Yet another road closure

[Frankie]

Well I don't know much about anything but I have a well held belief that I will never trust any person who cannot spell properly.

Officer Dibble,, did you mean "A one ton killing machine" (UK Ton), or "A one tonne killing machine" (metric tonne). A tone is a musical unit.

Such details can be very important, and such a basic spelling error could be the difference in a court case.

 

One other thing which I feel I must remark on.

In almost 30 years driving, I have had the turd scared out of me on 5 occasions by the behaviour of other drivers.

One time was by a sweet little old lady who drove out in front of me, but after I helped her to park and call for a sensible driver there was no problem.

The other four times the drivers were police officers who thought their right to reach the scene of a crime was more important than the life of the person who was driving on the right side of the road when they decided to overtake dangerously while coming in the opposite direction.

 

So shoot me down if the truth hurts.

 

Do you mean the right side of the road or the correct side of the road ?

Just asking because we are supposed to drive on the left side of the road in Shetland.

[Guest Anonymous]

Frankie,

Right, Correct, Yup, OK I shot myself in the foot there

But the officers of the law were on the wrong side of the road.

I don't know how to do these fancy quote things, so I will post in plain language.

But I do know that when driving at 50mph on my side of the road I do not expect to be met by a teenage police officer who thinks he or she can drive into oncoming traffic without causing fear and alarm, and an urgent need for a nearby toilet.

The driving habits of the local law officers have scared me recently, and in the past. They are no doubt highly trained, and I have the greatest respect for the job they do. But I just wish they would think a little about how much they scare us poor mortals with their high speed 'Dukes Of Hazard' antics.

OK Frankie,

Where was the cock up in that post?????

[Heimdal]

I think the majority of the Police Driving are just that, not the much- vaunted "Police Drivers", so you have a good point Auld Rasmie.

[JustMe]

Officer Dible wrote

 

Yes I do let the crazy drivers get past me and watch with interest as they vanish into the distance only to be seen later in the middle of a field.

 

HAS THIS EVER HAPPEND?

 

That said I do wonder how long it might be before one of those crazy drivers kills someone while speeding on a diversionary route long after most other police forces would have got the road open again.

THIS IS THE LARGEST FORCE AREA IN BRITAIN COVER THREE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT PLACES. UNIQUE PLACES CAUSE UNIQUE SOLUTIONS

 

Yes indeed that has happened to me.....event I was thinking off was between Voe and Toft some years ago but I have seen other incidents.

 

And yes we may need a unique solution for Shetland........people are getting fed up with long road closures due to lack of the right kind of copper and his equipment. Accident investigation managed well enough for decades with yellow crayon and a tape measure.......add photos and video cameras and surely that is enough evidence.

 

I also do not accept that a traffic officer from Dingwall......or Penzance if you prefer.......could not be an "expert witness" called in to say, that based on based on measurements, photos and videos, the accident happened because of X. After all we have recently seen expert witnesses in the Sheriff's court enquiring into a possible medical error.

 

I also think that anyone charged after an accident would be free to call an expert witness in his or her defence. Obviously not from the police but someone like a freelance accident investigator.......insurance companies use them quite a lot. So if that is ok they why cannot the police do the same......as a unique solution for a unique place.

[Twerto]

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/pages/news%20stories/08_2006/police_car_was_at_crash_scene.htm

 

I find this article a bit hard to swallow.. I would really like to hear the truck drivers point of view on this.

[JustMe]

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/pages/news%20stories/08_2006/police_car_was_at_crash_scene.htm

 

I find this article a bit hard to swallow.. I would really like to hear the truck drivers point of view on this.

 

In fairness to all the drivers involved I do not think it helps to have this sort of speculation at this time. I am certain that the police investigation will have revealed what happened, they will report to the Procurator Fiscal and if need be a prosecution will follow.

 

Back in time I was involved in a most minor accident.......an elderly man walked in front of me just as I started to pull onto a roundabout. He ended up lying on the ground and to this day I am unsure if I hit him or if he fell when his partner pulled him back. Shaken but otherwise ok. Because of the nature of the accident the cops were called and after seeing the old guy off in an ambulance to be checked over he took a quick statement from me and then surprised me by asking if I was ok. I think "sort of" would have been the right answer but I am sure the drivers involved in the recent accident will be feeling all sorts of emotions and almost certainly be wishing they had done something different in the few minutes before the accident.

[Ghostrider]

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/pages/news%20stories/08_2006/police_car_was_at_crash_scene.htm

 

I find this article a bit hard to swallow.. I would really like to hear the truck drivers point of view on this.

 

A very careful choosing of words in that statement, as is always the case with the Police....

 

Nothing wrong with what they say there concerning their vehicle, as far as it goes. However, I'd be more interested in hearing the statement they'd make if the issue of "contributing to the overall circumstances which caused the accident to occur" were being discussed, rather than the simple black and white issues of being "involved" in and of "causing".

 

Ahhh....semantics....semantics....

 

I am certain that the police investigation will have revealed what happened, they will report to the Procurator Fiscal and if need be a prosecution will follow.

 

One would hope....However when anyone is investigating themselves, be they the Police or anyone else, it is human nature to look after your own, even if only subconsciously. Time will tell when we see what comes out in the wash....

[dodd]

Some of you make me laugh with your narrow mindness, on wanting to put the blame with the police. These are officers who come here to serve the community as best they can. They were no parked illegaly or causing any form of obstruction. Although I feel for the family and the victim of the road accident, surely all you drivers out there know that when driving you should be constantly looking ahead of yourself and assessing any potential hazard, in this case a very slow moving lorry.

Get a grip and think about who you contact if a crime has been committed against you or if you need urgent assistance.

