Close shave on the A9 (Scotland)

[Gibson99]

gotcha. forgot y'all call it "give way" rather than "yield" even though it means the same thing, and even the signs look similar.
http://www.lonelypilotbob.com/?p=3363 - an amusing little blog post about the yield sign

the lorry driver('s attorney, most likely) will probably say that he meant the intersection should have had a stop sign rather than a give way sign. or that the trees (which were completely naked in the video) should also be cut down. screw the environment, it's all about safety (and shifting blame)!!

 

[Nigel]

gotcha. forgot y'all call it "give way" rather than "yield" even though it means the same thing, and even the signs look similar.
http://www.lonelypilotbob.com/?p=3363 - an amusing little blog post about the yield sign

the lorry driver('s attorney, most likely) will probably say that he meant the intersection should have had a stop sign rather than a give way sign. or that the trees (which were completely naked in the video) should also be cut down. screw the environment, it's all about safety (and shifting blame)!!

Yielding is something you do at the point of a sword, or these days a gun, we don't have guns in the UK. Things are obviously different in the USA

 

[Gibson99]

Yielding is something you do at the point of a sword, or these days a gun, we don't have guns in the UK. Things are obviously different in the USA

if you read the article i linked, apparently they aren't. only old people yield. young'uns typically don't. i do, but i'm not a typical driver in houston.

 

[sludgeguts]

I think this was his view of the yield sign: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.7...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sTvEUL-Wieb-PB3kyx4qPlA!2e0

Not only that - turn around & come back along the road, probably 1/4 mile. The grass verge either side is worn away and a gap in the trees to your right. Looking back towards the main road, there is a road sign which CLEARLY indicates the T-junction https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=5...p=,334.33,,0,3.9700012&output=classic&dg=ntvb
Also worth noting, there is well over a mile of flat, even road with hardly any turns - just right for some loony to reach MACH 1.5 in their lorry.
Also worth noting, for all those on YT who seemed to believe the car was in the lorry's blind spot, as you drive down this road towards the junction, the driver has a good view through his windscreen & at this time of year, with no leaves on those trees, he would've seen everything that moved.

Something inside screams - he's done this before, almost a little game he plays to try to beat the cars, hence why he barely slowed.

It always grinds my gears whenever people talk about "dangerous" roundabouts, junctions, roads etc.
How many thousands drive through that exact same spot without problem? It's not like the junction suddenly jumped back 100 yards & he found himself already in the middle of it.
And then there's the quote "everyone knows it's a dangerous junction" - everyone except the HGV driver!

 

[jokiin]

The junctions become dangerous once dopey drivers are involved

 

[Nigel]

...

Also worth noting, for all those on YT who seemed to believe the car was in the lorry's blind spot, as you drive down this road towards the junction, the driver has a good view through his windscreen & at this time of year, with no leaves on those trees, he would've seen everything that moved.

Something inside screams - he's done this before, almost a little game he plays to try to beat the cars, hence why he barely slowed.

It wasn't exactly a Mini that he failed to spot!

I don't know if it was a brilliant white one, but they nearly all are:

 

[Nigel]

A spokesman for Police Scotland’s Highlands and Islands Division said today: “Police can confirm that following enquiries into video footage of a lorry on the A9 at the Tomich junction, near Invergordon, a 43 year-old man has been reported to the procurator fiscal for road traffic offences.

“Police would like to remind road users to be vigilant when driving, especially when approaching or negotiating busy junctions.”

Mr McLaughlin (dashcam owner), of Inverness who has recently enrolled on an advanced driving course, was commuting to work at his company, Munro’s Fruit Merchants in Tain, Ross-shire, when the incident occurred.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/driver-charged-after-dashcam-captures-a9-near-miss-1-3702664


... so a court appearance is very likely.

 

[jokiin]

That will be his opportunity to explain to the magistrate how the junction is at fault

 

[sludgeguts]

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/driver-charged-after-dashcam-captures-a9-near-miss-1-3702664
... so a court appearance is very likely.

Interesting - previously, police wanted witnesses to come forward - They've got the video, what more do they want?
Witnesses - Jim (cameraman), Looney in the lorry (and he's hardly likely to come forward) & the other lorry speeding past (and he probably doesn't give a crap either!)

And Jim's statement on YT seemed to, basically, forgive & forget. After all, it was just a tiny mistake.
And yet, in a statement to the papers "He said later: “I thought I was dust.”
I mean, some ****womble tries to kill you & you, basically, don't care? Come on.

