Phone + BMW = Crunch

[bunrotha]

Another almost-candidate for a Darwin award.

Background: our company did well last year, so CEO skimmed a bit off his Scrooge McDuck-style money pool, and bought us all tickets to the Cheltenham Festival. 6.15am departure from the office in 2x 7-seater Mercedes limovan things.

We were pootling along the Oxford road from the M40, things having slowed down to about 30mph as it's a bit after 8 and everyone is on their way to either work or Cheltenham Festival. I'm in the back row of seats, facing forward, when the guy opposite me in front suddenly got big eyes, and I heard a tinkly crunching noise. That was just enough time to brace before an almighty whack that lifted our back end off the ground.

One guy shouted to leave your belts on for a few seconds, in case something else connected, but after nothing did, all out at speed to see, basically, WTF?

I'll spare y'all the aftermath, but the upshot was that only one injury needed an ambulance, and it was the woman who we think caused it.

I spent a good hour waiting for replacement transport, and had a nice chat with the police sergeant overseeing what became a 7 car pileup with 20 people that blocked a main road for about 30 minutes. His view (pending any report saying otherwise) was that Ms Casualty has come steaming down the onramp 100m back, at maximum acceleration, in her BMW X3, possibly on her phone, because she had been going very much faster than the cars she hit- we were doing 30, so Cthulu alone know how fast she was going.. the impact with us was her third, and still had enough force to rip the whole wheel off our van and shunt us into the van in front.

If she wasn't on her phone, she was so inattentive that the sarge's view was if it transpired things were as he thought, Ms Casualty would be having a day in court, for either careless or dangerous driving.

The UK scale for motorised f***ups is:
Driving without due care and attention > Careless/inconsiderate Driving > Dangerous driving, so this is book=thrown.

We don't have vehicular homicide as such. If someone dies, the offence is Causing Death by or Causing Serious Injury by (same scale) so the only thing above "Dangerous Driving" is "Causing Death or Serious Injury by Dangerous Driving." There but for the grace of seatbelts and airbags go we...

It seems that following a few other incidents, including this one the local courts have a very dim view of this sort of thing.

I am quietly hoping that the magistrates court send this one upstairs so that hizzoner can administer a proper judicial shoeing.

[RealUnimportant]

First & foremost: huzzah at a lack of death or disfigurement!

As to how far up her backside they're liable to shove her mobile phone, I think it comes down first of all to how she pleads. If she's as dumb about law as she is about safe driving, she may want to state "her side of the story" which will mean a day in court - and that's where the big punishments can happen. She may be offered a lesser punishment in exchange for a guilty plea, so it might not go that far... But we can hope

Disclaimer: IANAL, nor do I play one on television.

[Sliceanddice]

I was once in a 6 car pile up.
It was caused by Satellite company van not starting to slow down at the top of hll but instead accelerating so that when the car infront of me is cut off and had to stop short and i then had to stop short, which i did safely but with only a few inches from the front of my car to the bumper, and then my car being hit by said van at speed shoved into the car infront of me.

then when my dad came to pick me up to take me to the hospital (didn't think i needed an ambulance), he parked behind the police car on the shoulder per ok by the cop, and while he was helping me find my glasses that fell off during the accident into the car so he can take me to the er once the cop gave us the police report when suddenly we hear CRASH CRASH! as an idiot in a luxary card also going at speed down the hill got distracted (according to him his shoe had slipped off and right then was the perfect time to fix it) swerved and ramed into my dads car shoving it into the police car.

we asked for the ambulance as there was no going to be more paper work and i was in increasing pain (i had a severly bruised foot that i was sure had some breaks but nope)

no one died though

[Chromatix]

This sort of thing is why automatic collision-avoidance systems are being built into new cars. They're not infallible, but they'll certainly help to avoid many and mitigate most.

The NTSB has already recommended that they be fitted to *all* new vehicles.

[MadMike]

I have no idea if this person was on the phone or not, but I got to see an accident happen right in front of me. I was stopped at a red light behind a SUV. When the light turned green, the SUV pulled forward, and got slammed into by some idiot who ran the light. I don't know if he just didn't notice the light had changed, or if he was one of those people who try to beat the light, even though it already turned yellow when they were a block away.

I picked up my phone so I could call the cops, only to find out they were already there. The car a few cars behind the guy who caused the accident happened to be an unmarked cop car. I guess that time there actually was a copy around when you needed one.

I couldn't hear what was being said, but from the gestures and facial expressions, it looked like the idiot was actually arguing with the cop. The scary part is, if I had left the house a few seconds sooner, it could have been me. And considering that he hit the SUV hard enough to make it rock, it probably would have rolled my little Saturn.

