How do you end up driving wrong way down motorway?
Discussion
Another horrendous accident in which several have lost their lives apparently caused by someone driving the wrong way down the motorway.
What are the general causes of this? Is there a particular pattern? Are they usually unintentional?
I'm assuming senility, intoxicants, or criminality is a big one. But I'm more interested in anecdotes about those who you've pulled over who've somehow managed to do this at least semi accidentally and how they did it.
What are the general causes of this? Is there a particular pattern? Are they usually unintentional?
I'm assuming senility, intoxicants, or criminality is a big one. But I'm more interested in anecdotes about those who you've pulled over who've somehow managed to do this at least semi accidentally and how they did it.
BossHogg said:
Sometimes its just blindly following their satnav, I've lost count of the amount of times I've been exiting the motorway to see a set of headlights coming towards me! Usually someone unfamiliar with the area.
Huh? Never happened to me ever. I appreciate you're on the motorway all the time with your job, but are there any specific locations this happens a lot?I know this accident happened near Tebay where as you'll know there's a "secret" handy place to turn around if you've popped in to the farm shop on the way on a long journey (something I occasionally do due to its extended opening hours and it being on my way back from the west coast to County Durham, although it's overpriced for what it is) but it seems to have been north of that on the northbound carrigeway so presumably isn't a factor here.
BossHogg said:
Most of the incidents tend to happen on the linear junctions with no roundabouts, as it's much easier to take the wrong slip road as per the fatal incident yesterday.
If they did join the Northbound carriageway at J39, then the fact that the junction has just been resurfaced may be an issue if the markings weren't yet painted, however the 2 great big No Entry signs should have been an indication.https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.5079237,-2.65131...
There are a number of reasons that this can happen.
Foreign drivers or elderly drivers, getting mixed up with which exit from a junction roundabout to take, often happens at services, where they go back to the motorway the same way they've come of it.
Both of these types of drivers usually work it out pretty quickly that they've made a big mistake and usually quickly pull over onto the H/S awaiting help, but do sometimes decide to continue to the next junction along so as to leave the motorway.
Criminals trying to outrun the police, they know that the police won't follow them going the wrong way down the c/way, often they'll be travelling at excessive speed as well.
Suicidal or mentally unstable people, completely unpredictable.
Just a bit of advice, if you see all the matrix set to 20's, and if there could also be a VMS (Variable Message Sign) with "Report of oncoming vehicle". You need to SLOW RIGHT DOWN! Leave plenty of extra room between you and the vehicle in front, you need to be watching as far in front as possible.
Usually a vehicle travelling the wrong way down the c/way will usually travel in either lane 1 or the outside lane (ie. Lane 3/4), but again, slow right down, and keep looking as far in front as possible, be ready to take any evasive action
Foreign drivers or elderly drivers, getting mixed up with which exit from a junction roundabout to take, often happens at services, where they go back to the motorway the same way they've come of it.
Both of these types of drivers usually work it out pretty quickly that they've made a big mistake and usually quickly pull over onto the H/S awaiting help, but do sometimes decide to continue to the next junction along so as to leave the motorway.
Criminals trying to outrun the police, they know that the police won't follow them going the wrong way down the c/way, often they'll be travelling at excessive speed as well.
Suicidal or mentally unstable people, completely unpredictable.
Just a bit of advice, if you see all the matrix set to 20's, and if there could also be a VMS (Variable Message Sign) with "Report of oncoming vehicle". You need to SLOW RIGHT DOWN! Leave plenty of extra room between you and the vehicle in front, you need to be watching as far in front as possible.
Usually a vehicle travelling the wrong way down the c/way will usually travel in either lane 1 or the outside lane (ie. Lane 3/4), but again, slow right down, and keep looking as far in front as possible, be ready to take any evasive action
Edited by Gafferjim on Wednesday 16th October 23:14
If it is J39, you can see the motorway clearly, all the way down the near-straight, third of a mile long exit slip. I can kind of accept someone might inadvertently miss the no entry signs at the junction, but for a 40 year old driver to go all the way down the slip road purely by mistake and actually get onto the carriageway seems very unlikely so you have to think something else is going on. Devastating for the family, and particularly the surviving 7 year old kid, whatever the explanation.
BossHogg said:
Sometimes its just blindly following their satnav, I've lost count of the amount of times I've been exiting the motorway to see a set of headlights coming towards me! Usually someone unfamiliar with the area.
Would you say this is also true of your colleagues across the UK? If so, I think it's an alarming indication that something is very badly wrong with motorway access/exit planning.Mammasaid said:
If they did join the Northbound carriageway at J39, then the fact that the junction has just been resurfaced may be an issue if the markings weren't yet painted, however the 2 great big No Entry signs should have been an indication.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.5079237,-2.65131...
Dark, raining, sat-nav saying turn right, I can well see someone missing the no-entry signs.https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.5079237,-2.65131...
Had a few occasions over the years where I've come across the "Vehicle coming wrong way" warning on the message signs, though fortunately only every seen a car stopped pointing the wrong way rather than actually met one! My strategy when I see those is to follow behind the largest vehicle I can find whilst keeping a good few hundred yards stopping distance between me and them.....
The ones I have seen stopped pointing the wrong way have been near motorway services so I suspect quite a few of the wrong way drivers enter the motorways the from there. The road layouts in some of the older service areas which have been "improved" can be quite confusing and the signs and lighting are nearly always rubbish so I can see how someone can end up heading towards the off slip when trying to leave the services. As an example there's what looks like an exit from the car park at Leigh Delamare westbound which is actually the connection to the staff access road (which then crosses the end of the off-slip at a very dark junction in the woods) with nothing to indicate you're not meant to use it. The proper car park exit at the eastbound services there isn't much better with an arrow indicating the motorway and petrol is to the left, but nothing other than a slight angling of the road to say you can't turn right (which if you did would send you heading the wrong way along the off-slip)
It does then take another level of obliviousness though to then continue the wrong way once the motorway is back in sight though.
The ones I have seen stopped pointing the wrong way have been near motorway services so I suspect quite a few of the wrong way drivers enter the motorways the from there. The road layouts in some of the older service areas which have been "improved" can be quite confusing and the signs and lighting are nearly always rubbish so I can see how someone can end up heading towards the off slip when trying to leave the services. As an example there's what looks like an exit from the car park at Leigh Delamare westbound which is actually the connection to the staff access road (which then crosses the end of the off-slip at a very dark junction in the woods) with nothing to indicate you're not meant to use it. The proper car park exit at the eastbound services there isn't much better with an arrow indicating the motorway and petrol is to the left, but nothing other than a slight angling of the road to say you can't turn right (which if you did would send you heading the wrong way along the off-slip)
It does then take another level of obliviousness though to then continue the wrong way once the motorway is back in sight though.
BossHogg said:
Most of mine have always been elderly British drivers. Seeing a 2 ton hi vis patrol car with flashing lights in front of them usually wakes them up.
Yep, this sounds about right.I’ve seen a couple on the A96, it’s usually roundabouts that they enter.
My old man almost did it on the A68 just south of Edinburgh when he was about 80, my old dear shouting at him is the only thing that stopped him. Thankfully he has given up driving now, he needed that wake up call to frighten him into the realisation he couldn’t cope.
Edit: these are dual carriageways obviously
Edited by Lefty on Thursday 17th October 10:13
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