On-duty police officer dies in crash in Southampton

[Grahamm]

Another reminder that we're all vulnerable on bikes

A police officer riding an unmarked motorbike has been killed in a crash outside a Southampton petrol station. He was on duty at the time, but was not involved in a pursuit or responding to a 999 call, Hampshire Constabulary said.
The officer's police bike collided with a BMW outside the Shell garage on Thomas Lewis Way in Swaythling at about 14:00 BST.
He was taken to Southampton General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-22019006

[dBfazer600]

My thoughts are with his family.

Lets hope his cameras were on if fitted when this happend.

Daz

[Skippernick]

Driver will be let off with a caution i expect.

[richfzs]

Will be interesting to see what does happen in that regard - was it not Hampshire where the cps decided not to prosecute that pcso who pulled out while on the phone and killed a biker?

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[simonm]

Driver will be let off with a caution i expect.

As far as I could interpret the article it didn't say who was at fault.

My condolences to his family.

I feel for the driver of the car too, it won't be easy knowing you've killed someone while you survived. Very humbling.

[richfzs]

[quote author=Skippernick link=topic=7083.msg67282#msg67282 date=1365058003]
Driver will be let off with a caution i expect.

As far as I could interpret the article it didn't say who was at fault.

My condolences to his family.

I feel for the driver of the car too, it won't be easy knowing you've killed someone while you survived. Very humbling.
[/quote]

Agreed on all points.

Looking at the coverage on the itv website, impact was on BMW offside, and it looks as though the BMW pulled out of the garage forecourt into his path.

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[noggythenog]

Poor bugger! Rip


Shows it can happen to the best of us,even with advanced training.


This type o thing seems to be on the increase & i cant see an easy answer,apart from doing 20mph past every junction with a waiting car which isnt the most practical,people are so busy & increasingly confident about their own driving that they dont feel the need to really stop & look & look again to be sure,its all sandwiches between the knees,phone in one hand,radio blasting.


For me just going out on the bike for fun, i can afford to lose a bit of time & my mistrust for car drivers seeing me has led to me doing just that & an agreeable nod to them to say thanks for seeing me i hope gets the message across how vulnerable i am.

[simonm]

I hopefully ride in a risk averse way and go as slowly in built up areas to ensure I'm seen.

I know what pillocks some people can be even when I'm in a car so being on a bike makes it a risky business.

Poor people, ruined lives for the sake of observation and/or a wait of 20 seconds. I'm guessing there, it could have been inevitable in some cases, a bit of oil, a sudden puncture.  It reminds me of a snoop dog song "a million ways to die, choose one"

I keep the speed down unless I have good visibility, a straight road and I know it like the back of my hand.  Even then I scare myself sometimes, it keeps me level headed (to some degree)

[ChristoT]

Rest in peace, poor bugger.

Regarding Simon's comment:

I feel for the driver of the car too, it won't be easy knowing you've killed someone while you survived. Very humbling.

There was an incident near me a couple of years back. There's a 180 degree, sharpish right hand turn going down a reasonably steep hill a few minutes from my house. A biker overcooked it going down the hill, went straight into the front of a lorry coming up the hill. The biker was killed on impact, but it was completely his fault (lorry was well on the right - this is France), and wasn't going fast. The poor lorry driver had to be treated for shock, and as far as I know, had to be hospitalised for trauma afterwards too.

Living with that knowledge, even if you weren't to blame must be an unbearable burden.

[fireblake]

I use that garage often and there is a central refuge between the 2 lanes and coming out if the garage there are no right turn signs. You have to go left and then turn sharply but so many cars do it.

R.I.P  PC Rawson

[Grahamm]

Looking at the coverage on the itv website, impact was on BMW offside, and it looks as though the BMW pulled out of the garage forecourt into his path.

I don't think so.

If you look at the video clip here it definitely looks like the BMW was hit on the driver's side and it seems that the driver was making an illegal right turn into the garage (at 00:19 there's a No Right Turn sign visible).

It may have been that the bike was filtering past not expecting the car to turn but the driver suddenly moved into his path

ADDENDUM Ok, I'm not sure why there's a problem with that clip appearing, but if you click on the word "here" below it, you can see it on the web site.

[simonm]

[quote author=richfzs link=topic=7083.msg67286#msg67286 date=1365060934]
Looking at the coverage on the itv website, impact was on BMW offside, and it looks as though the BMW pulled out of the garage forecourt into his path.

I don't think so.

If you look at the video clip here it definitely looks like the BMW was hit on the driver's side and it seems that the driver was making an illegal right turn into the garage (at 00:19 there's a No Right Turn sign visible).

