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I've mentioned on here before the crazy overtakes I regularly see on the A68. Last night the inevitable happened... 🙁
Driving down from Edinburgh we were near Oxton way. Traffic was slowing in front. Young guy on a motorbike had other ideas and started booting it past the queue. What he didn't realise was that we were slowing for the guy at the front to turn right into a small side road! He tried to swerve but there was another car coming out the side road so the motorcyclist had nowhere to go but into the turning car's front wing at 60+
Rider and bike somersaulted a good distance down the road, losing his helmet in the process. A horrific sight that is still replaying itself in my mind.
MrsS (a doctor) was out the car in a flash, straight over to the victim and took control. She ended up kneeling next to him holding his jaw to protect his airway whilst giving updates to ambulance control on the phone.
Amazingly the queue of traffic also happened to have at least two other doctors in it who came to assist and an off-duty copper who got out his high-viz and directed traffic to keep the site safe.
Not long after a car that had gone past already turned and came back again. The driver looking very shaken. It was the motorcyclist's dad who had been following a short distance behind with all his son's belongings from uni. I think he'd driven through the incident before he realised what it was.
I can't imagine how sick he felt or how he managed to remain so composed.
The lad made it to hospital but obviously we don't know any more than that. Good luck fella!
It was a long slow careful drive home for us after that.
Please be careful out there.
Ooof. Well played to your lady, I hope the lad and everyone involved is okay.
I'm more in awe of her than ever Lifer.
The guy wasn't breathing on his own when she got to him. If she wasn't there then there is a good chance he'd have stayed that way. 😯
Well done to Mrs Gee2DaEss!! Steezy girl!! Jeez, it's always a shaky uppy experience to see it all unfold in front of you like that. Hope the biker lives to learn his lesson.
A sobering story
GrahamS - MemberI'm more in awe of her than ever Lifer.
The guy wasn't breathing on his own when she got to him. If she wasn't there then there is a good chance he'd have stayed that way.
Sounds like he's very lucky that you and your Wife were in the queue!
Hopefully he'll be OK!
Funnily enough on the way in to work, I was thinking that 2015 will be the year that I get round to doing a first aid course. You never know when even simple first aid might save someone's life (not that I'm suggesting what your Wife dealt with was simple, but you know what I mean?).....
Bad flooding on my drive in to work today, 3 cars parked in the field at the worst bit on the A703.
Big thanks to the driver who flashed their lights at me 100 metres up the road - I hit the water at a steady and controlled 40mph thankfully.
Since Thursday I have made a number of car trips, nothing very far 25m tops.
Only on one trip have not seen a emergency vehicle at full tilt.
The standard of driving has gone out the window.
Be careful out there.
The standard of driving has gone out the window.Be careful out there.
Yeah, this time of year.
Roads are always wet, it's usually dark, everyone is in a rush, I'm guessing a reasonable percentage have had a least one drink and the entire country "needs" to travel to relatives or wherever else they're spending Christmas. Recipe for disaster.
Well done to Mrs GrahamS, sounds lucky you guys were there!
I've witnessed/taken avoiding action about 5 times this winter. Every single one as been the 'look once' driver in a rush who has managed to miss my big bodied transit with head lights permanently on (and a couple who pulled out in front of oncoming traffic).
I've also crashed my pushbike into a car who's driver appeared to have seen me and was waiting (no other traffic to wait for) only to pull out leaving me to bounce off the wing into the outside lane of a dual carriageway.
Look Twice Drivers!
Good work Mr and Mrs GrahamS. Fingers crossed for the lad and his family.
A good friend is in the St John's Ambulance and ended up doing something similar when she'd nipped out for a pint of milk. Saved the guy's life.
You never know when even simple first aid might save someone's life (not that I'm suggesting what your Wife dealt with was simple, but you know what I mean?).....
Yeah after seeing her in action I'm thinking the same thing.
She said herself that she isn't a trauma doctor or a paramedic, so all she really did was keep her head, do basic ABC and wait for the pros to show up.
I think she is too modest, she did a bit more than that, but it was a point well made: if it had been just me there he wouldn't have made it. 😯
Well done. We drove down the A68 from Edinburgh yesterday evening too (around 6pm) and the conditions were atrocious. I don't mind driving that road when it's dry and light, but horizontal sleet in the dark was very unpleasant. It's one of my worst nightmares that I come across an accident like that and am not able to help (and I'm medically trained!).
