Near miss on the A90

[Mark]

Just seen this video, car joins the A90 going in the wrong direction and a lorry comes a cropper from it.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=92b_1301244314

To be fair to the car driver, it's easily done, look at the junction he entered through - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=aberdeen&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Aberdeen,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&ll=57.094822,-2.115973&spn=0.003357,0.009645&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=57.0947,-2.115823&panoid=sPljQvOMPOP_im0NxCUdBg&cbp=12,132.62,,0,6.11
No signage here so easy to get confused.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Apart from the arrows painted on the road. But there sould really be a no-entry sign on that slip road.

[markabilly]

Just seen this video, car joins the A90 going in the wrong direction and a lorry comes a cropper from it.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=92b_1301244314

To be fair to the car driver, it's easily done, look at the junction he entered through - http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=aberdeen&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Aberdeen,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&ll=57.094822,-2.115973&spn=0.003357,0.009645&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=57.0947,-2.115823&panoid=sPljQvOMPOP_im0NxCUdBg&cbp=12,132.62,,0,6.11
No signage here so easy to get confused.

hey, you survived

Besides, you got on TV.....

[Iain]

I think this article would be a bit different if they had known exactly what had happened. http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/2191195?UserKey=

[Mark]

Yep I saw that article too. Make it sound like the lorry drivers fault.

Me thinks the local transport authority is for the high jump with the lack of signage on that junction.

[gloomyDAY]

I have a question about the roads over in Britain. Which color is used to designate different lanes? Here, yellow is used to designate opposing traffic and white signifies different lanes that go in the same flow of traffic.

That off-ramp looks really confusing since it can be mistaken as a different lane, and there aren't any signs to say it's for opposing traffic.

[Mark]

White is used for all road markings except parking restrictions. In this case there should be a 'Keep Left' bollard in the middle and a pair of No Entry signs on either side of the road to the right.

[christophulus]

That off-ramp looks really confusing since it can be mistaken as a different lane, and there aren't any signs to say it's for opposing traffic.

But there's a big white arrow pointing in the other direction...

That's the car driver's fault imo.

[martinbalmer]

In this case there should be a 'Keep Left' bollard in the middle and a pair of No Entry signs on either side of the road to the right.

Yes.. It is bit poor to be relying on a bit on paint alone and even then maybe it could have had double solid 'do not cross' centre lines painted on the approach.

There are a fair few blind slip road corners in the UK and you never know who might be coming the wrong way around one towards you...

[Lousada]

How is this confusing? Apart from those big white arrows and the fact that you folks always drive on the left side of the road, he also passed this:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=aberdeen&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Aberdeen,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&t=h&layer=c&cbll=57.09596,-2.112397&panoid=n60-aU7QPq1LZw7lq0K29A&cbp=12,245.51,,0,5.02&ll=57.09596,-2.112397&spn=0,0.002358&z=19

[MrJan]

I'm with Lousada on this, the driver is just a plum and blaming lack of signage is crap. I agree that it's not exactly clear but we drive on the left in this country so the person was either on the wrong side of the road leading up to the split, or went across the hatchings.

If you go back the road it a bit it's difficult to see how you'd end up on the wrong side http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=aberdeen&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Aberdeen,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&t=h&layer=c&cbll=57.096004,-2.110991&panoid=W5a-hyjorCFy-VEoDAesnw&cbp=12,265.16,,0,13.4&ll=57.096004,-2.110991&spn=0,0.003422&z=19

I think from this point you pass 3 arrows on the road (in a fairly short space of time). Blaming a lack of signage is just a get out for crap driving IMO.

[Sonic]

I'm with Lousada on this, the driver is just a plum and blaming lack of signage is crap. I agree that it's not exactly clear but we drive on the left in this country so the person was either on the wrong side of the road leading up to the split, or went across the hatchings.

If you go back the road it a bit it's difficult to see how you'd end up on the wrong side http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=aberdeen&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Aberdeen,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&t=h&layer=c&cbll=57.096004,-2.110991&panoid=W5a-hyjorCFy-VEoDAesnw&cbp=12,265.16,,0,13.4&ll=57.096004,-2.110991&spn=0,0.003422&z=19

I think from this point you pass 3 arrows on the road (in a fairly short space of time). Blaming a lack of signage is just a get out for crap driving IMO.

Agreed 100%. There is no way, with even a passing understanding of the rules of the road, that it should be possible to end up going the wrong way there. The arrows are clear, visible and regular, And the road markings and hatchings make it obvious what needs to happen.