It may have been that the bike was filtering past not expecting the car to turn but the driver suddenly moved into his path

ADDENDUM Ok, I'm not sure why there's a problem with that clip appearing, but if you click on the word "here" below it, you can see it on the web site.
[/quote]

I'd agree with your description, it certainly looks that way.  If they'd extended the island enough to block the ability to turn right it would have saved a life :-(

What would the be repercussion be ? Causing death by dangerous driving, involuntary manslaughter ?

I still wouldn't want to be that guy and I'd still feel sorry for him since it was clearly an accident however stupid the manoeuvre (and it looks pretty damn stupid).  No right turn and no U turn is a PITA for getting to the petrol station, does anyone know the reasons for the signs ?  I'd have thought, given the width of the road, they could even have had a dedicated filter for the petrol station.


There must have been a lot of traffic otherwise I can't see any reason why the rider wouldn't have seen it coming.  Maybe he moved to the left of the road and was swinging a U turn due to congestion ?

here is a street view:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Thomas+...4,,0,19.12

[DILLIGAFF]

So sad and so unnecessary.


I believe the mind can play tricks with our perceptions. In the mind of a driver who expects a clear road, they may not actually "see" an approaching vehicle, simply because they do not want to as it would impede their progress.


Similarly I am sure we have all been frustrated by the guy in front who sits at a junction when there are no approaching other vehicles, presumably because they "believe" there will be.


If you watch pedestrians when they cross a busy road they often give only a cursory glance left and right, if at all, because they don't want any cars to be coming.


There are plenty of clips on Youtube showing this. There is one I recall where a woman is crossing a four lane busy main road and she does not look at all, presumably because her brain tells her it is clear????
She gets mown down.

[richfzs]

[quote author=richfzs link=topic=7083.msg67286#msg67286 date=1365060934]
Looking at the coverage on the itv website, impact was on BMW offside, and it looks as though the BMW pulled out of the garage forecourt into his path.

I don't think so.

If you look at the video clip here it definitely looks like the BMW was hit on the driver's side and it seems that the driver was making an illegal right turn into the garage (at 00:19 there's a No Right Turn sign visible).
.
[/quote]

That doesn't make sense at all. To be hit on the drivers side, and pushed down the road away from the garage, the car must have been back end towards the garage, front end out into the road? I don't see how the car can have been going into the garage, particularly as to do so, it would have had to drive a (short) distance down the wrong side of the central refuge.

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[richfzs]

If the car pulled out of the garage, and tried to do a uturn around the end of the refuge (as someone else suggested) that could easily end up with the biker being collected as he tried to go round a car who had just pulled out.

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[dolau]

Did some training recently and was advised to do a SMIDSY manouevre when approaching a car at a T junction as they can apparently be blind to you coming straight at them but if you move sideways on your carriageway in relation to the driver he will notice you better..

Havent tried it yet

Also the instructor said that fluorescent isnt always best to be seen as it is like splinter camoflage put on warships to break up the outline better to have helmet, jacket and bike all the same colour to accentuate the size of you......... but then all the jam sandwiches (apart from the covert ones) have battenburg camoflage on them in blue and yellow which is the opposite to that advice

[simonm]

If the car pulled out of the garage, and tried to do a uturn around the end of the refuge (as someone else suggested) that could easily end up with the biker being collected as he tried to go round a car who had just pulled out.

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Richfzs,
It's worth having a look at the video clip and the google street view map.  They may shed some more light on how the road is set up.  It's possible Grahamm might be right.

[Skippernick]

Assuming the car was traveling with the garage (it may have spun on impact) on the right there are clear signs saying no right turn or u-turn.
I reckon this is all the drivers fault im afraid.

[simonm]

Assuming the car was traveling with the garage (it may have spun on impact) on the right there are clear signs saying no right turn or u-turn.
I reckon this is all the drivers fault im afraid.

On investigation this does look like the drivers fault but I'm sure the accident  investigation will clear it all up.  It's difficult to pass judgement when you can't see the skid marks, or the traffic camera footage etc.


Given the direction the wheels are pointing in it does look like the driver was trying to do a U turn or was ignoring the no right turn sign.  Poor sod would have got away with it 99% of the time (not endorsing it, just stating a fact).  This time someone's killed.  Bad day for both of them.

[richfzs]

Simon, I'd already looked at the video clip before graham posted it - I believe I mentioned the itv website in one of my earlier posts. I stand by what I've said - I don't see how the car can have been going into the garage, given the damage on it.

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