That's one of my favourite comments. That is rxactly how I hoped the video would be perceived and I will admit to being a little apprehensive about making it and putting it out there! Thank you.
I used to work in the retail park , accross the railway line from the rugby club. A year before this tragedy I had joined the m5 going northbound when I ran into a fog bank . This was a regular occurence at this spot . The fog gathers over the river , which is at the bottom of a long hill going north . On this occasion I hit a wall of fog at the exact moment the on-ramp met the motorway . I put on my lights but couldn't see further than about 20 feet. I decided to continue slowly up the hard shoulder as I was sure that nobody would see me from behind if I had gone into lane one. I then had to decided to merge as there was the possibility that a vehicle could be stopped on the hard shoulder , having pulled over to avoid the almost total lack of visibility. Really scary moment. I'm sure the local motorway cops and DoT drivers were well aware of this situation so I was really surprised when they blamed the rugby club firework display. Any smoke from that display would have risen , without travelling as far as the motorway because there was no wind to move it around and the heat from the bonfire would have created a column of rising air ,sucking all the smoke up above the fog bank.
The exceptional factor here was the sudden "wall of fog" for a short distance either side of the river when the motorway leading up to that point was entirely clear of fog. The drivers had no warning of what was ahead and had no time to even think about slowing down. The rugby club had moved to their new site only a few years previously, so had no experience of what could happen when very thick fog mixed with firework smoke. We still don't know if the smoke made any actual difference to the situation (and if it did, how much), as it's impossible to recreate the conditions and carry out tests. As a local resident I remember the long drawn out process of finding someone to blame, and the additional stress that put on the families of the deceased as they sought closure.
At about 1130 am on the next da, Saturday, II spoke to my milkman. He informed me that his wife left her mother's house in Ottery St Mary a good few miles away at about 815 pm. When she arrived home in South Devon she told him she had to pull up due to a very dense fog. She would have arrived home shortly after 9pm. It was much later that weekend when the rugby club firework display was brought into question. I have always believed that the tragedy was due to the sudden thick fog and not the display.
Worked with Terry Brice in his previous job. Lovely lad. He went too Samworths because he lived in Bristol and he was working in Magor.... Just getting a lift back to the Bristol depot and this happened... Rip buddy...
Ah so he was a passenger? That's tarribly sad. I knew there was 3 drivers in the 2 Samworth trucks but never knew one of them who passed was the passenger. Tragic either way.
I live at Taunton and can never forget this tragic evening. In the event the M5 Northbound carriageway was closed 3 days because there were so many vehicles on the carriageway and most had burned very badly, and the carriageway itself had to be dug up and re-laid as it was so damaged.
I've travelled in fog here in Oz and in the UK. Heading west towards Bodmin in 2005 we hit a sudden fog bank, with a general orderly slow down. A small sedan shot past in the outside lane, obviously thinking they were gaining a march on everyone else. A few hundred yards later, there they were upside down, although fortunately uninjured, on the median grass. Here in Oz, in 1968, returning from a weekend with the wife's family, our Hillman Imp was overtaken by a lunatic VW beetle in light fog which suddenly became thicker. We passed him in similar situation just down the road, but judging by the condition and location of the wreck, probably in much worse case than those rushing towards Bodmin. And I've driven in fog where you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you on country roads here in Oz. Definitely not a pleasant experience. Fog kills...
I was Living in Taunton when it happened, I remember the night very well. we lived about 2 maybe 3 miles from the motorway and I remember hearing a huge booming sound, I thought it was a large firework at first but then as I looked out the window the sky was glowing orange over by the motorway. In my opinion the accident was 100% caused by the smoke from the rugby club bonfire and fireworks mixing with the fog, making it a lot worse than it was already.
The comments on this video have been amazing to me! There's comments from people like yourself who were nearby who say the same thing, and then some that say it was fog. Then there's the similar replies from people who drove that stretch of the motorway that night. Some say it was fog and some blame the fireworks. It's amazing how perceptions are different.
@@thetruckerseye I live in the village next to the accident. I was working that night doing taxi driving and remember driving in thick fog! I actually drove a few of the people home who were involved in the collision. What they told me was horrific! My brother had an anniversary party at the rugby club just a few years before, he asked if he could have fireworks but was actually told “No, because it’s too close to the motorway”.
A very tragic accident and who is to be blamed for that? The organiser of the fireworks? The motorists? I don't know but what I know is that I slow down when I can see the road or traffic ahead. I've been driving for almost 60 years now, 25 of them as a HGV driver and I loved nearly every single minute of those 25 years. The things I've seen while driving not only in the UK but almost every Western European country are simply unbelievable. Unfortunately, dash cams weren't then available
@@hanshartfiel6394 As a HGV driver you see a lot more than most don't we? The funny thing is that Joe Public don't realise we drive cars too, so we see things from all points of view. I never have a problem with trucks or truck drivers when i'm in the car, because of the experience I have driving trucks. As you know yourself, it's not the same when when you are driving a truck and there are 'car only' drivers trying to tell you how to drive the truck!
