So, about that Mercedes slippy-slidey video then...

[Alex_6n2]

It would probably be more efficient, if there was that much concern over learning in all conditions, to set up regional 'learning centers' with skid pans, sprinklers etc. and mandate that you have to have at least 2 hours (as a random figure) of your lesson time at one of these, learning the more specialist/uncontrollable elements.

This

There are plenty of skid pans about and courses are available as part of advanced driving instruction.

Then again, some people are incapable of controlling their own bodies at times so not sure how well it would go for them learning to control a car sliding in the wet

 

[V_R]

I can't see how the lack of tax is a legitimate reason to refuse a payout. I agree it might be a reason if it were an MOT. But I doubt the insurance ombudsman would let them get away with it for just tax.

EDIT: The Merc looks taxed to me (or maybe they just taxed it - it gets taxed for the whole month)

It wasn't at the time, looks like its finally been renewed. Given how this spread all over the local FB groups the driver would almost certainly have seen the commotion.

Mind you, the Smart car wasn't/isn't taxed either. lol

https://twitter.com/x/status/1353423389134733312

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Regardless of what over road users are doing, you should drive at a speed that allows you to stop safely without hitting whatever is in the road ahead of you.

Additionally, that street had “winter tyres/snow socks or GTFO” writing all over it.

 

[adolf hamster]

is it just the camera angle that makes it look like quite a steep hill?

i'm very much in the merc being to blame camp, the vw might have been taking some abnormal maneuvers to adapt to the abnormal road conditions but that's all you can say.

the smart cars parking is irrelevant, maybe not sensible, but given the number of other cars parked up on the street it doesn't seem like an entirely unpredictable position and needless to say in that kind of snow/ice you have to expect cars in strange places if they've got stuck themselves.

wether he was intentionally going too fast, or lost grip on a steep icy hill (that he chose to drive down knowing the snow/ice was there) either way the merc driver wasn't driving in a way that matched the cars capabilities to the road conditions.

What's the point in that? Many parts of the UK can see not a fake of snow for years, it's very irregular and far from certain to happen.

snow isn't the only hazard that some kind of skidpan course/driver training can help deal with, you get oil on the road or even just mud then add a splash of rain to the mix and you've got some pretty slidey surfaces which can happen anywhere in any season.

 

[sanaxe1]

Seems to me its the merc at fault... Now who's to blame in this video?

 

[alex24]

I only saw one driver lose control of their vehicle, which was the Merc. Most likely a result of not driving to the conditions. Regardless of who has parked where or what other drivers were doing, you should not drive in a way that makes it impossible to stop or control your car. The smart could have just been making a U-turn or other manoeuvre, which isn't unusual. Bad parking is normal too. Yes, the VW should probably not been on the wrong side but again, could have been making a manoeuvre and what they are doing should be irrelevant to the Merc driver and you should be prepared to stop due to other drivers actions since you can't always anticipate what they will do, especially in these conditions.

I agree with others, my experience would say don't go down that road unless you have suitable grip available beyond all season or summer rubber, but that wasn't the root cause here as winter tyres are not commonplace in the UK anyway.

 

[Rroff]

Mind you, the Smart car wasn't/isn't taxed either. lol

Doesn't surprise me - one of the nearby houses where I use to live there was a lady just like that who never bothered with tax and it was always someone else's fault. IIRC her car got crushed in the end - definitely got clamped twice and last time taken away on a trailer.

suitable grip available beyond all season

While not all some of the all-season tyres are very good on snow/ice with performance indistinguishable to winters according to the YT videos I've seen until you get to extremes.

A Tiguan on all-seasons driven appropriately will deal with far worse conditions than that unless you get unlucky.

 

[HangTime]

Merc gets the majority of the blame for me, you can't just come steaming down a hill with street parking in n icy conditions. VW does a seemingly reasonable thing and changes to the other side of the road to avoid the parked car, they seem to be in control whereas the Merc isn't.

I can't really see enough from that clip to figure out if the Smart car is parked OK or not, remember pavement parking is currently under consultation to be banned or something along those lines.

 

[Rroff]

IMO Smart car driver had a minor incident on the steep part, lacked any experience of driving in those conditions and lost her nerve - not a great place to leave the car but it was visible in good time to oncoming traffic and didn't block visibility of the road ahead even if it presented an obstacle to get around at what wasn't a great spot and an experienced driver could have got it off the road there with no real chance of further incident.

I definitely blame the residents somewhat though - seemed plenty that were aware of the problem but would rather stand around complaining about it than do something.

 

[TheVoice]

There's a good question actually. Should those filming be held liable (assuming they're adults) for not taking action to prevent/warn oncoming drivers and/or should they have an obligation to phone the police/etc if they knew the road conditions are likely to lead to an accident?

No. As a driver you're responsible for your actions and for reading the road conditions. If you can't tell you need to take it slow and easy in conditions like that and give people extra space, you shouldn't be on the road. If anything it's a good thing someone was filming as evidence.

