Sheppey bridge accident

[Les Woodard]

Had a look into a car the other day and there was three gadgets on the dash for navigation and other crap. Add to this the mobile phone and cruise control as well as other gimmicks that the manufacturers can promote just to sell the bloody car. It is no wonder there are accidents on the road. Does not matter how good a driver you are or how safe your car is. It only takes on idiot to bring it all undone. This is modern society at its worse. So many safety features that people think that they are cocooned in a life support system. Must admit that seeing this pile up on the bridge gave me a chance to see the old island again. Sure a better bridge than the old one with its four posts.

[Les Woodard]

Thank Tony but do you know the worst bit of that photo. It is that I can recall that four poster replacing the bridge before that one and how the Bowater Scott ships would often run into it. Then we would have to cross of a ferry accessing it from the mud flats on each side. Mind you they did lay down pallets to keep us dry. Nephew likes the new bridge because if you do a ton over it on a motor bike you become airbourn at the very top. Also it seems that on a high wind day the semi's have problems because of its height. But this is all trivia and once again thanks mate.

[Lou Barron]

After reading all about the driving in the UK i must have struck it when all the drivers are are at the best when i was there mind you it was all in good weather and i did not drive as my daughter or my son in law did all the driving i thought the driving was very good with a the volume of traffic specially on the M25 and other big highways they were very good .In Dunedin the volume of traffic is nowhere like the UK but ithink our drivers are very bad mostly the younger ones the main faults is speed going through red lights ,no indication when changing lanes or turning and not given way but i suppose it could be as Les said to many distractions can be the problem

[Roger Dyer]

As one of the people who used to have to attend these incidents to cut out the remains of the dead, and also the living, i think when motorists are convicted of speeding, or reckless driving they should be made to watch some of the horrific scenes as punishment. i am sure they would then reflect on the misery caused. In 30 years in the Fire Service it was the part of the job i disliked the most, KT

Keith, reading your comments (with which I wholeheartedly agree) triggered for me the memory of a film I was once made to sit through in 1967. It was during the course of my training as a police officer in Sydney. Called 'Mechanized Death' it was a U.S.documentary produced for the purpose of introducing trainees to the scenes of horror that confront Police Officers and other Emergency Service Officers during the course of their work. They crammed 140 of us, all males, into a small auditorium. 'Graphic' does not adequately describe that which then unfolded on the screen. It consisted of footage (sight and sound) taken at the scene of a number of different fatal accidents, some of it in 'grainy' black and white, but most of it in 'living' colour (forgive the unfortunate misnomer). The carnage was mind-numbing and for a short time thereafter I felt traumatized by what I had seen, but realised that if I wanted to make a career of policing it was something I must be prepared to endure from time to time (and I did)...........The piercing sound of a siren, the darkness of the night broken by revolving lights, their splintered reflection spread across the surface of a rain-swept highway, the distorted mass of metal that bears little resemblance to the large family sedan it once was. A tattered piece of blue check material that still clings to the disembodied arm lying on the road waiting for someone to place into a bag. On it's side, a solitary high-heel shoe for which the owner will have no further use. The camera pans across the interior of a large sedan which now resembles a slaughterhouse, unidentified chunks of red meat strewn across the seats and floor, like pieces of a macabre jig-saw puzzle that only a pathologist will be able to solve. The film moves on to another scene of horror, a daytime collision in a winter wonderland, involving several vehicles all seriously damaged, one lying on it's side, ambulances are in attendance offering aid to the injured, but they can do nothing for the two lifeless forms covered in plastic sheets that lie on stretchers awaiting removal to a mortuary. A snow-covered bank at the side of the road has been trampled upon. The contents of a woman's handbag lie scattered in the snow and nearby red blotches stain the pristine whiteness. Moving on, the film centres on a man trapped in a mass of twisted metal, the agony evident in his voice, pleading for someone to help him, the faces of would-be rescuers reflecting the impotence they feel in knowing that the equipment they need to free him may not arrive in time. Watching this film as it progressed from one horrendous scene to the next, bombarded my senses like I had never before experienced, yet for me the most unforgettable moment was at the scene of a collision in which there had been multiple fatalities. The camera followed a State Trooper as he leaned forwarded into the rear of a car and lifted something from the floor. He turned to face the camera, revealing a tiny baby cradled in his arms, the body of the little mite unmarked yet lifeless. The veteran trooper can do nothing to prevent the tears streaming down his face and doesn't even try.