@@hanshartfiel6394 The contributory factor was the fireworks being too close to the M5 and the wind blowing across the motorway. The trouble was drivers in cars looking skywards at the displays in the sky instead of watching the road, not realising that in say 1 second at 60 mph they travelled about 30 metres or 100 feet and had no idea of what was going on in front of them. I would guess some of them were looking for longer tha 1 second too!
@@thetruckerseye Very true. If you can drive a car, you can drive it like an HGV or PCV, but the one thing you cannot do with a HGV or PCV is drive it like a car! I held both C and D entitlements - along with all the others, and the number of times, I have seen cars cause accidents involving HGV's and PCV's was amazing. One IQ0 demanded I reversed a bus so he could get through the restriction I was about 3/4 through. Refused to move,. Plods called and he was made to take a breath test which he failed at about 07:30. Guess where he went!
Over that last 2 weeks I've had serious fog between Huddersfield and Rochdale on the M62, the type of fog that's in patches where you go from clear to blind instantly. I'llo slow down, fogs on in my artic, but cars and vans fly past and the scary part is if they crash am I going to run into an unlit situation on a dark foggy road? I saw the footage of the Bowburn truck crash on the A1 when an artic driver texting hit standing traffic at 58mph killing 3 people instantly and how the hell he didn't kill more was beyond me. For the life of you just slow down if there's fog/smoke. I'm no snowflake but I do want to get home safe and most of all not hurt anyone else on the road.
I remember this night well. My wife and I passed this about an hour before it happened while travelling from our home in South Wales to stay with my wifes Mum in West Cornwall. My MinL was panicked when we arrived as she'd seen this in the news and didn't know if we were involved in it. We had phones but they were silent, tucked away in our bags. Totally different to today where people get separation anxiety if they're away from their Smartphone for too long. As soon as we pulled up MinL dashed out and told us what had happened. Very sad incident. You handled this very respectfully,
The problem is that we are not alone on the road. So no matter if we do everything right, we can still end up in the middle of a tragedly. I am also an HGV driver. I remember once driving over A66 in a very thick fog. I drove a Sprinter van on this occassion. You could barely see a few metres ahead. I slowed down significantly and then I had several HGV's almost ending up in my arse. It was so bad that I've decided to leave the A66 and go over the small roads - sat nav took me somewhere next to Tan Hill Inn - because I felt safer there, as at least I could hope there won't be much traffic up there at 3AM (it turned out to be a good decission also because I found myself above the fog and clouds, so it ended up being a very memorable drive and I probably didn't lost too much time compared to if I had to plod along A66 at 20-30 mph...) If even proffessional drivers show such disregard to safety, those things will happen.
I know this piece of motorway very well having delivered to Langdons in Taunton and Oscar Mayer in Chard, from my base in Hull many many times. I have shed tears as a HGV driver for 35 years at the loss of life in this accident, I don’t know the exact details of the lead up to this incident but have heard that a car driver on entering the smoke on the motorway stood on their brakes triggering the horrendous crash, whatever the circumstances it was a very upsetting accident that still sticks in the memory many years on.
I'm a train driver, the biggest issue with firework displays is that they make you look. If that happened or not I do not know. But I do know about fog having spent years driving on the ECML in the vale of York. If you don't know the vale, the fog can come down as thick as a bag. Even knowing it's only colour lights I am looking for, it can be hideously disorientating. You have made a good video here. Nicely done, non judgemental and left your viewers enough to come to their own conclusions.
NOt a trucker, but I'm sending this to someone who is and I got former HGV drivers in the family who went all across Europe back in the 70s/80s. Fog is absolutely no joke. I don't believe for a moment the fireworks display was solely responsible, it is a conbination of things. Look up the fog in the US in California and the incident in Tenessee for other examples of worst case scenarios involving HGV and cars, but all three of those incidents had two things in common. Fog People driving too fast for the conditions and not being able to controlt heir vehicles in time. I've been caught up in sudden fog banks in an estate doing 70, and had people go past me doing at least 80 plus for cars, and HGVs going as fast as they are able to going straight into fog banks and all I can think of is yes, you may be going as fast as you can, but, how are you going to stop, how are you going to avoid something if you need to though. There's so much wrong with this incident, from the police not alerting the motorway folks to at the time, turn on the fog warning systems, to drivers just carrying on like it was a sunny day, and the whole prosecutirng the guy who put the fireworks display on was wrong on so many levels EDIT: Got a response from my friend who is an HGV driver and it's a long rant about how he does the speed limit and has people go past at ridiculous speeds then act like somehow he and his HGV are in the way.sand
Rhank you for putting up this video. Those whodied should and will never be forgotten. Shows how fragile our lives are. Take care all drivers and safe travels.