And the thing is, Jim reckoned it wasn't a witch hunt - he didn't want to make a fuss & wasn't going to bother reporting it.
So what would he have done if this same driver had done the same trick the following day - and killed someone?
"oh, he did that same thing to me yesterday, nearly killed me but I let him off"

And the whole point of having a camera is... ?

 

[Nigel]

Mr McLaughlin told the Ross-shire Journal on Wednesday that he managed to speak to the lorry driver four miles further up the road and he apologised.

He added he did not share the video to “name and shame” the driver, but to highlight the problems at that junction.

“I bet that people were a lot more cautious at the junction the day after watching the video and that’s what we wanted,” he said.

“If something gets done about the junction then we’ve scored, and something good has come out of this.”

Mr McLaughlin said the incident was now in the hands of the police and he had given them a statement.

The 52-year-old fully supports calls and campaigns to improve the junctions at Tomich and at Morangie, Tain.

“Most of us have a close shave on the A9 at some point in our lives and even long before this happened I slowed down on my motorbike to 35mph or 40mph at Tomich because it is a death trap,” he said.

Mr McLaughlin, who lives in Inverness and makes the journey to his business in Tain most days, said he was surprised at the response to the clip.

“It’s been crazy, it has gone mental,” he said.

http://www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk/...ead-to-action-at-Tomich-junction-27022015.htm

I don't understand why they all think the junction was at fault, looking at it on google, the visibility is fantastic from all directions, the only issue I can see is that the turning lanes are a bit short so traffic traveling straight through might have to stop and wait if it gets busy. It wasn't busy at the time of this incident though!

Maybe they all drive like the HGV driver around there?

 

[Sabe]

Here's how decision process goes in that lorry.
"Look, there's a crossing ahead with no visibility at all, what should i do, what should i do, should i slow down and try to see or...
noooo, i step on gas pedal, if i can't see them they can't see me"

 

[Nigel]

Ahh, I see what happened now - the lorry driver timed his arrival to join the A9 one second behind the camera van and still traveling as fast as possible but the camera van slows unexpectedly just as the lorry is about to exit the side road, if the camera van hadn't slowed then everything would have been fine as he would have been in front of the lorry but he slows so late that the lorry is already starting to turn and if the lorry driver had braked to avoid the van then he would probably have jack-knifed the lorry.

It is actually the dashcam owner that has caused the incident by braking unexpectedly and for no obvious reason. Of course the lorry driver is at fault since the dashcam owner had every right to brake and the lorry driver should have ensured that his turn was safe which it wasn't, but if the dashcam owner has realised that it was him that triggered the incident then that might explain why he didn't want the witch hunt, maybe he was even worried that he might be found guilty of something which might explain why he has signed up for advanced motorist training.

 

[sludgeguts]

Ahh, I see what happened now - the lorry driver timed his arrival to join the A9 one second behind the camera van and still traveling as fast as possible but the camera van slows unexpectedly just as the lorry is about to exit the side road, if the camera van hadn't slowed then everything would have been fine as he would have been in front of the lorry but he slows so late that the lorry is already starting to turn and if the lorry driver had braked to avoid the van then he would probably have jack-knifed the lorry.

It is actually the dashcam owner that has caused the incident by braking unexpectedly and for no obvious reason. Of course the lorry driver is at fault since the dashcam owner had every right to brake and the lorry driver should have ensured that his turn was safe which it wasn't, but if the dashcam owner has realised that it was him that triggered the incident then that might explain why he didn't want the witch hunt, maybe he was even worried that he might be found guilty of something which might explain why he has signed up for advanced motorist training.

Interesting theory and one which might be truer than you think. We have a couple of local junctions where it can be difficult to turn right but when it's clear to the right & one vehicle coming from the left, most people do ease out, to time their exit with the oncoming vehicle passing in front, since there is zero view of oncoming traffic until you are within a few yards of the give way lines.
I think the only dangerous part about this junction (aside from the morons) is the fantastic view of the main road on that last 1/2 mile approach. These huge lorries do take a little time to get their speed up, it's also a ballache when you have to drop down the many gears THEN work your way back up them, also, this approach road does have a slight incline - that last 1/4 mile rises up by a whopping 40feet! - hence them wanting to keep their speed & play the 'timing' game.
HOWEVER, although there is a great view of the A9, there will be zero view of the road opposite (it's a staggered junction) - and anything emerging from there would have priority over something emerging from where the lorry came from.

 

[reverend]

So the lorry driver is blaming the junction for this one - likewise he'll be blaming the falling bar of soap for what is going to potentially happen to him soon.

 

[Sabe]

"goddamn i dropped a soap, five times in a row!"