At the end of the film we tumbled out into the sunlight, some attempting a certain bravado by making totally tasteless remarks, but like the rest of us, unable to hide the shock evident in their faces. I look back now and still marvel that I had sufficient will to press on with the training programme, because for a while I felt troubled by what I'd seen. Strange that three years later as an investigator of accidents I would, like you, become 'professional' in the business of clearing-up and trying to make sense of the carnage we witnessed during the course of our work. At some time, you may have pondered as did I, that apart from scenes witnessed by those in military combat, there are few called upon to endure the sort of horror we confronted from time to time.

To expose reckless drivers, anti-social morons and their ilk to a modern version of the film I described might make some of them think again about the stupidity of what they do and the harm and lasting grief their actions create within the community. If it saved one life it would be worth it, but I suspect the need for a programme of rehabilitation such as this has probably been suggested before, but then dismissed on the grounds that such exposure would be far too radical and traumatic (when in truth they are really only concerned with the cost of such a venture). Call me cynical, but don't call me late for breakfast.



..................................Roger

[Keith Tindell]

I could not agree more Roger, the effect it has on us members of the emergency services alone is quite telling. No matter how many of these incidents you attend, there is always an effect. On return to the station it would be a cuppa, and then a silence as all persons reflect. The one part that did not fall to us in the Fire Service thankfully, but was down to you the Police Force, was having to knock on some poor souls door with the terrible news. I do think short sharp shock for these drivers would shake some up. Who knows, but we could try, KT

[Robert T. Bush]

Drunks driving has not been mentioned but it is rife here in the US.

My daughter was hit by a young drunk driver, luckily she was not seriously hurt.

Apart from the Salvation Army about the only charity I subscribe to here is MADD or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. They try to get these morons punished effectively so that they will not do it again but it is an uphill battle against corruption.

Norway has the best anti drunk driving laws and law enforcement I have seen, no excuses and very stiff punishments.

At my advanced age I no longer drive at night partly because that is when the happy hour louts are on the road.

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi Shipmates. Hi Collin,I was a motor bike rider for 7 years {two accidents} hit Black ice at 30 mph came off bike, it hurt !!! and the other hit a car on a junction my fault wearing sun classes in the rain? I was pretty stupid back then.but looked cool !! Car driving over 27 years clean lincence no points loads of near misses, people who drive fast in bad conditions fog and heavy rain, dont only get themself killed. but cause many accidents? but we all do it today? going about our business and running late. old donkey man saying{ better late here than early for fiddlers green}

[Mike Hall]

Sorry I do not think there were any drunks driving at the time.
It was 07.15 in the morning that the accident happened.
They say the problem was the fog and the bridge design.

"That morning on the approach to the bridge it was a sunny day, then when they drove up to the top of the bridge they were in fog, and on driving down the other side, they were back in bright sunlight again. "

That's all.

Mike

[robpage]

Whilst agreeing that the Bridge design is not good in the area it is in , I have a good friend who was Breathalysed at lunchtime one Sunday , and the effects from the night before , drinking heavily until midnight threw him slightly over the limit , enough for as years ban . I see some people , older and younger , especially on spirits drink enough for them to fail a Breath Test for the most of the next day

[robpage]

This might be of interest

http://www.morning-after.org.uk/

Drink 5 cans of Super strength cider and you are not safe to drive for 21 hours , so If you finish drinking the fifth can at midnight don't drive until 9 PM the next day . Some of these times are scarey , and I know I have driven to work before well over the limit .