crash on a23 brighton, not a27

[London Irish]

Comedy Steve, thanks for taking the trouble to post. Always incidents like this get sanitised when reported in the media. The Argus report tomorow will be written in the usual cliched way these events are written about and nothing will really connect with the reader that this is a terrible human tragedy. It is the sanitisation of traffic accidents by the emergency services and the press that ensures nothing is ever done about the APPALLING EPIDEMIC of road deaths in this country. Hopefully I'll be moving to a job soon where I won't need to drive every day and it won't be a second too soon for me.

 

[Lady Bracknell]

Thanks indeed, Steve. I doubt that writing that post came easily given what you witnessed.

And yes, London Irish, we'll see the usual "tragic prose" which somehow takes away from the awful reality of this sort of accident. I've had to cover them - the last being yet another of the "worst accidents ever witnessed on the A27" and all the while you are raging against the dreadful waste of life and human tragedy that has come, literally out of the blue, you also know, with an awful certainty, that it will only be a matter of weeks before the same dreadful scenes are repeated. Usually on the same stretch of road.

What a horrible, horrible day for all those involved today.

 

[JJ McClure]

Sounds and looks absolutely horrific
Southern FM reporting that a south bound BMW went through the central reservation into the path of all the north bound traffic.

 

[Yorkie]

Also reporting that both sides of the A23 are still closed if anyone has to travel north today.

 

[tedebear]

Thats horrendous - those poor people and their families, and everyone who saw it....makes you think about life...and how short it can be..

 

[Sorrel]

If 6 people had died in a rail crash it's be on all the front pages of the newspapers, but this isn't.

 

[GUNTER]

Selfish BMW driver speeding, loses control, ploughs through central reservation, kills 6 innocent people.


Tragic.

 

[Comedy Steve]

I didn't see that from where I was coming. Seriously, the only thing that was in the southbound carriageway from our perspective was debris and a crumpled body. But at the speeds involved, the cars could have ended up anywhere.

Me and the gf both do 30K+ miles a year, you just forget that roads are dangerous places. It's the images of what we saw that had us a bit thrown.

We were chatting about this late last night, and how lucky we felt we were. To put this into perspective; as we left Maidenhead, the cat panicked (not a good traveller) and pissed herself - in her box, on my lap. So we had to stop for 2 minutes to remove the blanket from her box and wrap it in a plastic bag in the boot, before moving off again. Had she had not done it, we could have been in the crash.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Gunter..how do you know that? Were you there? If so perhaps you will let the police know you saw it. No I thought not. It could have been anything! The driver could have had a heart attack....who is to say


Does anyone know what happened on the A24 just after the M25 urn off...it was closed to Dorking and we had to go via Guilford and Horsham and pick up the A24 further down.

 

[zefarelly]

I sincerely hope it was just a tragic accident . . . .I drive far too much (30k+ a year) and witness some quite frankly appaling driving, last BH weekend driving down the A23 we where overtakedn by two cars, both 5 up overtaking everything in all lanes doing 90 mph+ weaving around, lads in the back drinking beer . . . .now if they had a pile up I'd be the first to tell the police the little scrotes deserved it, unfortunately its usually the innocent that get caught up in it, either way, how do you manage to get through a central reservation on a dead straight road, broad daylight and in perfect weather conditions ?

 

[Razi]

Reports on the radio suggest that the A23 is now open, but pretty busy. As I was heading to work today from Burgess Hill, thru Hassocks and past Pyecombe - the traffic was backed up all the way from Hassocks to the Burgess Hill Tesco roundabout, as I guess that all the traffic was being diverted off the A23, through Burgess Hill and out through Pyecombe.

 

[GUNTER]

Gunter..how do you know that? Were you there? If so perhaps you will let the police know you saw it. No I thought not. It could have been anything! The driver could have had a heart attack....who is to say


Does anyone know what happened on the A24 just after the M25 urn off...it was closed to Dorking and we had to go via Guilford and Horsham and pick up the A24 further down.

I read it in the paper from witness reports.

 

[Lush]

That is a horrible bend though, not least because it's rarely a very busy stretch of the A23 from memory so it's easy to take it too fast if you don't know the road.

You can imagine - it's a hot summers day, you're on the last stretch before getting into Brighton, you've got a nice fast BMW.... How many of us were going "faster than we should have" to try and get home from the match yesterday? How many of us really think about the possible consequences of our driving

I was trying to be funny about the slow old minibus in another thread but at least it was driving safely....



A tragedy.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Bit harsh to speculate on something as tragic as this, folks.

For all we know, the BMW might have had a blow-out. He could have hit debris or an animal in the road. Someone else could have suddenly pulled out in front of him, causing him to swerve.

Don't think it's fair to call the driver a killer of innocent people at this stage. If he hit oncoming traffic, the chances are he's dead as well.

Bit of respect? At least until the circumstances are fully known.

 

[zefarelly]

agreed Edna. it took me 1 hr 20 minutes to get to work this morning instead of the ususal 40 mins, stuck in traffic over Devils Dyke made me think that given the amount of time I spend on the roads I'm lucky not have had any accidents.

We dont think about how fast we're driving most of the time, regardless of how good a driver I might think I am (!)you cant vouch for others actions or predict what some people do. the spot where the accident happened is near a short slip road, you often see people pu onto the A23 going dangerously slowly, car on inside pulls out doing 60 . . .guy on the outside doing 80+ has no where to go . . . . especially if theyre not concentrating, on the phone, changing CD etc

 

[Marshy]

Sadly the 2 cars were racing by all accounts.

 

[beorhthelm]

some of the comments about bad drivers and appropriating blame have made me want to point out somthing that you should all write about to your MP, Council, Highways agency, Police force, etc.

Regardless of the speed of the vehicle, it should not have been able to cross the central reservation. even if your going 100mph, the barriers should deflect you back into the road, as hitting another car thats going 60-70 is going to be alot less harsh than head on. I hope this is whats addressed in the inevitable investigation.

 

[FG aka Football Genius.]

i understand from news reports conclusions too early to draw yet may not be selfish BMW driver wood be shame to tarnish all with same brush by branding all BMW drivers likewise. RIP all concerned with this awful situation and may those tramatised by the event be soon back to normal and those injured and critically ill make a recovery. Worth reminding ourselves to keep control on the road and keep within sensible speeds. Just shows you how powerful pictures can be too.

 

[CAFC Matt]

Just read about in the Argus. Really bad, and makes you wonder don't it!!!

RIP Poor people

 

[zefarelly]

Sadly the 2 cars were racing by all accounts.

Marshy . . .thats a bold statement, how do you know that ? for the record I would suspect as much myself but one cant just say it without some kind of justification

as for BMW drivers, we all like to nake the analogy . . .perhaps if theyre wherent involved in as many incidents we wouldnt . . . .