Were all the victims of Saturday nights’s carnage on the M5 fools?
It was dark, there was mist, fog and smoke about. I rarely drive on motorways, at any time of the day or night, without wondering if I will make it to my destination. I am frequently in a minority of one, trying to stick to the 2 second rule.
If it is dark I will have added a second and if it is wet or misty I will have added another but it always seems like I am the only one. If I leave a good gap someone will pull in after overtaking me less than 1 second in front of me; a truck will pull out into the space despite there being a big gap behind me or a tailgater will try to bully me while I overtake.
They are all fools, breaking the 2 second rule. Were there one or two on the M5 on Saturday evening who were not? Hopefully, this is the sad truth that will be revealed by the police investigation and not some smoke-screen red-herring.
Breaking the 2 second rule makes it IMPOSSIBLE to stop if there is a sudden loss of control in front of you – simplz. I suppose being a dead fool is not much of a fool at all but that’s the problem with motorway speeds. In town breaking the rule causes traffic jams and dents; on the motorway it causes deaths.
Clearly something happened that would have resulted in damage or even death on Saturday but only one or two vehicles should have been involved. Using your mobile phone, incidently, has the same affect as tripling reaction times. Whatever the cause of the initial event, more died or were injured than should have been because the 2 or more second rule was broken.
Our general attitude to this kind of issue is a priori prejudiced by the general usage of the word ‘accident’. It ALWAYS has a preventable cause, which is unlikely ever to be unraveled by the police.
If you are interested in joining our mailing list, please submit your email below. 