40 MPH is probably about right considering the immense braking distance of most modern vehicles. Not to mention the safety that modern cars provide. I guarantee that there wouldn’t be any fatalities or injuries if people kept at 30-40 in fog.
Looks like it might of been fog seeing that last car tucked up under the back of the truck.
No place to pull over and you will always have someone going slow in fear of hitting someone and someone driving faster in fear of someone hitting them.
This is where computers will definitely take over someday and save lives.
I remember this was the bad one caused by smoke drifting across the motorway from a nearby firework display? (according to media reports at the time) Horrific sight for first responders and all colleagues and other motorists involved.
I believe the case was not proven regarding the fireworks display
@@alanlegg9972 I never said it was.. I did hear there were prosecutions though a while later.
I know the chap who ran the fireworks firm who the police tried to blame for the accident (he's still running his firm to this day).
His insurance company got behind him, carried out lots of tests and proved that the smoke from the display was not the causing factor of the accident. The smoke from the display did not cause this accident and they dropped his charges.
I don't believe it was due to smoke. You cannot blame the conditions. You drive to a speed that suits those conditions whether it be fog, rain, snow, or smoke etc. You slow down, keep a safe distance.
@@Seanmcdhuibhne It happened so suddenly because the wind changed direction in a heartbeat, the smoke then drifted over the M5. As, it was not the weather there were no reports or warnings in time and drivers doing exactly what you described , which is the correct thing to do. Were the reason the accident occurred as those vehicles behind them did not slow down enough or slowed down too late and hit the slowing or stationary vehicles. Are you nineteen or sixteen by any chance?
This was eventually put to fault of the fireworks. The smoke went out into the road, leading to the rule now of no fireworks near roads. My dad was there
on M5 today there was a van crushed by 2 lorries and a car it was literally PANCAKE
5th November 2011
Rest in Peace
My god! I actually saw a car accident right in front of my eyes! Two car crashed badly and two men were hurt very badly!
I hope you are ok and everyone involved made a full recovery ❤
this is 1 of the reasons i have not used a motorway for the past 5 yrs.
my journey make take longer, but it is also safer, i still get tail gaters on normal roads
but i just slow down, it pisses them off, But then again, it pisses me off them doing it.
And until these idiots learn to STOP tail gating, STOP drink driving, STOP using mobiles whilst driving.
then Deaths on roads will never STOP, bad weather happens everywhere, carefull driving, needed in all weathers, bad or good
motoway are easily the safety roads in the country.. you get a hell of a lot more accidents on other roads.
greenfingers gardener you are a moron.
@smarts wrong
Deaths on any roads will never stop, human error doesn't need a reason humans just do stupid things 🤷🏼♀️
Normal roads are not safer than motorways lol
Nothing has changed regarding the 2 second rule. I find that because drivers fill my two second gap I find I am down to fifty or forty frequently. My journeys need a huge amount of extra time to allow for 'other' drivers inconsiderateness.
One of my pet hates. When someone inches real close to my car I slam on my brakes! They soon back off. Realising they’d be crunched! Stupid drivers
Tragically, next Friday and Saturday will be the 12th (I think) anniversary of this crash, shocking truly shocking.
It's been a bad few days for M5 and M6 motorways. Learn to drive people or get the train. Witnessed to many idiots taking risks travelling home on Friday.
18 wheelers need their own lanes. Greedy corporations can definitely afford to pay it but chose to risk the lives of civilians to get their product converted to cash.
What caused the ‘fireball’?
The fuel tanks
@@joecollins8387 yeh one ⚡️ and boom
Too Fast & Too Close
The fast and the tailgaters: motorway drift
The standard of driving on UK roads generally is appalling . Too fast , too close , impatient and aggressive . Roads are not dangerous people are .
Was it North or South that was closed?
ELEVEN year old video ⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️Thanks CZcams
.o. soooooo basically this is the most terrifying crash I ever saw wow
I was just behind this when it happened, and only because of traffic at the junction. I consider myself lucky just by timing. RIP to all involved and love to their family’s.
One of the greatest issues today is people on phones and depending on adaptive cruise control and self steer which many newer cars today have, this is a huge mistake because adaptive cruise control can not adapt quick enough if the car in front breaks hard, adaptive cruise can't see beyond the car in front.
Most people get fixated on the car in front and do not read the road ahead enough and others have just normal cruise control and go brain dead and the car can't even try slow down.
One thing for sure, mobile phones and these new touch screen infotainment was the worst thing every to enter cars.
All cars should have collision control lane assist and adaptive cruise control.
Or sensible drivers perhaps?
I have experienced fog and fireworks, absolutely zero visibility.
I always had an idea this might have been caused by someone on the slip road trying to push in to the traffic causing people to try and take avoiding action . 😢
Rest in peace poor souls
Was this before or after the studio reporter made Tarrantino and Robert Downey walk out of his interview?