@@wwsxd00 thanks for kind worda. I was worried about making this as its obviously a very sensitive subject. But I wanted to make it to ensure the public do remember them and that tragic day
I remember this accident quite well as I used to deliver cleaning products into Melton where the famous pies come from in the late 80s. And yes with over 30 years class 1 driving across the UK/Europe you learn where the fog banks are most like to appear and some, as you have just highlighted can be lethal and the best thing you can do when driving into one is slow the hell down and stay focused.
I was parked in Bridgewater services that night in a hgv, as I lay in bed a helicopter approached & landed in the distribution centre over the wall from the truck parking area, the noise from it coming in to land got my attention so i got up to take look, I later learned it was to collect medical staff from Bridgewater to take them to Taunton or maybe the accident site, whilst watching the helicopter on the ground I can tell you the fog & smoke that night was like something I'd never seen before & never seen since, the helicopter was maybe 100yds away from me yet kept disappearing in the clouds of fog & smoke with its rotors spinning, bonfire nights are generally smoky damp nights but this was something else.
I live around half a mile as they crow flies and heard all the collisions. The fog that night was extraordinarily thick.. yes, the firework display had ended. Where we were you could not see more than 50 to 60 metres ahead. All i could hear was the sound of the impacts. What i didn't hear was the screech of braking. Visibility at the ceash site was more likely worse with fog from the river. I still think the firework residues did not affect the terrible tragedy. We still remember to this day and respect those who lost their lives and their loved ones.
The fog wasn't actually that bad at all on the m5, I drove through that smoke milliseconds before the crash...i have no recollection of fog on the m5 that night
I was in school in North Devon at the time, me, a member of staff and a friend were travelling on the M5 at the time of the crash and we were unfortunately we were involved but thankfully uninjured but shaken up and unfortunately the school car we were in was a write-off and I always get nightmares while travelling on that bit of the motorway
Sorry wanted to say my thoughts and feelings are with those poor souls on the M5 something all those families will never get over plus the fact what the emergency services must have gone through god bless them thanks guys for your service and dedication.
That accident happened right behind me. I drove throught the smoke, lost vision completely for around 50-100 yards and the horror unfolded rifgt behind. The smoke was thick as thick, typical wet steamy smoke you getbwhen you first light a fire. Coupled with the weather (wet and windy) the smoke blew straight across both carriageways.
Thanks so much. I was nervous about making this video incase people thought it was a bit inconsiderate. I wanted it to be the opposite of that and for people to remember those poor unfortunate people. Thanks again for your kind words
I remember that accident as if were yesterday... Around that area is prone to bad fog, right up as far as Bridgwater and the Weston Super Mare junction... Another bad area is on the M4 between the Swindon/Marlborough junction and Newbury/Oxford (A34) junction, which is infamous for having bad fog in those areas.
@thetruckerseye Not only that, the area is close to the Bristol Channel, and a lot of low fog drifts in and spreads across the Somerset Levels, where parts of it are below sea level.
Very tragic, but glad they ultimately didn't blame the firework display; people should drive more cautiously, especially in inclement weather conditions; if there was fog then were those cars going too fast? If so was that the real cause of the accident? We sadly see this almost every time there's fog, and nowadays there is the mentality of 'we must blame somebody, even if nobody can be held responsible', and to that end I think if you must blame anyone, it's the nutters doing upwards of 70mph in fog; if there was fog, there was little to no wind, so how then could the smoke be blown across the motorway? Fog forms in still air, still air means no wind, no wind means smoke will go straight up.
I'm a very lucky man, I missed the pile up by 1 minute, I can remember that dreadful night, smoke screams and fire. RIP to all those who lost their lives.
I remember this "incident" as its called nowadays and not accident , i thought the 2 samworth drivers were in the same truck, i seem to remember that one was getting a lift to another depot,. As for driving in fog i have had 4 of the scariest moments of my driving/riding career, firstt was riding in the manx gp on the isle of man in early morning practice in 1976, it was my first time there and i think it was my very first lap around 7am and the fog on the mountain was awfull, vision was barely 10 yards and i struggled to follow the white lines and other bikes were passing me and inevitability a couple crashed out further on, thankfully i didn't get rear ended, nowadays they don't let riders out in fog or rain,. The other 3 events were in my truck on the m25 and a motorway in belgium and A road , again pea souper fog and barley able to see a few yards and vehicles passing me at crazy speeds, m25 no accidents but belgium was carnage when the fog lifted, thankfully i got directed off the motorway by police before i got involved in someone elses accident,. The 4th and final near miss and pretty much the scariest was on an A road, thick fog again and i'm feeling myself along and going around a tightish left hand bend and all of a sudden i come across a tractor a silage trailer stopped half way around the bend and he must have been opening the field gate, i swerved out into the oncoming lane to miss ploughing into his trailer and i prayed nothing was coming towards me as i couldnt see a thing, thank my lucky stars i got through without having a head on smash,.In all these cases i was driving to the conditions (slowly), phew !,.