Take their licence away.

[Mark]

All that is true, however there are many slip roads with exactly that layout where you split to go to two different destinations, one to the left, one to the right. The point is to make it super obvious! Sure 99.9999% of drivers using this junction get it right, but the one driver who makes a mistake and kills someone it's no good then moralising about it when it could have been prevented.

[Sonic]

Perhaps so. But would a no entry really turn that 99.99999% into 100%? I doubt it.

[Mark]

No entry signage here isn't a nice extra either, it's standard for junctions of this type.

Here's a very similar layout just a few miles south of the junction in question.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=aberdeen&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Aberdeen,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&layer=c&cbll=57.062068,-2.142921&panoid=kkEYEBO59L-F3Et0kQ7upQ&cbp=12,325.95,,1,2.44&ll=57.062068,-2.142921&spn=0,0.020578&z=16

[Daniel]

I'm with Lousada on this, the driver is just a plum and blaming lack of signage is crap. I agree that it's not exactly clear but we drive on the left in this country so the person was either on the wrong side of the road leading up to the split, or went across the hatchings.

If you go back the road it a bit it's difficult to see how you'd end up on the wrong side http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=aberdeen&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Aberdeen,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&t=h&layer=c&cbll=57.096004,-2.110991&panoid=W5a-hyjorCFy-VEoDAesnw&cbp=12,265.16,,0,13.4&ll=57.096004,-2.110991&spn=0,0.003422&z=19

I think from this point you pass 3 arrows on the road (in a fairly short space of time). Blaming a lack of signage is just a get out for crap driving IMO.

:up:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

And the driver must see the approaching lorries hurtling towards him on the sliproad, and still doesn't stop.

[Daniel]

:up:

[ioan]

If someone can't 'read' arrows that big than any amount of road signs is useless.

[Mark]

The driver was stupid - granted. But in the UK there is a legal requirement for adequate signage to prevent you from driving the wrong way down a one way roads, (which the slip road and subsequent D2 is), this signage was absent, therefore legally speaking it would be difficult to ascertain what to charge the driver with! White arrows on the road have no legal meaning.

[MrJan]

The driver was stupid - granted. But in the UK there is a legal requirement for adequate signage to prevent you from driving the wrong way down a one way roads, (which the slip road and subsequent D2 is), this signage was absent, therefore legally speaking it would be difficult to ascertain what to charge the driver with! White arrows on the road have no legal meaning.

Fairly sure you could make a driving without due care charge stick.

[Mark]

The driver pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and has been fined £700, banned from driving for 2 years and ordered to take an extended retest.

[SGWilko]

How is this confusing? Apart from those big white arrows and the fact that you folks always drive on the left side of the road

Bingo.

[Drew]

The driver pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and has been fined £700, banned from driving for 2 years and ordered to take an extended retest.

Well deserved too! How much warning do you need?! If you aren't going to notice arrows on the road, you're not going to notice "no entry" signs either..

[ioan]

The driver pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and has been fined £700, banned from driving for 2 years and ordered to take an extended retest.

I wish the same outcome would happen in Austria too.
Around here this, they call it a ghost driver, happens several times a week and they usually don't park it, instead they continue driving in the wrong direction till the next exit road.
This is one of the reasons why I listen to news radios all the time when in the car instead of listening music.

[Mark]

You don't have traffic reports which interrupt the current station?

[ioan]

You don't have traffic reports which interrupt the current station?

Have it,to clarify I meant to say I listen to radio instead of listening to music from CD and other source than radio, but it is still mostly news radio.
There is probably some functionality built into the GPS/radio that allows it to interrupt even playing music for a traffic report (like it does for incoming phone calls). Never tried it though.

[Mark]

Yeah all cars I've driven allow for playing CD's etc to be interrupted by traffic reports.

[Dave B]

I've rarely found radio travel updates to be particularly useful or up-to-date. All too often they rely on people phoning in, by which time the incident has usually cleared. Radio 2's seem the most accurate, but being a national station it's little use to me driving up the A1(M) to find out that the A303 is blocked near Andover.

[Sonic]

I've rarely found radio travel updates to be particularly useful or up-to-date. All too often they rely on people phoning in, by which time the incident has usually cleared. Radio 2's seem the most accurate, but being a national station it's little use to me driving up the A1(M) to find out that the A303 is blocked near Andover.

I always used to enjoy the spoof 'One road travel' on R1. Completely pointless like all traffic reports aside from live feeds on t'internet.