I often wish I'd become a doctor. Full respect.
Well done Mrs S.
Long time ago something similar nearly happened to me. Since then, when going to turn right, I get well over towards the centreline so my indicators aren't masked by the car behind. Often that's the car too close behind, but that's their style. So moving over cuts their view past and gets their attention.
I commend this solution to the house.
when going to turn right, I get well over towards the centreline so my indicators aren't masked by the car behind.
All comes down to observation again, doesn't it.
On a bike, you're taught to do a final shoulder check before committing to a turn like that. They call it the "life-saver." It really needs drumming in to car drivers too, if the driver in the OP had done the check it may well have prevented the accident.
Though of course, filtering past near-stationary traffic at 60mph isn't the smartest idea in any case.
Also, overtaking (which is what the motorcyclist was doing) is a very bad idea near junctions, as tragically illustrated 🙁 That's why they put those warning signs up. Do people even notice them?
It always amazes me while biking how many people overtake past junctions; I've seen quite a few near misses when someone is overtaking and someone else emerges from a side road on the right, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision.
[i]a final shoulder check before committing to a turn like that[/i]
It works in cars too, which is why I didn't get a high-status import ramming my driver's door.
I get well over towards the centreline so my indicators aren't masked by the car behind
Lately, I have noticed a lot more people making manoeuvres without indicating! scary stuff
It works in cars too,
Indeed.
I always do it in the car these days, but for me at least it was a side effect of learning to ride a motorbike. I don't remember being taught it when I was learning to drive, or at least, if I was then it wasn't stressed sufficiently to stick in my head.
I think not looking before you make a move is more of a crime than not indicating, some folk seem to feel that a cheery indication is all that is required to change lanes. I trust nobody in any case, all the flashing orange light means is that their indicator works.
That was close(ish) call part two this morning, a driver indicating that he was leaving the roundabout, but kept on coming. I had my doubts so was already on the brakes when he segued across to where I was heading.
Also, overtaking (which is what the motorcyclist was doing) is a very bad idea near junctions
Which is why it's explicitly forbidden in the highway code.....
Funnily enough on the way in to work, I was thinking that 2015 will be the year that I get round to doing a first aid course. You never know when even simple first aid might save someone's life (not that I'm suggesting what your Wife dealt with was simple, but you know what I mean?).....
Do it.
I've seen quite a few near misses when someone is overtaking and someone else emerges from a side road on the right, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision.
That's a classic a few roads from me. To get down to the main road you have to go two sides of a square. Which 2 sides is up to you - but the 'main' route is a bus route. So many times i've seen people go the other way to try to get out in front of the bus or slower traffic, which means a quick glance to the right and then go if the way's 'clear'.
Unfortunately there's a bus stop right opposite and if a bus is there it doesn't matter if the way is clear to your right, anything coming the other way is going to be on 'your' side of the road. Easy to say you shouldn't overtake opposite a junction, but if in doing so and a car came out of the side road and head-onned you, whose fault would it be?
Queues of traffic don't generally stop or slow suddenly without a reason, sadly some people only discover this in a terrible way 🙁
Sounds very lucky that you and your wife were there OP, fingers crossed for a successful outcome
Well done Mrs S.
I'm First Aid trained with work and have had to use it twice now in the real world, once for an angina attack my neighbor had and the other was for a badly concussed young rider. Do it, as it could save a life and stop you kicking yourself for not doing it.
That's a classic a few roads from me.
Took a couple of reads to work out what you're describing, but yes, there's a similar thing near me. Side road ends at a Give Way into a T-junction, thus:
Unfortunately, the major road has traffic-calming measures in the form of street furniture making chicanes and pinch points. If you follow the link you can see that there's directly after the junction to the right, which would be fine if people approaching from the left didn't routinely swing over onto the wrong side of the road to try and straighten out the manoeuvre. So folk joining look right, see that it's clear, continue pulling out and then have to jam on the anchors as something whizzes past in a blur inches from their front bumper from a direction they've not even looked in yet.
PS it's an RTC these days, no longer with the A for accident.
you might want to get the mods to edit that post for you...
I've fixed the link (I think).
Cheers aracer, cougar. Bizarre, the (fixed) link is what it should be. the other one isn't my front door, it's a random house on the same road as the junction i was talking about.
Ouch. Never been that close to an accident thankfully. Seen aftermath of several, usually the A9.