Here in Western Australia our government has installed electronic warning lights at the known common fog spot on the Kwinana Freeway. This was done as consequence of a major crash that occurred in that area. The main roads dept has remote control of the warning signs and have cameras located in the area to monitor both environmental and road conditions. Perhaps that solution ought to be a consideration for authorities that control British highways.
i remember this as i had been in the area about a week before doing volunteer work. our cook was the first officer on scene (day job, traffic cop). she said it was like a scene from a disaster movie.
It's a difficult one, could the accident have been foreseen? it's easy to be wise after the event, with the benefit of hindsight. Many years ago, as a young man, I had a job as a delivery driver for a few months in the northwest. At the end of one winter's day, I was driving north up the M6 in thick fog in a new Leyland Sherpa van. The conditions were so bad that I was doing just 30mph and I found that other vehicles were happy to follow my lead, rather than overtake me.
@@paulhenry7 wow a Sherpa van!!! My uncle had one of those a long, long time ago. I'm surprised anyone was following in you if you were in one of those 🤣🤣🤣. But, you're right! Hindsight is a magnificent thing isn't it? Like one comment said though, how come the southbound side never had any problem? I can't answer that!
Nice video but left so many other questions such as how the accident was caused, did the traffic slow down and ones behind didn't notice, that sort of thing, or if none of this information is known maybe say that. Hindsight is a great thing in our minds and life, but I do feel more information is needed, I accept this is maybe not your typical video, but I just feel it needs more information to add with what you already gathered, like I say all very well blaiming the rugby club and sure as you say hindsight etc. but you say it also typicly known for fog area, could just the fog and drivers slowing down as example, I feel it was more aimed at blaming the rugby club rather than being balanced
A very sad incident that I recall from years ago. I would like to note my sorrow for the families of the bereaved and injured in that incident. I can't however go down the route that accidents can happen. There is sometimes a clear route to the causes of an incident and sometimes it can be hard to find but accidents just don't happen. As was said in the coal board 40 years ago the causes can be found a minute ago, a month ago etc. Why do you think police jargon changed from, "Road Traffic Accident" to. "Road Traffic Collision"?
I was driving an HGV on the M3 when this happened. Over the next few days it was all the drivers were talking about at the depot. We all agreed that fireworks displays near motorways were a bad idea. This tragedy just goes to prove it.
Was on the A3 just south of surbiton a really thick fog just rolled in so thick i could only hear vehicles crashing just couldn’t see them and using the hard shoulder was just a waste of time im not particularly religious but did do a bit praying that evening by the time i got to the next exit (easher) the fog had gone dont know if anyone was hurt do hope they weren’t very frightening all the same.
@@Antihm-js7wc i remember one night I headed out to get my son the brand new call of duty game as it was released at midnight (things you do as a parent 🤣🤣) and on the way we entered fog like I had never seen or have seen again since. Without dressing it up, I couldn't see the bonnet of my car, genuinely! I think I was doing about 2mph and still petrified that I was going to hit barriers!
So sad, I remember driving on the M6 near Keene services, the fog was that bad we passed the services and didn’t even see them, one of us had been involved in a crash on a motorway many years before said wind down the windows and listen out for vehicles crashing, that was one scary morning, 😞rip to all the victims of that tragedy.
That's actually good advice to people that. It's something I do in heavy fog too. I turn the radio off and open windows. It's best to have as many of your wits about you as you can. You'll still always get people flying past you.
I think the fog would have been so dense that none of the fireworks would have been visible . Next time you encounter fog try looking up and see how far you can see , 20 to 30 ft maybe ?
A very sad accident and compassionately made video.
Thank you for remembering those who sadly passed away.
That's one of my favourite comments. That is rxactly how I hoped the video would be perceived and I will admit to being a little apprehensive about making it and putting it out there! Thank you.
@@thetruckerseye Bless you. Thank you also. 👍
I used to work in the retail park , accross the railway line from the rugby club. A year before this tragedy I had joined the m5 going northbound when I ran into a fog bank . This was a regular occurence at this spot . The fog gathers over the river , which is at the bottom of a long hill going north . On this occasion I hit a wall of fog at the exact moment the on-ramp
met the motorway . I put on my lights but couldn't see further than about 20 feet. I decided to continue slowly up the hard shoulder as I was sure that nobody would see me from behind if I had gone into lane one. I then had to decided to merge as there was the possibility that a vehicle could be stopped on the hard shoulder , having pulled over to avoid the almost total lack of visibility. Really scary moment. I'm sure the local motorway cops and DoT drivers were well aware of this situation so I was really surprised when they blamed the rugby club firework display. Any smoke from that display would have risen , without travelling as far as the motorway because there was no wind to move it around and the heat from the bonfire would have created a column of rising air ,sucking all the smoke up above the fog bank.