 

[Rroff]

No. As a driver you're responsible for your actions and for reading the road conditions. If you can't tell you need to take it slow and easy in conditions like that and give people extra space, you shouldn't be on the road. If anything it's a good thing someone was filming as evidence.

True on the first bit but I dunno where you draw the line in respect to people not doing something to prevent possible accidents like that when they could do something. I've seen it before where there has been an incident around a corner and people just stand around watching rather than try and flag down oncoming drivers - for some it might be just not thinking and/or hesitancy as to what is the correct action is but far too many sadly it is just lazy complacency where they have no motivation to lift a finger to help someone else even in a situation like that.

 

[V_R]

is it just the camera angle that makes it look like quite a steep hill?

Its a fairly steep hill. See:

This is in High Wycombe, Hatters Lane. Here: https://goo.gl/maps/4vVdpYsq1ejDJ5LW6

the smart cars parking is irrelevant, maybe not sensible, but given the number of other cars parked up on the street it doesn't seem like an entirely unpredictable position and needless to say in that kind of snow/ice you have to expect cars in strange places if they've got stuck themselves.

If you know the area/road you will know people park up and down it in all sorts of places, some more sensible than others.

 

[Rroff]

One has to wonder...

 

[Liquid_Entity]

So my take on it is the smart car had stopped due to seeing the previous black car smash its way through the snow and icy hill. Smart car stopped in a dumb place as cars would not be able to pass the bollards easily in those conditions, the VW went around on the wrong side to avoid the smart car. The merc idiot was driving too fast, couldn't handle the ice and ploughed in to all of them.

 

[Rroff]

The merc idiot was driving too fast, couldn't handle the ice and ploughed in to all of them.

I'm wondering if the Merc had been impatient behind the VW for awhile which seemed to be driving to the conditions and saw an opportunity to get past - seen that happening a fair bit. It is possible it was due to starting to slide already but if you watch the first few seconds closely he speeds up as soon as the VW veers off.

EDIT: While easier said than done if I was the VW driver and saw the Merc gaining on me on the other side I'd have slowed up more at the island and let him get ahead just so as to minimise the chances of coming into conflict with him - seen too many drivers who just don't leave other people enough space to work in - no margin for error.

 

[gc123]

If you are going to pull a video out of yourself to prove a point, probably needs to be a lot less open to interpretation than that It really looks like you were hesitating and could have just kept up with the 4x4 with the trailer...

sorry simple politeness (sadly missing these days ) says you dont just barge past the vehicle in front , see this way too often usually at roadworks light goes red you stop at the light ...idiots go plowing on just cause they want to beat the lights the other side.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

sorry simple politeness (sadly missing these days ) says you dont just barge past the vehicle in front , see this way too often usually at roadworks light goes red you stop at the light ...idiots go plowing on just cause they want to beat the lights the other side.

The chap has posted two videos now where he is more righteous than thou. Any normal person would have stuck close to the 4x4 trailer and followed the normal course of traffic. He decided to go out of his way to go slow and the chaps behind him were likely confused and thought he was pulling in. The fact two cars went passed him safely shows this.

His BMW video is no different. Everyone else managed to go past safely but he was the one to stop and let oncoming traffic resume.

 

[SDK^]

That Merc driver is class.
Takes out 3 cars, appears to not stop and turns out didn’t have any Road Fund Licence.

 

[Tee Hee Johnson]

That Merc driver is class.
Takes out 3 cars, appears to not stop and turns out didn’t have any Road Fund Licence.

Road tax?

 

[Rroff]

The chap has posted two videos now where he is more righteous than thou. Any normal person would have stuck close to the 4x4 trailer and followed the normal course of traffic. He decided to go out of his way to go slow and the chaps behind him were likely confused and thought he was pulling in. The fact two cars went passed him safely shows this.

His BMW video is no different. Everyone else managed to go past safely but he was the one to stop and let oncoming traffic resume.

Sounds more like you are trying to excuse addressing your own poor driving habits by turning it around on me.

EDIT: I don't think you appreciate the length of my vehicle either - in that first video I barely had a second or so to follow on the vehicle with the trailer if that before the Rav4 was starting to come alongside me - hence I just eased off - if I hadn't been watching my mirrors and just followed on I'd have pushed him into the railings. I only hesitated for a brief moment considering whether it was a good idea to continue or not (if you drive that road often you know what a mess that bit often turns into when people try to push through and that is not a good place to be trying to squeeze a large vehicle through) - the rest is just me rolling to a stop because the Rav4 had already positioned themselves though I had been planning on letting the other vehicle through anyway.

EDIT2: At that point I didn't have a lot of experience driving larger vehicles on the road either - most of my car history to that point had been hatchbacks and though I've driven pickups and vans before it has been infrequent one off short trips or around farms, etc.