Friend of ours, doctor, usually carried a central line in her car (though it was so untidy not sure what good it'd be) and aI think she's used it a handful of times. TBH that level of severity, maybe not much any first aid course could do..
Hope you're OK GrahamS - wife will be fine I'm sure but hugs from STW I think..
Ouch again. Feel a bit sick now 🙁
[quote=Cougar ]you might want to get the mods to edit that post for you...
I've fixed the link (I think).
Your link still has the same privacy issue, I think you need to start from scratch to get rid of it...
Been a fatality on one of my commute routes today . Car + Motorbike involved unfortunaly. Road closed near Portsdown hill , Pompey . Horrible thing for family and friends to come to terms with at any time , even worse at xmas.
Well done on the First Aid. Hope the kid makes it.
I just nearly had a head on with a van in cosham STM, he clocked my shoulder with his wing mirror at about 25mph, closest I've ever come to being knocked off!
He pulled in about 50 yards down the road so thought I better go have a word, he just didn't see me! Was distracted talking to his daughter apparently. No harm done so no need to go to town on him as he seemed genuinely concerned. But still scary stuff.
Must be something they've put in the water down here 😕
Hats off to MrsGrahamS.
Around a third of all rtc fatalities are due to compromised airways. They have injuries which are survivable, but the airway is blocked so they die due to being unable to breath. A simple jaw thrust or head tilt would often save them but the first on the scene either don't know what to do or think they can't move them due to risk of spinal injuries.
A few months ago I was assisting the instructor on a wilderness first aid course. After demonstrating the jaw thrust and the symptoms of blocked airway (snoring noise) a woman in her 20's burst into tears. It seems her mum had died when she was very young after falling down the stairs at home. Her dad told her that he heard her fall and went to her. She was unconscious and snoring. Her dad said she snored for a couple of minutes then died. The women on the course was devastated to learn that her mum could possibly, even probably, have been saved by simply opening the airway.
Well done MrsGrahamS.
If you don't know how to open an airway go on a first aid course. Book it now.
One of my friends was saved by another club rider after he crashed his mtb and started snoring whilst unconscious. Without intervention he would have died
In several other European countries basic first aid is tought in schools to kids from the age of 8. They generally have better rtc survival rates than we do.
Booked that course yet???
^ +1000
First aid should be taught in schools/ all workplaces. Just the basics really can save lives.
Wifey and I were just remarking tonight that it's carnage on the roads round here at the moment. It's constant sirens outside our house and I've passed 2 car crashes in the last 3 days all within 10 miles of our place. 2 local girls killed last week in a car crash just down the road. Very sad.
It's like Xmas is the only date in the calendar these days that is fixed and everyone's rushing to get everything sorted before it comes round. Everyone's thinking about christmas and what they haven't got, need to get rather than concentrating on what they are doing. Seriously, everyone, take a step back and get it in perspective.
Friend of ours, doctor, usually carried a central line in her car (though it was so untidy not sure what good it'd be) and aI think she's used it a handful of times. TBH that level of severity, maybe not much any first aid course could do..
As pointed out above , a simple opening of the airway can make all the difference, so first aid courses are well worth the effort. Well done to Mrs GrahamS,it's probably been a fair while since she did a stint in A&E and not having to take helmet off makes a big difference - although the fact it came off during the crash is really not good 🙁
The OP reminds me of a lad who was sideswiped off his bike by a car doing circa 40-50 up a dual carriageway and (I presume had shot a red light as it was match day 1/2 mile up the road at Man Utd and people were in a hurry to get to the grounds/park).
I was bicycling back from the gym and although it was a bright busy day only me and a bus driver intervened until a van full of Police turned up. Everyone on the bus sat and gawped as did bystanders. I even had to stand infront of his body and direct cars racing up the dual carriageway away from him. Thankfully when I called the hospital later the Doc(?) said his injuries wouldn't be life changing 😀
It's nuts out there. I drove from Edinburgh to Aberdeen then to Glasgow then back to Edinburgh last week and it was alarming !
My worst case was coming across a rolled car on a country road in the dark and fog. Driver had been thrown (no seatbelt?) and passenger was already gone. Managed to get the driver going again but was very aware i was kneeling in the middle of the road on my own and v vulnerable. Thank the lord the next car that happened across us was a police officer. Still think about it and it was 20+ yrs ago !