The exceptional factor here was the sudden "wall of fog" for a short distance either side of the river when the motorway leading up to that point was entirely clear of fog. The drivers had no warning of what was ahead and had no time to even think about slowing down. The rugby club had moved to their new site only a few years previously, so had no experience of what could happen when very thick fog mixed with firework smoke. We still don't know if the smoke made any actual difference to the situation (and if it did, how much), as it's impossible to recreate the conditions and carry out tests. As a local resident I remember the long drawn out process of finding someone to blame, and the additional stress that put on the families of the deceased as they sought closure.
At about 1130 am on the next da, Saturday, II spoke to my milkman. He informed me that his wife left her mother's house in Ottery St Mary a good few miles away at about 815 pm. When she arrived home in South Devon she told him she had to pull up due to a very dense fog. She would have arrived home shortly after 9pm.
It was much later that weekend when the rugby club firework display was brought into question.
I have always believed that the tragedy was due to the sudden thick fog and not the display.
Nope, I wa there. It was a band of thick smoke not fog.
Worked with Terry Brice in his previous job. Lovely lad. He went too Samworths because he lived in Bristol and he was working in Magor.... Just getting a lift back to the Bristol depot and this happened... Rip buddy...
Ah so he was a passenger? That's tarribly sad. I knew there was 3 drivers in the 2 Samworth trucks but never knew one of them who passed was the passenger. Tragic either way.
I live at Taunton and can never forget this tragic evening. In the event the M5 Northbound carriageway was closed 3 days because there were so many vehicles on the carriageway and most had burned very badly, and the carriageway itself had to be dug up and re-laid as it was so damaged.
@@fmassa02 I wanted to make this video as I think the public easily forget and I wanted to put it back out there on the anniversary.
I've travelled in fog here in Oz and in the UK. Heading west towards Bodmin in 2005 we hit a sudden fog bank, with a general orderly slow down. A small sedan shot past in the outside lane, obviously thinking they were gaining a march on everyone else. A few hundred yards later, there they were upside down, although fortunately uninjured, on the median grass. Here in Oz, in 1968, returning from a weekend with the wife's family, our Hillman Imp was overtaken by a lunatic VW beetle in light fog which suddenly became thicker. We passed him in similar situation just down the road, but judging by the condition and location of the wreck, probably in much worse case than those rushing towards Bodmin. And I've driven in fog where you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you on country roads here in Oz. Definitely not a pleasant experience. Fog kills...
I was Living in Taunton when it happened, I remember the night very well.
we lived about 2 maybe 3 miles from the motorway and I remember hearing a huge booming sound, I thought it was a large firework at first but then as I looked out the window the sky was glowing orange over by the motorway.
In my opinion the accident was 100% caused by the smoke from the rugby club bonfire and fireworks mixing with the fog, making it a lot worse than it was already.
The comments on this video have been amazing to me! There's comments from people like yourself who were nearby who say the same thing, and then some that say it was fog. Then there's the similar replies from people who drove that stretch of the motorway that night. Some say it was fog and some blame the fireworks. It's amazing how perceptions are different.
@@thetruckerseye I live in the village next to the accident. I was working that night doing taxi driving and remember driving in thick fog! I actually drove a few of the people home who were involved in the collision. What they told me was horrific!
My brother had an anniversary party at the rugby club just a few years before, he asked if he could have fireworks but was actually told “No, because it’s too close to the motorway”.
A very tragic accident and who is to be blamed for that? The organiser of the fireworks? The motorists? I don't know but what I know is that I slow down when I can see the road or traffic ahead.
I've been driving for almost 60 years now, 25 of them as a HGV driver and I loved nearly every single minute of those 25 years. The things I've seen while driving not only in the UK but almost every Western European country are simply unbelievable. Unfortunately, dash cams weren't then available
@@hanshartfiel6394 As a HGV driver you see a lot more than most don't we? The funny thing is that Joe Public don't realise we drive cars too, so we see things from all points of view. I never have a problem with trucks or truck drivers when i'm in the car, because of the experience I have driving trucks. As you know yourself, it's not the same when when you are driving a truck and there are 'car only' drivers trying to tell you how to drive the truck!
@@hanshartfiel6394 The contributory factor was the fireworks being too close to the M5 and the wind blowing across the motorway. The trouble was drivers in cars looking skywards at the displays in the sky instead of watching the road, not realising that in say 1 second at 60 mph they travelled about 30 metres or 100 feet and had no idea of what was going on in front of them. I would guess some of them were looking for longer tha 1 second too!
@@thetruckerseye Very true. If you can drive a car, you can drive it like an HGV or PCV, but the one thing you cannot do with a HGV or PCV is drive it like a car! I held both C and D entitlements - along with all the others, and the number of times, I have seen cars cause accidents involving HGV's and PCV's was amazing. One IQ0 demanded I reversed a bus so he could get through the restriction I was about 3/4 through. Refused to move,. Plods called and he was made to take a breath test which he failed at about 07:30. Guess where he went!
