Driving to stop in distance you can see

[james01]

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/mot ... -up-truck/
There seem to be more and more cases like this.
While not knowing the exact details of this case, it seems to confirm that the official line is that it's acceptable to drive at a speed which assumes the road around a blind corner is clear. The pickup driver appears to be getting penalised (probably quite rightly), but not the Porsche driver.
The fact that the pickup driver was carrying out an ill-advised manoeuvre should be irrelevant as far as the Porsche driver's guilt is concerned.What if he'd failed to stop if confronted by, for example, the aftermath of a previous accident with casualties lying in the road ? Would the police still say "speed not a factor, nobody's fault"?

[Cyril Haearn]

Sorry, the Express & Star is not publishing comments on this

Obviously the *sleb* was going too fast, HC applies, why do the cops do nothing?

[Wanlock Dod]

...What if he'd failed to stop if confronted by, for example, the aftermath of a previous accident with casualties lying in the road ?

We might get to find out sooner rather than later given this incident, which doesn't even seem to have been hidden around a corner. I suspect you are right.

[fastpedaller]

...What if he'd failed to stop if confronted by, for example, the aftermath of a previous accident with casualties lying in the road ?

We might get to find out sooner rather than later given this incident, which doesn't even seem to have been hidden around a corner. I suspect you are right.

Regrettably it appears (to me anyway) that the Police just want to close the cases with the least possible work. A couple of miles from us a guy was clearing garden waste into a trailer parked 200 yards from the nearest bend (correctly and visible) at the side of the road on the back of his Transit van. Thankfully he wasn't standing behind the trailer as he'd have probably ended up with life-changing injuries. He was however in the trailer when a woman drove her car straight into the back of it. Good visibility, 10:30 a.m. no excuse but the Police didn't make any charges. Lad ended up in Hospital with cuts, bruises and a broken arm I believe. Did they think he'd reversed into her of something!
"It's ok - covered by insurance" seems to be the mantra these days.

[Barks]

Hmm Top Gear presenter goes round blind bend at 60mph and is in collision with an unseen obstruction. Apart from ‘unsurprising’ it would be interesting to know the ‘accident’ history and speeding points tallies of the various presenters over the years - i’m Curious to know whether or not faced with a similar situation again he might show more caution or how would he be if he was driving my little ‘runaround’ which might not have given such allround protection. These people are danger to everyone on the roads.

[Postboxer]

If there wasn't any speed, there couldn't be a collision, so it must be a factor, I hope people are tweeting him, copying his tweet but changing the pick up truck to various other scenarios, ie

"Came around a corner yesterday to find a gigantic hole in the middle of the road. Unavoidable. Just one of those things. The Porsche 911 looked after us brilliantly. No one hurt, cars can be replaced."

"Came around a corner yesterday to find an accident scene, with an ambulance with loads of high vis and flashing lights on it, in the middle of the road. Unavoidable. Just one of those things. The Porsche 911 looked after us brilliantly. No one hurt, cars can be replaced."

[MikeF]

He added: “Police confirmed speed wasn’t a factor. And I wasn’t the one issued with a penalty notice.” Err? So why did he have a collision? But we only have a newspaper report so we don't know what actually happened.

[Cyril Haearn]

I think the pickup driver should not have been punished
Obviously the sleb was going too fast

[The utility cyclist]

Typical of police, can't even understand the basics of the law,ignore the HC when it suits them and blame victims instead of those that are actually doing something far worse. Like the guy recently who was found culpable for the deaths of his passengers because he'd pulled over and had been drinking. The person who smashed into them killing multiple persons got off completely. Sick indictment of the so called justice system!

[Peejay56]

When I did my Institute of Advanced Motorists car test (with Police examiner) I was told "You should be able to stop in the distance you can see, in full control and remain on your own side of the road".
Harris in the wrong for me. Speed must have been a factor - he couldn't stop!

Pete.

[Cyril Haearn]

Wrong again (?) one should be able to stop in --half-- the distance one can see to be clear, one should expect moving vehicles too, not just stationary or maneuvering ones or loitering beasts

Hope I never encounter a *sleb*

[kylecycler]

To be fair to Chris Harris he's not a 'sleb'; he was a well respected, vastly experienced and highly accomplished motoring journalist and road tester long before he was on the TV, and he's always come across in his writing as a decent, genuine and thoughtful character. But he was still cornering too fast to be able to stop safely on the other side.

Worst thing would have been if it had been a horse, not a pickup truck, and then there would have been carnage. And the "Unavoidable. Just one of these things" excuse might not have sounded quite so convincing.

Trouble is, unless you're driving the way he was driving the Porsche, there's no point in driving a Porsche. But with the traffic on the roads nowadays, especially, a Porsche's levels of performance are just a ridiculous, potentially lethal anachronism. So there is no point in driving a Porsche.

One of Chris Harris's mentors and heroes was the great motoring journalist Leonard ('LJK') Setright. I've always remembered a road test Setright did in 'CAR' magazine of the Fiat 126, of all things, where he used the expression, "You don't need a fast car to drive fast" - and you don't! It's the same with bicycles - if you ride a lighter, faster bike, you're not any faster a rider than if you ride a heavier, slower bike, you just get there sooner.

[peetee]

I think the pickup driver should not have been punished
Obviously the sleb was going too fast

Indeed he was but if the truck driver had, for example, overshot his destination and had the opportunity to drive further and turn around in a safer location then he is at least culpable.

[awavey]

He added: “Police confirmed speed wasn’t a factor. And I wasn’t the one issued with a penalty notice.” Err? So why did he have a collision? But we only have a newspaper report so we don't know what actually happened.

well it could be that the pick up truck had reached the facing the kerb point, and just reversed without looking that the road was still clear,

or theyd just assumed other traffic would simply stop for them till theyd completed their move. or didnt even clock they were there as its happened to me twice, once on bike and once in a car, a lorry parked facing me on the opposite side of the road,as Im heading towards them,and with no indication from them at all , they just turned straight in front of me to do a 3 point turn, basically because the driver wasnt even looking towards the traffic oncoming like me, they were staring at what was coming up behind them, didnt lead to an accident but could easily have done

so it is possible for sure,that a 3pt turner can be blamed for causing it, no idea if that happened here, Chris Harris did give his views on what he thought of Jeremy Vines opinion of renaming Drive Time, which I thought told me all I needed to know about his attitude to driving though

[Barks]

Well if this idiot is an experienced road tester what was he doing driving at 60mph around a blind bend - I reiterate he is an idiot and arrogant to boot. He is not fit to drive a car on the public highway and the police in this case have let us down.