On the subject of first aid, I'm sure I've mentioned previously how Mrs CB and I came across what looked like an RTA on the A710 3 or 4 years back, surrounded by a crowd of people, only to find that the driver had obviously arrested.
Although an ambulance had been called, no-one had even bothered to try some basic CPR on the gent who'd been driving, and so we steamed in.
Sadly, we never got him back, but I know the family got some comfort from the fact that someone had at least tried.
the driving test gets harder and harder to pass yet the level of idiots gets worse.
i am going to get flamed but i cannot understand why cars and bikes have such high max speeds nothing needs to go over 100mph really does it.
but i cannot understand why cars and bikes have such high max speeds nothing needs to go over 100mph really does it.
car thieves, robbers and other crimianls and most who drive german cars.
Good job MrsGrahamS.
She deserves plenty of good wine as token of appreciation.
😀
Tis the season to be [s]merry[/s] a complete dick on the roads. I've seen more bad driving over the past 2-3 weeks than I have all year and it's usually at speeds of up to 80mph on the motorway - and apart from the usual tailgaiting, it's generally of the swerving in and out of lanes into already ridiculously small gaps.
It amazes me how many people are so desperate to get home a few seconds earlier, that they'll risk not getting home at all (and taking numerous others with them). I'm not against speed - I'm against richardheads
I’ve been wondering about posting this for a while, as it is not my story to tell … but I guess everyone likes a bit of good news.
Due to a strange bit of “six degrees of Kevin Bacon”, I live round the corner from GrahamS and also know the father of the unfortunate biker.
The young man spent Christmas and some of January in a drug induced coma (no doubt over the top of one caused by the accident), I believe everyone thought the prognosis was very poor (the worst).
By the end of January he was out of the coma.
This week, I was told that things had got even better:
"is now at xyz Hospital learning to walk again apart from that everything is nearly back to normal, doctors can't believe how quick he is recovering."
So well done Mrs GrahamS, the NHS and everyone inbetween!
😀
Rob likes this
If only the forum had a like button
Bonzer.
Top work MrsS.
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Cheers LabWormy. I was likewise unsure if I should post an update, but you're right, it's nice to be able to relay some good news for once.
As for MrsGrahamS, well despite her NHS hardened skin, she had a good little cry to herself when she heard the lad had made it. 🙂
Excellent news. Well done all involved 🙂
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Drs are shit though eh....
Good to hear that the lad is benefiting from some top class physiotherapy provided by the NHS.
Great news*
*even more so as a motorcyclist myself.
Woah my bus home tonight has some dust in the air.
I started reading some of the older posts on here looking for the new ones. Last 1st aid course I went, the instructor was brilliant. every injury that was covered finished with "and what's the worst kind of *insert injury here*??!" initially followed by much umming and aahing....
Over to STW first aiders...
+1Hats off to MrsGrahamS
I taught major incident management for some years and was always acutely aware that I might be walking through other's emotional minefields. Over the course of 6 or 7 years I met people with first hand experience of the Bradford fire, the Herald of Free Enterprise and Dunblane. Very sobering.The women on the course was devastated to learn that her mum could possibly, even probably, have been saved by simply opening the airway.
Fab update, great news!
So well done Mrs GrahamS, the NHS and everyone inbetween!
Absolutely! Fantastic stuff.
😀
i do a 70 mile round trip everyday.
standard of driving is awful, i tend to leave a good 10M between me and the car in front these days, its so much safer, usually results in me being tailgated pretty regular, I drive a pretty meaty car with loads of power and 500+ftlbs of torque but rarely do i overtake. i tend to sit back and watch the disasters unfold.
in the past week i've seen gritters on the M1 doing 80+ MPH while gritting !
another gritter trying to grit an A road in Milton keynes and loosing the back end on corner as he was going around 60mph round an opposing chamber with a lot of weight (really thought he was going to take me with him as i was coming the other way)
red light runners everywhere, nobody seems to give a hoot anymore. but then who's going to do anything about the police are non-existent.
sat nav's placed right in the middle of the windscreen or in front of the eyes, I'm sure that illegal. again who's going to enforce it.
and locally there a dual carriageway that has an underpass so people can get from one side of the road to the other without getting killed or causing a RTA. We have a fair few eastern europeans and africans who use the bus stop and every morning and evening they are all over the dual carriageway, steeping out in front of you or running across scarring the sh1t out of you. someone is going to get nailed there.