It wasn't the fireworks, it was speeding into a dense fog & not adjusting the speed accordingly.
Over that last 2 weeks I've had serious fog between Huddersfield and Rochdale on the M62, the type of fog that's in patches where you go from clear to blind instantly. I'llo slow down, fogs on in my artic, but cars and vans fly past and the scary part is if they crash am I going to run into an unlit situation on a dark foggy road? I saw the footage of the Bowburn truck crash on the A1 when an artic driver texting hit standing traffic at 58mph killing 3 people instantly and how the hell he didn't kill more was beyond me. For the life of you just slow down if there's fog/smoke. I'm no snowflake but I do want to get home safe and most of all not hurt anyone else on the road.
@@TruckerMurdock I'm the same. Some drivers don't seem to think 'what if'!
I remember this night well. My wife and I passed this about an hour before it happened while travelling from our home in South Wales to stay with my wifes Mum in West Cornwall. My MinL was panicked when we arrived as she'd seen this in the news and didn't know if we were involved in it. We had phones but they were silent, tucked away in our bags. Totally different to today where people get separation anxiety if they're away from their Smartphone for too long.
As soon as we pulled up MinL dashed out and told us what had happened.
Very sad incident.
You handled this very respectfully,
The problem is that we are not alone on the road. So no matter if we do everything right, we can still end up in the middle of a tragedly.
I am also an HGV driver. I remember once driving over A66 in a very thick fog. I drove a Sprinter van on this occassion. You could barely see a few metres ahead. I slowed down significantly and then I had several HGV's almost ending up in my arse.
It was so bad that I've decided to leave the A66 and go over the small roads - sat nav took me somewhere next to Tan Hill Inn - because I felt safer there, as at least I could hope there won't be much traffic up there at 3AM (it turned out to be a good decission also because I found myself above the fog and clouds, so it ended up being a very memorable drive and I probably didn't lost too much time compared to if I had to plod along A66 at 20-30 mph...)
If even proffessional drivers show such disregard to safety, those things will happen.
I know this piece of motorway very well having delivered to Langdons in Taunton and Oscar Mayer in Chard, from my base in Hull many many times. I have shed tears as a HGV driver for 35 years at the loss of life in this accident, I don’t know the exact details of the lead up to this incident but have heard that a car driver on entering the smoke on the motorway stood on their brakes triggering the horrendous crash, whatever the circumstances it was a very upsetting accident that still sticks in the memory many years on.
I'm a train driver, the biggest issue with firework displays is that they make you look. If that happened or not I do not know. But I do know about fog having spent years driving on the ECML in the vale of York. If you don't know the vale, the fog can come down as thick as a bag. Even knowing it's only colour lights I am looking for, it can be hideously disorientating.
You have made a good video here. Nicely done, non judgemental and left your viewers enough to come to their own conclusions.
So sad , love and prayers to all involved
I drive from Plymouth to Bristol every day & you can always guarantee some issue from Taunton to Bridgwater. It’s like a cursed stretch of road 😔
People driving to close and too fast for the conditions was the main cause of this accident
I agree with you other than causing it an accident.
NOt a trucker, but I'm sending this to someone who is and I got former HGV drivers in the family who went all across Europe back in the 70s/80s.
Fog is absolutely no joke. I don't believe for a moment the fireworks display was solely responsible, it is a conbination of things. Look up the fog in the US in California and the incident in Tenessee for other examples of worst case scenarios involving HGV and cars, but all three of those incidents had two things in common.
Fog
People driving too fast for the conditions and not being able to controlt heir vehicles in time. I've been caught up in sudden fog banks in an estate doing 70, and had people go past me doing at least 80 plus for cars, and HGVs going as fast as they are able to going straight into fog banks and all I can think of is yes, you may be going as fast as you can, but, how are you going to stop, how are you going to avoid something if you need to though. There's so much wrong with this incident, from the police not alerting the motorway folks to at the time, turn on the fog warning systems, to drivers just carrying on like it was a sunny day, and the whole prosecutirng the guy who put the fireworks display on was wrong on so many levels
EDIT: Got a response from my friend who is an HGV driver and it's a long rant about how he does the speed limit and has people go past at ridiculous speeds then act like somehow he and his HGV are in the way.sand
Rhank you for putting up this video. Those whodied should and will never be forgotten. Shows how fragile our lives are. Take care all drivers and safe travels.
@@wwsxd00 thanks for kind worda. I was worried about making this as its obviously a very sensitive subject. But I wanted to make it to ensure the public do remember them and that tragic day
I remember this accident quite well as I used to deliver cleaning products into Melton where the famous pies come from in the late 80s. And yes with over 30 years class 1 driving across the UK/Europe you learn where the fog banks are most like to appear and some, as you have just highlighted can be lethal and the best thing you can do when driving into one is slow the hell down and stay focused.