With regards officer Dribbles comments on trained traffic officers, I fully agree with the comment. Again people are making comment and being criticle on a topic they know nothing about. Do you honestly think that if it was feasible and cost effective the police wouldnt use other resources or train onsite staff.

[Claudias]

Do you honestly think that if it was feasible and cost effective the police wouldnt use other resources or train onsite staff.

 

Yes. Due to limited funding.

[Frankie]

Some of you make me laugh with your narrow mindness, on wanting to put the blame with the police. These are officers who come here to serve the community as best they can. They were no parked illegaly or causing any form of obstruction. Although I feel for the family and the victim of the road accident, surely all you drivers out there know that when driving you should be constantly looking ahead of yourself and assessing any potential hazard, in this case a very slow moving lorry.

Get a grip and think about who you contact if a crime has been committed against you or if you need urgent assistance.

With regards officer Dribbles comments on trained traffic officers, I fully agree with the comment. Again people are making comment and being criticle on a topic they know nothing about. Do you honestly think that if it was feasible and cost effective the police wouldnt use other resources or train onsite staff.

 

I agree with you dodd. It is also quite sad that the police felt it necessary to release that press statement as well.

I also cannot understand why people feel the need to complain about the road closure. What was the problem with driving in and out the old North Road ? I am sure if there was no alternative suitable route following an accident the Police and Roads Department would be able to come up with some sort of traffic management system to keep the traffic flowing.

[Pooks]

No problem using the Old North Road. I don't think that using the old North Road has ever been a debate. The problem people find is that if an accident occurs on a piece of road where there is no diversion it could cause a lot of problems.

 

There have been a good few stories going about regarding this crash and I have no idea which may or may not be correct. The story that I have heard (a few times) and seems to be the general line of things that people are taking is that the police were parked where they were because they were undertaking speed checks. No bad thing but is it not a case that they should have been clearly visable whilst undertaking speed checks? A vehicle which was parked so far into the junction that the truck driver did not see it is surely not visable. Coupled with the fact that it was misty conditions.

 

I have also heard that the truck was being followed by a van. The truck had to brake suddenly (understandably) due to the police car blocking the junction entrance. The van had to swerve to avoid hitting the truck. Two differing stories on this... ...either the van clipped the truck and sustained a fair amount of damage or it managed to escape the carnage. Either way, the poor wife driving the car behind ended up under the truck and had to be flown south for medical treatment.

 

I am not saying the police were in the wrong I am merely saying that there are a lot of questions to be answered.

[Frankie]

No problem using the Old North Road. I don't think that using the old North Road has ever been a debate. The problem people find is that if an accident occurs on a piece of road where there is no diversion it could cause a lot of problems.

 

.

 

The title of this topic is 'YET ANOTHER ROAD CLOSURE'.

I take it from that that the person who raised the topic is not happy with the North Road being closed following the recent serious accident.

 

As I said above, I am sure if there was no alternative suitable route the Police and Roads Department would come up with a suitable traffic management system to keep traffic flowing.

 

Maybe that is why, to date, the traffic has never been stopped from getting from A to B in a reasonable amount of time following an accident.

[Pooks]

The title of this topic is 'YET ANOTHER ROAD CLOSURE'.

I take it from that that the person who raised the topic is not happy with the North Road being closed following the recent serious accident.

 

This may be the case. I took it that the recent accident has caused the original poster to become concerned that if a serious accident occurs elsewhere then it may block the road for some time. Nowhere in the original post does it say that they had a problem with the alternative route used recently.

 

Then again I may be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time...

[Frankie]

The title of this topic is 'YET ANOTHER ROAD CLOSURE'.

I take it from that that the person who raised the topic is not happy with the North Road being closed following the recent serious accident.

 

This may be the case. I took it that the recent accident has caused the original poster to become concerned that if a serious accident occurs elsewhere then it may block the road for some time.

 

 

A lot of people would be happy if that's all they had to be concerned about.

 

I cannot recall traffic not being able to travel from A to B in a reasonable time following a serious accident.

 

Are you saying that all serious accidents to date have occurred on roads where there was an alternative suitable diversionary road ? e.g. The Old North Road in this instance .

[whodat]

Another accident in Shetland. Another poor soul in hospital. Another family devastated. When you've lived as long as I have, you start to wonder, why do they happen?

 

A big contributor is too many people, driving too fast, because they're all in such a hurry to get where they want to or need to be. How many times do we get told, "Give yourselves enough time to get there".

 

Is cutting 10 seconds off a journey sufficient justification for driving 10 or 20 miles over the speed limit? Or if not speeding, then not paying attention to what is in front of you?

 

A lot of you snipe at the Police (again) because they are easy targets. They are damned if they do put out a press statement and damned if they don't. Doubtless it would have been "Why are they no saying anything? What have they got to hide?" etc, etc, etc.

 

As for the standard of their driving, you don't get let behind the wheel of a polis car without passing a test far more stringent than you or I had to. Although in my day, it was closer to what they have to do, all that "checking the far distance, middle distance, etc for hazrds and POSSIBLE hazards". Folk these days just look at the bumper of the car in front of them, in most cases, 2 feet in front of them! Never heard of the 2 second rule, any of you??? You should always be at least 2 seconds behind the car in front.

 

I said before in a posting on that safe driving DVD, speed kills, and too many folk in shetland speed. Look at the road up by Sound and the school any day of the week, even when there's kiddies around.

 

Now I am not saying that this poor lassie was speeding, nor am I saying she wasn't paying attention. But for whatever reason she was behind a vehicle and couldn't stop in time. Unless that copper was in the car, pressing her foot on the accelerator, how can it be his/her fault? It's not about fingerpointing, although some forum users are soooo good at it. It's about saying let's try and make sure some other poor bairn isn't crying for their mum/dad/brother/sister, etc.

 

Gie's peace.