What is this final destination
If anybody know how this crash occurred pls tell me and R.I.P all dead
Rest in peace to everyone who never made it home that day 🌹
🌍✌️❤️
William pope the Club and Organizer was all cleared, if your going to post try and get your facts rights. The Hgv`s was moving to close. 1st vehicle slowed coming into the Fog (not smoke for display which had finished 15mins before) 2nd vehicle was 2.6 sec behind and he killed his m8.
Yet we still see stupidity and selfishness on British roads.
And yet drivers today still dont learn and continue to drive too close at speed on the motorways.
I remember this..horrific....
24 hours still at the scene :O omfg
Shock ing.
Seems to be a real bad area for crashes over the years, why
3:47 "it was dark..,"
0:21 'accident occurred at approx 8:25pm ..8:30 pm (2 August)
how was it 'dark' at that time? SUNSET in UK 2 August is approx 8:43pm , and that obviously is well before anyone would say that it's 'dark' outside.
It is absolutely insane to believe that this event occurred in August. Look at the trees!!! It's clearly late September since the trees are well on the way towards autumn. Never in a million years do leaves turn that colour in August.
The most cursory of checks would have shown that this occurred in November.
It can become dark quickly. It's called a storm, fog or thick cloud that prevents sunlight.
This stretch of motorway is so deadly, I drive it every day and there's not a day that goes by when there isn't an accident. The worst part of it has zero lighting for miles at night you can't see 3 feet infront of your cab and its nearly always foggy because of the terrain down here and the weather can change very fast one second clear the next you'll hit a dip in the road and be plunged into thick fog. Very scary if your not experienced or a local that travels this motorway frequently and shown here even professional drivers can be caught off guard and pay with their lives. I 100% believe the fireworks did cause this combined with the fog, not because of distraction but when you mix fireworks with fog the smoke from fireworks mixes with fog creating an impenetrable veil. I think people just slowed down to a crawl because they couldn't see Jack sh*t and the people in the lorry are kind of used to it so they didn't slow down and this is the result. It's disgusting that the event organiser basically got away with this.
".. and there's not a day that goes by when there isn't an accident" Seriously?! I live in the area and this statement is utter bullshit.
Audi and bmw drivers should watch this everyday
Why so? I`ve been driving for 45+ years, BMW`s for the last 20. No accidents, no penalty points etc.
Because you bribe police .
you probably drive a Ford Fiesta - jealous much
Phen0mable idiot.
Phen0mable I have a q7 safe car
Forgot all about this disaster 🥺😢
English Grammar error at 4:49 "...specialist collisions unit who will....". A "unit" is manned by humans, but is, itself, NOT human, therefore the use of "who" in reference to it, is incorrect. That should have been "which" or "that". "Who" is reserved, in English Grammar, solely for humans.
A collective pronoun maybe.
why is this in my recommendations
People nowadays are in a dam hurry wtf slow down what's the hurry to go home and wach eastenders wtf
Remember when this happened
How did the truck get burned?
Nevermind, It was gas cylinders
Tragic. So terrible.
ghjkuuyyjjmmmnn.
I often wonder with everyone carrying cell phones as well as having dash and rear cams in their vehicles, if these people end up causing more accidents or worsening the one already there. It seems everyone wants to be the first to get the horrific pictures on the off-chance some news agency is willing to pay for said pictures. I've read often enough that the pictures have helped with investigations and that's a very good thing but it still worries me.
I'm not sure what the best answer would be.
Cell phones are a risk, but dashcams are passive devices and require *zero* driver input to operate. If you have a dashcam then you don't need to whip your cell phone out because your car has/is recording the entire time for you. I have a Viofo in both my cars and its so nice that all I have to do is drive the car and worry about pulling the footage later. A 128GB card gives me 2 week's worth of recording time, so there's no worry nor rush about losing data. I even have a GoPro set up for my motorbike that passively runs every time I go for a ride. Passive > Active.
I remember being on the other side when this happened and was freaked out hard in my bmw I was in and after it I got a Vauxhall for my son and a bmw for my son this year and whenever we drive past this I remember this
Where on earth did you go to school?
No one cares.
When bmw drivers die, at their funeral they wake up and jump out the coffin to tell everyone they have a bmw
What was the final death toll?
7
0:29 The Motorway Remains Closed
Modern cars have adaptive cruise control. Use it! Many are radar operated. Will keep a safe gap between you and the car in front. Or just use your brain!
A motorway can be deceptive to people. Never take them for granted. I think also we as people take cars for granted. They are not toys. This is not a game. Anyone could have been involved. Some people seem to want to learn the hard way. Sorry for this sermon but I get upset. I think of the people involved. The families too.
Are there two Ginsters lorries in there?
nice hot pasties!
+Jordan Durham I don't think jokes are appropriate do you?
No, they're not good, but they are cheap.
What about the road?
We had 7killed in van V truck in NZL a few mths back,country as big as UK with 5mill people...