I was parked in Bridgewater services that night in a hgv, as I lay in bed a helicopter approached & landed in the distribution centre over the wall from the truck parking area, the noise from it coming in to land got my attention so i got up to take look, I later learned it was to collect medical staff from Bridgewater to take them to Taunton or maybe the accident site, whilst watching the helicopter on the ground I can tell you the fog & smoke that night was like something I'd never seen before & never seen since, the helicopter was maybe 100yds away from me yet kept disappearing in the clouds of fog & smoke with its rotors spinning, bonfire nights are generally smoky damp nights but this was something else.
I live around half a mile as they crow flies and heard all the collisions. The fog that night was extraordinarily thick.. yes, the firework display had ended. Where we were you could not see more than 50 to 60 metres ahead. All i could hear was the sound of the impacts. What i didn't hear was the screech of braking. Visibility at the ceash site was more likely worse with fog from the river. I still think the firework residues did not affect the terrible tragedy. We still remember to this day and respect those who lost their lives and their loved ones.
@@rapsman930 i bet those horrific sounds will never ever leave you
The fog wasn't actually that bad at all on the m5, I drove through that smoke milliseconds before the crash...i have no recollection of fog on the m5 that night
I remember Malcolm Beacham…. Worked for Calor Gas… lost in this accident…..RIP
Was he a private man? The news stories only seemed to feature 6 photos of those poor people.
I was in school in North Devon at the time, me, a member of staff and a friend were travelling on the M5 at the time of the crash and we were unfortunately we were involved but thankfully uninjured but shaken up and unfortunately the school car we were in was a write-off and I always get nightmares while travelling on that bit of the motorway
Sorry wanted to say my thoughts and feelings are with those poor souls on the M5 something all those families will never get over plus the fact what the emergency services must have gone through god bless them thanks guys for your service and dedication.
That accident happened right behind me.
I drove throught the smoke, lost vision completely for around 50-100 yards and the horror unfolded rifgt behind. The smoke was thick as thick, typical wet steamy smoke you getbwhen you first light a fire. Coupled with the weather (wet and windy) the smoke blew straight across both carriageways.
A day I have never forgotten but it will certainly live very 8:19 close to you for the rest of your life having been that close.
Good video nice caring well done xx
Thanks so much. I was nervous about making this video incase people thought it was a bit inconsiderate. I wanted it to be the opposite of that and for people to remember those poor unfortunate people. Thanks again for your kind words
I remember that accident as if were yesterday... Around that area is prone to bad fog, right up as far as Bridgwater and the Weston Super Mare junction... Another bad area is on the M4 between the Swindon/Marlborough junction and Newbury/Oxford (A34) junction, which is infamous for having bad fog in those areas.
The river will play a major part in why that area is prone to those conditions.
@thetruckerseye Not only that, the area is close to the Bristol Channel, and a lot of low fog drifts in and spreads across the Somerset Levels, where parts of it are below sea level.
Very tragic, but glad they ultimately didn't blame the firework display; people should drive more cautiously, especially in inclement weather conditions; if there was fog then were those cars going too fast? If so was that the real cause of the accident? We sadly see this almost every time there's fog, and nowadays there is the mentality of 'we must blame somebody, even if nobody can be held responsible', and to that end I think if you must blame anyone, it's the nutters doing upwards of 70mph in fog; if there was fog, there was little to no wind, so how then could the smoke be blown across the motorway? Fog forms in still air, still air means no wind, no wind means smoke will go straight up.
@@johnbower7452 where I am parked up now there is a cold misty fog. Visibilty isn't too bad but I always slow up a bit in fog 'just incase'.
I'm a very lucky man, I missed the pile up by 1 minute, I can remember that dreadful night, smoke screams and fire.
RIP to all those who lost their lives.
I remember this "incident" as its called nowadays and not accident , i thought the 2 samworth drivers were in the same truck, i seem to remember that one was getting a lift to another depot,. As for driving in fog i have had 4 of the scariest moments of my driving/riding career, firstt was riding in the manx gp on the isle of man in early morning practice in 1976, it was my first time there and i think it was my very first lap around 7am and the fog on the mountain was awfull, vision was barely 10 yards and i struggled to follow the white lines and other bikes were passing me and inevitability a couple crashed out further on, thankfully i didn't get rear ended, nowadays they don't let riders out in fog or rain,. The other 3 events were in my truck on the m25 and a motorway in belgium and A road , again pea souper fog and barley able to see a few yards and vehicles passing me at crazy speeds, m25 no accidents but belgium was carnage when the fog lifted, thankfully i got directed off the motorway by police before i got involved in someone elses accident,. The 4th and final near miss and pretty much the scariest was on an A road, thick fog again and i'm feeling myself along and going around a tightish left hand bend and all of a sudden i come across a tractor a silage trailer stopped half way around the bend and he must have been opening the field gate, i swerved out into the oncoming lane to miss ploughing into his trailer and i prayed nothing was coming towards me as i couldnt see a thing, thank my lucky stars i got through without having a head on smash,.In all these cases i was driving to the conditions (slowly), phew !,.
