M5 crash: Fears 'more than 10 killed'

M5 crash: Fears 'more than 10 killed'

www.bbc.co.uk

"Several" people were killed and 43 injured in a 27-vehicle crash on the M5 near Taunton, Somerset, police say.

Officers said the crash, which happened close to junction 25 northbound at about 20:30 GMT on Friday, led to a "massive fireball" at the scene.

The cause of the crash is not yet clear but there had been heavy rain in the area earlier and there was patchy fog.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
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I hope no one had any relatives driving down the M5 last night. According to witnesses the noises were horrific. Horrific tragedy. 16 casualties who had suffered "a range of trauma injuries", including broken bones and chest, abdominal and lung injuries. One can only hope these injured individuals will pull through this.

My heart and thought go out to the families who have died as a result of this horrific crash.



www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Idiot drivers....no doubt it was because of the rain.
People are morons, they dont slow down when its wet.....ive had cars fly past me in torrential rain like im stood still.

People have got to learn, even though new cars have ABS, ESP etc, this will not prevent you from aqua planing or from skidding off the road at high speeds.

Its a shame this happened and i feel for all the innocents caught up in this BUT, no doubt one moron caused all of this because they ignored the road conditions.

WARNING DISTURBING FOOTAGE

Link below to amateur footage of the aftermath off the crash. Michael Wagner took this video of the M5 crash on his phone when he passed the accident at about 20:40 GMT, describing it as an "unbelievable" scene.

Police have confirmed that several people died in the crash, while up to 35 have been injured.




Amateur Footage

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


It was foggy you would think with the fog warnings out they would heed the warnings. But as per usual, idiot drivers, thinking they can drive at any speed on the roads in the UK. Beggars believe that the Government is proposing an increase in the speed rate on the motorways in the UK.

Maybe now they will rethink implementing the new legislation.

Very sad news indeed .
My thoughts go out to all involved .

Well posted by the OP .

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


I drive 50 miles to work each day along the M25 and M4 and to be honest, the standard of driving displayed by many is atrocious. There just seems to be little or no common sense, manners or regard for safety.
Yesterday early morning it rained heavily for my entire drive to work and still there people in lane 3 doing 80-90mph, despite a lot of standing water and low visibility. Complete idiocy!

The weather was truly awful along that stretch of road yesterday. I was on that bit of road and missed the accident by only a few hrs

I have family near by and have regularly drive that road and like others have said the disregard people have for driving is just shocking, I have seen people doing 100 while on their mobiles, bikers undertaking and cutting people up etc.

My heart goes out to all involved but serious questions need to be asked at how this got to such an unimaginable level of carnage.

Originally posted by Laurauk
WARNING DISTURBING FOOTAGE

Link below to amateur footage of the aftermath off the crash. Michael Wagner took this video of the M5 crash on his phone when he passed the accident at about 20:40 GMT, describing it as an "unbelievable" scene.

Police have confirmed that several people died in the crash, while up to 35 have been injured.




Amateur Footage

edit on 5-11-2011 by Laurauk because: (no reason given)

I don't see how this is disturbing... if you're disturbed by this then you have some issues.... All I saw was a bunch of blurry stuff that appeared to be burning and people saying "omg" and something about the cops....



And before anyone flips their lids about what I said.... that's not any indication as to how i feel about this... but I do have to agree with the guy that said 'Idiot drivers'.... I feel for all the people who were injured and the fmailies/friends of those lost... but hopefully the person who caused this lived and lives a long life knowing they just killed quite a few people with their idiocy...

That M5 is a bloody nightmare, accident everytime I go down it, the level of driving is shocking.

Thoughts go out to those who lost loved ones.

reply to post by Laurauk


Its 70mph at the minute on carriageways with 2 or more lanes (including some A and B roads), they are proposing to increase the limit to 80mph. When im driving on motorways....weather permitting il drift between 70 and 80 and i will still get passed by cars doing 100mph +.

I live in the countryside....a lot of the roads are national speed limit...60mph, single lane roads. Cars will overtake me if im doing 60mph...people are always in too much of a rush.

A lot of people dont actually deserve a drivers license, they slipped through the test but have no idea of how to drive in the real world.

Increasing the speed limit wont cause more accidents...as people already speed. My mate took me out when we were about 20yrs old in his car...135mph on the motorway.....this is the mentality of young drivers, see what their cars can do. Im now 31 and drive within the limits, only ever had 3 points on my license, and that was when i was 18.
Im not saying that young drivers only speed....because thats obviously not true. Older people like myself may speed but (some of us) we have the experience (experience cannot avoid the unavoidable though, such as aqua planing into another car), ive been driving 14 years. Ive avoided SO many accidents its unreal. Then you have the doddery old fools that cannot walk, or even stand up unaided, but have a drivers license??? WTF is that about????


There is something seriously wrong with how people are tested on their ability to drive. Not many people understand roundabouts...they know they have to go around them but dont know who to give way to or which lane to be in.