[Slave to the Phone]

I was almost hit by someone on a cell phone. I was riding to work, going 55 in a 50 mph zone, slowly passing someone in the right lane. The intersection we were coming up on had just turned green for oncoming traffic, which meant that the left hand turn lights were red. I could see someone in the oncoming left turn lane who wasn't slowing down for the red light and I saw that he was holding a phone to his head with his left hand.

I'm a biker, I watch out for this sort of thing. I hit the brakes, checked my mirrors and skidded to a stop in the left hand turn lane on my side. (did that because I didn't want to get rear ended because I can stop a lot faster than most cars. nobody in the left turn lane.) The idiot cellphone dude t-boned the guy I had been passing.

If I hadn't been paying attention, I would have been between the cellphone jerk and the innocent person who got hit. No ambulances were needed, but several people stopped to be witnesses, me included. To a person, everyone pointed fingers at the idiot with the cellphone.

[notalwaysright]

Lately I've been outside more because the weather is so nice. I keep seeing bicyclists using their phones while riding. Not generally talking on the phone, which funnily enough I think would be safer, they would at least be looking up at the road. No, they've all been looking down at their phone, texting or tweeting or whatever. I saw one kid (probably biking home from the nearby HS) who nearly fell over because his bike had slowed down so much while he was distracted. At least he was on the sidewalk, but it's still a terrifying habit. Almost as bad as these teenage drivers.

There are some painfully long lights that I have to sit through, so I always look at the drivers as they go by. So many are on the phone. And some are in such stupidly huge SUVs that they cut the corner sharp because they are steering with one hand. I always stop at the white line, instead of one or two car lengths back like other people do. I swear it's like the end of the world because then cars are forced to stay in their own lane instead of cutting into mine. Some intersections have concrete dividers and I have seen people bump them with their tires. It's not like these are narrow roads, they have SO MUCH room.

[protege]

I got hit by some idiot who was messing with his phone--2 days after New Year's 2000, and about a week after my brothers were in a near-fatal accident caused by some douche on his phone T-boning them. I was on my way to work, and the last car in a line of stopped traffic. The guy rammed me doing 40mph I saw him bearing down on me, but there was nothing I could do but jam the brakes and hope I didn't get pushed into the car in front of me. The impact took out my Tercel's left rear corner...and the entire front end of his (wife's!) '99 Lexus E-something. I sure hope the massive hit to his insurance--and getting ripped a new asshole by his wife--was worth that phone call.

Seriously, what the hell is so important that you have to be on the phone 24/7? Hang up and drive.

[bunrotha]

I always stop at the white line, instead of one or two car lengths back like other people do. I swear it's like the end of the world because then cars are forced to stay in their own lane instead of cutting into mine.

Thread-Hijack question time!

Do folk stop back because of lights in hard-to-see places, to allow room for bikes, or just to get a run-up?

I ask because some folk do that in my town, with an unforeseen consequence. The induction loops that tell the lights when someone is waiting, are right up by the line. You stop a car length back, the lights take an age to change because the controller box can't "see" you. I know newer lights have the little (radar? IR? Camera) thing on top of the light poles, but the busiest junction in these parts still has only those induction loops, and the light poles are arranged so you can't see your light without ducking when you are pulled up to the line.

Side effect: there's no way to tell the car in front to pull up to the lights without appearing to be an absolute arse. So I end up waiting for the lights to do their "long" cycle.

[notalwaysright]

Do folk stop back because of lights in hard-to-see places, to allow room for bikes, or just to get a run-up?

I will pick option D. People have no spacial awareness. They don't realize how far back they are, and in fact think they are up at the line. I also think people stay back because of how sharply people cut the corners. They're actually giving room for people to do it, so they do it even worse...

There are some intersections here which have a green area up front (but behind the crosswalk) for bikes to stop in. I still get very nervous when bicyclists weave through the stopped cars to get up to that green area.

[Pagan]

At least he was on the sidewalk, but it's still a terrifying habit. Almost as bad as these teenage drivers.

To be fair, I've seen plenty of grown-ass adults pulling this shit, too. And no, I don't even touch my phone when I'm driving. Tried it once years ago out on the interstate with nobody around me for miles and realized talking on the phone and driving is not things I can do successfully at the same time.

I will pick option D.

There's also option E. They stop that far back and...then...creep...up...through...the...light... and then sit there and stare at it when it turns green.

[protege]

I also think people stay back because of how sharply people cut the corners. They're actually giving room for people to do it, so they do it even worse...

There are some places that if you pull up to the line...you'll get nailed by a city bus. They have no choice but to swing wide to get around corners. So naturally, most people stay back a bit. The best though, have to be the morons that will go around a line of cars to be "first" and then have to suddenly get out of the way when the bus comes