Police called out to several motorway incidents within yards of each other in last 24 hours

3:56pm Friday 15th March 2013 in News

SEVERAL incidents on the M6 have taken place within yards of each other over the last 24 hours.

A number of cars are thought to have collided at around 7pm last night, after a sudden hailstorm close to junction 35 for Carnforth.

The first incident took place on the southbound carriageway, when several vehicles 'shunted' and one hit the central reservation.

Then just minutes later police received reports of a second multiple-vehicle crash on the same stretch of motorway, on the northbound side.

It is thought the weather also caused the second incident.

Lanes two and three of the southbound carriageway were closed for some time as debris was cleared from the road.

Police were unable to say how many vehicles were involved.

A car also broke down, at the same spot, at around 9.15pm.

Then at around 8am this morning a female motorist travelling from Kendal towards Carnforth lost control of her vehicle in the third lane of the motorway and spun round by 180 degrees. It is thought water on the road caused the incident.

A final incident, also close to junction 35, took place at around 8.15am, when two vehicles collided. One ended up in the third - or fast - lane and one on the hard shoulder.

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Lane three was closed on both sides while debris was cleared.

Nobody is thought to have been seriously injured in any of the collisions.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "It seems like several of the incidents were weather-related."

Comments(16)

Cas220 says...
6:09pm Fri 15 Mar 13

Maybe it's time to sort out the drainage at this part of the motorway? Although I think the short slip road plays a part.

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jd@jdifa.co.uk says...
9:30am Sat 16 Mar 13

Could driver skill have anything to do with these crashes? Should we slow down in imperfect weather or bash on regardless an call the result an accident. Crashes are no accident.

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anjkitch99 says...
10:36am Sat 16 Mar 13

no,driver skill had nothing to do with it..i know i was involved in 1 of these collisions..this hail came from nowhere in seconds flooding the motorway."bash on"regardless would have been deadly.you only have to look at how many there were at the same time to realise that..and for me to have spun into the barrier and face wrong way down the m6 with an artic coming at me was terrifying!!.thankfu
lly nobady was hurt..

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Hoad Hill says...
11:29am Sat 16 Mar 13

There isn't a FAST lane any more than there is a SLOW lane.
Sloppy reporting Gazette!

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life cycle too says...
12:00pm Sat 16 Mar 13

anjkitch99, did you lose control of your vehicle on the dodgy surface, or were you simply struck by another vehicle that lost control?

Last year I was on the A1 near Newcastle in a really heavy rain storm, and I slowed down to 50 mph so as to prevent aquaplaning - and yet other drivers continued to pass at 70 mph - and the spray was such, that I became alarmed that one might run into me because I was travelling 20 mph slower - so I was forced to compromise and travel above 60 to lessen the risk.

I am interested what makes drivers lose control even in sudden downpour of hail, as once you lift your foot from the accelerator, it doesn't take long to lose speed safely - unless you are being followed by other drivers that refuse to react to the conditions.

►Then at around 8am this morning a female motorist travelling from Kendal towards Carnforth lost control of her vehicle in the fast lane of the motorway and spun round by 180 degrees. It is thought water on the road caused the incident.◄
Funny how she was in the FAST lane and spun... Sounds like aquaplaning to me - I wonder if many drivers on modern tyres these days do not appreciate the risk?

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anjkitch99 says...
6:41pm Sat 16 Mar 13

"life cycle".the motorway like i said in seconds became a lake,throwing up all kinds of debris(eg stones)which apparently caused the pile up behind me.id moved over from the second to 1st lane doing 55mph to which then my car aquaplaned.the lorry behind though didnt slow any,,until that is he had to avoid me!!.police put it down to a "freak of nature"..id say motorway drainage is needed..and yes i do agree other roads users do not sometimes think of others or their own safety.

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life cycle too says...
9:31am Mon 18 Mar 13

To be fair, in huge downpours, water pools around the drains in the same way it seems slow when you pull the plug in your sink - it only goes fast when it is not so deep.
There are practical reasons to not have huge gaping drains for the odd occasion when this happens.

In 2011 our premises were swamped by water that covered a normally well drained car park/roadway.

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BillyBob86 says...
10:23am Mon 18 Mar 13

anjkitch99, how can you suggest better drainage when you yourself say that the mototrway became flooded in seconds. Clearly no better drainage would of avoided the motorway becoming flooded at that point!

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lakeslover1 says...
12:53pm Mon 18 Mar 13

BillyBob86, you don't know what your talking about clearly better drainage and resurfacing is needed to remove this water before it becomes a menace!

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localboy_5 says...
10:50am Tue 19 Mar 13

I think what we really need to start is some sort of traffic calming measures for motorways to make the speed limits self enforcing. Something like rumble strips along certain sections. This and improved drainage would surely make it a much safer place.

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BillyBob86 says...
11:28am Tue 19 Mar 13

lakeslover1, Dennis would be cursing you right now, he worked hard and put effort in to earn the name 'menace' and would'nt apprieciate this water so easily being called a menace. Rumble strip may add a bit of extra grip in times of flash flooding. However I think we are getting off point that drainage is not the solution. Maybe stopping water hitting the road is what is called for, via a 'motorway umbrella' along the length of the motorway. This would stop unwanted rain and other weather affecting necessary travel.

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anjkitch99 says...
8:38pm Tue 19 Mar 13

So glad that"some"find it amusing..until its you involved in an accident.

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BillyBob86 says...
9:54am Wed 20 Mar 13

Why is some written as "some". I think your struggling with the concept of "...". I've been involved in many accidents in my life, however its even more infuriating when peope point to silly reason why the accident was caused as apposed to simply admitting that it was unavoidable severe instantanious flooding that was the cause.

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archiebored says...
11:39am Wed 20 Mar 13

or as in a lot of cases. driving like a div!

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anjkitch99 says...
3:39pm Wed 20 Mar 13

Driving like a div????.get a grip

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BillyBob86 says...
3:55pm Wed 20 Mar 13

People driving like divs is certainly a factor! Anjkitch99, you sound confident you didn't on this occasion drive like a div, however did you spin as you changed lanes as it would seem in previous posts? If so then maybe you swerved into the 1st too fast for the flooded conditions. If this is the case then reference the comment from archiebored.

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