I say get all the oldies off the road...all the oldies that are no longer safe to drive i mean. The ones that cannot see, the ones that have the reactions of a sloth, the ones that do 30mph on motorways.
Have something in cars to prevent telephone signals entering them rendering their mobile phones unusable whilst in the car. The amount of HGV drivers using phones is a joke!! 40 tons of lorry and they arent paying attention!!

Limit all road vehicles to 70mph unless they are track cars...which in that case make them illegal on public roads.

reply to post by gabbermatt


I just copied from what was on the Website, do not criticize the messenger thank you very much. You do know there were bodies in that fireball yes? If you do not think that is disturbing, then you are the one with the issues not me.

reply to post by Laurauk


eh well I won't criticize you for that then

Your fireball bit.... There's nothing disturbing about it unless people come running out of the fire in flames or the camera gets close enough to make anything out... The thought of it is... meh at best. The visual of it though.... well.. that's something I could personally handle. (Edit:: Not that I would enjoy it... I just grew up with a paramedic for a mom and saw a lot of things as a child that most people won't even see in their life.)

Stuck In Traffic

This is absolutely horrifying. Granted, the "disturbing" video isn't really all that graphic, but it does show that descriptions of a "massive fireball" were not overblown. Victims trapped in vehicles anywhere near that would have suffered terribly.

At the risk of too lengthy a personal digression, I had a brush with a similar situation a very long time ago. I was driving north on Interstate 5 through the San Joaquin Valley in California (U.S.) during the Thanksgiving holidays.

The weather was very turbulent that day, with high sustained crosswinds and punishing gusts out of the west. Despite that, quite a few farmers were out plowing their dry fields, which resulted in massive dust clouds blowing across the highway that would intermittently and suddenly plunge you into dust so thick you could barely see past the hood of your car.

The clouds were thick, but you could pass through them quickly, and this was out in a rather remote area with few offramps or alternative routes that weren't themselves plagued by the same problems.

As I continued driving, with the goal of reaching Sacramento that evening, the dust clouds became more frequent and wider. I was faced with continuing almost blindly and risk running into someone ahead, slowing down (which I did) and keeping a diagonal eye out to the sides to see the lines of the road, or stopping and risk being rear-ended by someone, potentially at fifty, sixty or seventy miles per hour, whether I was on the shoulder or not.

It's not a good place to be, especially when you're out in the middle of nowhere without even a way off the road other than driving off the pavement, down a steep bank and into a ditch. Although I really wanted to make it to Sacramento in time for dinner with my relatives, the situation became so intolerable that I finally pulled off the interstate when I had a chance.

As it turned out, the exit I took was the last exit before this:

14 Killed, 114 Hurt in I-5 Pileups : Traffic: More than 100 vehicles collide in dust storm north of Coalinga. Victims describe 'all kinds of terrible scenes--trucks on fire, cars on fire, bodies in the road.'

It was one of the worst traffic disasters in U.S. history, I was headed right for it, and it was taking place literally as I decided to get off the road. I heard about it on the radio after I pulled off. If I would have not taken that exit, there's a very good chance I would not be able to share this story with you now.

I know there are plenty of "idiot drivers" out there, and God knows, it only takes one. But that's my point.

It's easy enough to sit in our chairs and, without the benefit of actually knowing what happened, criticize others, point fingers and perhaps ridicule them. But in cases like these, actually being there is a much different story, and I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy (if I had one) what I went through just trying to make my way to a safe place in a very dangerous, potentially deadly situation that I had never encountered before and never since.

I don't know the details of this particular incident in Somerset, other than that it was utterly horrific and fatal for many people, but I'll wager that most of the victims were doing nothing more than just trying to get home.

I cannot bring myself to berate or judge them for that. I can only empathize with their situation and grieve for their terrible losses.

As for everyone else, when considering cases like these, I urge that their conscience be their guide, and pray it guides them well.

and the govt are talking anout increasing the speed limit to 80mph! i have went at that speed yet cars go by me like i am not there. i stay a max 70mph always................if you can`t see due to conditions, put your lights on and slow down. my thoughts go out to all involved in that terrible crash.

What an awful accident. There was a big firework display close by, and probably loads more all over the place. all that smoke, mixed in with the fog, coupled with the big distracting flashes and bangs, must have been a nightmare to drive in. RIP to the dead.

I have someone who lives close & he seems to think something to do with bonfire smoke going onto the m5 from a rugby ground or something.
Not sure how true that is though,in was only going through that area last week.

very sad seeing all this happening

Oks update on the ongoing pile up on the M5

Seven people have been killed and 51 injured in a 34-vehicle pile-up on the M5 in Somerset, police have confirmed.

They are also stating there may still be people trapped in the wreckage's.

reply to post by Laurauk


And they are increasing the speedlimits? Stoopid!

Too many drivers don't understand the vulnerability of the fragile human form, theirs and others.

Nice comfy boxes that alienate the users from the surrounding environment. No wonder there are accidents like this.