I've noticed that they do actually use the word 'accidents' sometimes these days
Here in Western Australia our government has installed electronic warning lights at the known common fog spot on the Kwinana Freeway. This was done as consequence of a major crash that occurred in that area. The main roads dept has remote control of the warning signs and have cameras located in the area to monitor both environmental and road conditions. Perhaps that solution ought to be a consideration for authorities that control British highways.
i remember this as i had been in the area about a week before doing volunteer work. our cook was the first officer on scene (day job, traffic cop). she said it was like a scene from a disaster movie.
I'm sorry but the firework organisers should of known the smoke may blow over the motorway they should be held responsible 100% in my eyes
It's a difficult one, could the accident have been foreseen? it's easy to be wise after the event, with the benefit of hindsight. Many years ago, as a young man, I had a job as a delivery driver for a few months in the northwest. At the end of one winter's day, I was driving north up the M6 in thick fog in a new Leyland Sherpa van. The conditions were so bad that I was doing just 30mph and I found that other vehicles were happy to follow my lead, rather than overtake me.
@@paulhenry7 wow a Sherpa van!!! My uncle had one of those a long, long time ago. I'm surprised anyone was following in you if you were in one of those 🤣🤣🤣. But, you're right! Hindsight is a magnificent thing isn't it? Like one comment said though, how come the southbound side never had any problem? I can't answer that!
@@thetruckerseye That new Sherpa could, allegedly, cruise comfortably on the motorway at 80mph.
Nice video but left so many other questions such as how the accident was caused, did the traffic slow down and ones behind didn't notice, that sort of thing, or if none of this information is known maybe say that.
Hindsight is a great thing in our minds and life, but I do feel more information is needed, I accept this is maybe not your typical video, but I just feel it needs more information to add with what you already gathered, like I say all very well blaiming the rugby club and sure as you say hindsight etc. but you say it also typicly known for fog area, could just the fog and drivers slowing down as example, I feel it was more aimed at blaming the rugby club rather than being balanced
R I P all who died in this accident on the M5
A very sad incident that I recall from years ago. I would like to note my sorrow for the families of the bereaved and injured in that incident.
I can't however go down the route that accidents can happen. There is sometimes a clear route to the causes of an incident and sometimes it can be hard to find but accidents just don't happen. As was said in the coal board 40 years ago the causes can be found a minute ago, a month ago etc.
Why do you think police jargon changed from, "Road Traffic Accident" to. "Road Traffic Collision"?
I was driving an HGV on the M3 when this happened. Over the next few days it was all the drivers were talking about at the depot. We all agreed that fireworks displays near motorways were a bad idea. This tragedy just goes to prove it.
Even if the smoke is blowing away, drivers get distracted by looking at the fireworks. Not a good idea like you say!
Think you find both samworth drivers were in the same lorry terry was getting a lift back to Bristol
The fireworks display was I believe the main cause of this accident. We have at least learned something from this tragic mistake.
Was on the A3 just south of surbiton a really thick fog just rolled in so thick i could only hear vehicles crashing just couldn’t see them and using the hard shoulder was just a waste of time im not particularly religious but did do a bit praying that evening by the time i got to the next exit (easher) the fog had gone dont know if anyone was hurt do hope they weren’t very frightening all the same.
@@Antihm-js7wc i remember one night I headed out to get my son the brand new call of duty game as it was released at midnight (things you do as a parent 🤣🤣) and on the way we entered fog like I had never seen or have seen again since. Without dressing it up, I couldn't see the bonnet of my car, genuinely! I think I was doing about 2mph and still petrified that I was going to hit barriers!
@ truly terrifying hope all was okay.
A bit weird that only crashed one side of motorway
Good point actually, and the side of the rugby club too
Awfully just awfully it's almost a blame game clearly not driving to the conditions 😢
So sad, I remember driving on the M6 near Keene services, the fog was that bad we passed the services and didn’t even see them, one of us had been involved in a crash on a motorway many years before said wind down the windows and listen out for vehicles crashing, that was one scary morning, 😞rip to all the victims of that tragedy.
That's actually good advice to people that. It's something I do in heavy fog too. I turn the radio off and open windows. It's best to have as many of your wits about you as you can. You'll still always get people flying past you.
Yes, because drivers looked up at the displays in the sky and they crashed causing the horrific events that resulted.
I think the fog would have been so dense that none of the fireworks would have been visible . Next time you encounter fog try looking up and see how far you can see , 20 to 30 ft maybe ?