Crash Bang Wallop

So according to the Highways Authority the A34 sliproad at Tufton doesn't need slowing down eh? Let's look at the crashes from the last 5 years then...

Here's the data on the first crash, from 2007 when a 54yr-old woman flips her car into a tree (link here)

Report for collision no. 440528695 in year 2007:

# Accident report

Accident Year:	2007
Accident Severity:	Slight
Casualties:	Car occupant
Accident Ref. No:	440528695
Police Force Code:	44
No. of Vehicles:	1   [Details below]
No. of Casualties:	1   [Details below]
Accident Day:	15
Accident Month:	November
Day of Week:	Thursday
Hour of Accident:	21
Minute of Accident:	50
Local Authority:	490
Location - Easting:	446020
Location - Northing:	146560
Longitude (looked up):	-1.342489
Latitude (looked up):	51.216393
1st Road Class:	A
1st Road Number:	34
Road Type:	Slip road
Speed Limit:	70
Junction Detail:	Not at junction or within 20 metres
Junction Control:
2nd Road Class:
2nd Road Number:
Pedestrian Crossing - Human Control:	No crossing 50m or phys. crossing not controlled
Pedestrian Crossing - Physical Facilities:	No crossing facility within 50 metres
Light Conditions:	Darkness - no lighting
Weather Conditions:	Fine no high winds
Road Surface Condition:	Wet/damp
Special Conditions at Site:	None
Carriageway Hazards:	Any animal in carriageway (except ridden horse)
Place Accident Reported:	Yes (Police National Form only)
Date and time:	2007-11-15 21:50:00

# Casualty report

Casualty Type:	Car occupant
Accident Year:	2007
Accident Ref. No.:	440528695
Vehicle Ref. No.:	1   [Details below]
Casualty Ref. No.:	1
Casualty Class:	Driver or rider
Sex of Casualty:	Female
Age of Casualty:	54
Severity of Casualty:	Slight
Pedestrian Location:
Pedestrian Movement:
Pedestrian Direction:
School Pupil:	Other (from 1994)
Seat Belt Usage (1979 - 1993):
Car Passenger:	Not car passenger
Bus or Coach Passenger:	Not a bus or coach passenger

# Vehicle report

Accident Year:	2007
Accident Ref. No.:	440528695
Vehicle Ref. No.:	1
Vehicle Type:	Car
Towing and Articulation:	No tow or articulation
Vehicle Manoeuvre:	Going ahead left-hand bend
Compass Point - From:	S
Compass Point - To:	NW
Vehicle Location - Road:
Veh. Location - Restr. Lane/Away frm Main Carriageway:	On main carriageway - not restr. lane
Junction Location At Impact:	Not at, or within 20 metres of, junction
Skidding/Overturning:	Overturned
Hit Object In Carriageway:	None
Vehicle Leaving Carriageway:	7
Hit Object off Carriageway:	Tree
Vehicle Prefix/Suffix Letter:
1st Point of Impact:	Front
Other Vehicle Hit-Ref No.:	0
Combined Damage:
Roof/Underside Damage:
Sex of Driver:	Female
Age of Driver:	54
Hit and Run:	Other
Foreign Registered Vehicle:	Not foreign registered vehicle
Journey Purpose of Driver/Rider:	Other/Not known

And the second crash from 2010, when a 17yr-old again flips his car (into the ditch this time), injuring himself and his passenger. Note that both this and the previous vehicle were on exactly the same part of the sliproad. Link is here:

Report for collision no. 440417333 in year 2010:

# Accident report

Accident Year:	2010
Accident Severity:	Slight
Casualties:	Car occupant
Accident Ref. No:	440417333
Police Force Code:	44
No. of Vehicles:	1   [Details below]
No. of Casualties:	2   [Details below]
Accident Day:	1
Accident Month:	October
Day of Week:	Friday
Hour of Accident:	13
Minute of Accident:	8
Local Authority:	490
Location - Easting:	445990
Location - Northing:	146580
Longitude (looked up):	-1.342916
Latitude (looked up):	51.216576
1st Road Class:	A
1st Road Number:	34
Road Type:	Slip road
Speed Limit:	70
Junction Detail:	Not at junction or within 20 metres
Junction Control:
2nd Road Class:
2nd Road Number:
Pedestrian Crossing - Human Control:	No crossing 50m or phys. crossing not controlled
Pedestrian Crossing - Physical Facilities:	No crossing facility within 50 metres
Light Conditions:	Daylight - no lighting
Weather Conditions:	Raining no high winds
Road Surface Condition:	Wet/damp
Special Conditions at Site:	None
Carriageway Hazards:	None
Place Accident Reported:	Yes (Police National Form only)
Date and time:	2010-10-01 13:08:00

# Casualty reports (2 casualties)

# Casualty no. 1

Casualty Type:	Car occupant
Accident Year:	2010
Accident Ref. No.:	440417333
Vehicle Ref. No.:	1   [Details below]
Casualty Ref. No.:	1
Casualty Class:	Driver or rider
Sex of Casualty:	Male
Age of Casualty:	17
Severity of Casualty:	Slight
Pedestrian Location:
Pedestrian Movement:
Pedestrian Direction:
School Pupil:	Other (from 1994)
Seat Belt Usage (1979 - 1993):
Car Passenger:	Not car passenger
Bus or Coach Passenger:	Not a bus or coach passenger

# Casualty no. 2

Casualty Type:	Car occupant
Accident Year:	2010
Accident Ref. No.:	440417333
Vehicle Ref. No.:	1   [Details below]
Casualty Ref. No.:	2
Casualty Class:	Passenger
Sex of Casualty:	Male
Age of Casualty:	17
Severity of Casualty:	Slight
Pedestrian Location:
Pedestrian Movement:
Pedestrian Direction:
School Pupil:	Other (from 1994)
Seat Belt Usage (1979 - 1993):
Car Passenger:	Front seat passenger
Bus or Coach Passenger:	Not a bus or coach passenger

# Vehicle report

Accident Year:	2010
Accident Ref. No.:	440417333
Vehicle Ref. No.:	1
Vehicle Type:	Car
Towing and Articulation:	No tow or articulation
Vehicle Manoeuvre:	Going ahead left-hand bend
Compass Point - From:	S
Compass Point - To:	NW
Vehicle Location - Road:
Veh. Location - Restr. Lane/Away frm Main Carriageway:	On main carriageway - not restr. lane
Junction Location At Impact:	Not at, or within 20 metres of, junction
Skidding/Overturning:	Skidded and overturned
Hit Object In Carriageway:	None
Vehicle Leaving Carriageway:	1
Hit Object off Carriageway:	Entered ditch
Vehicle Prefix/Suffix Letter:
1st Point of Impact:	Offside
Other Vehicle Hit-Ref No.:	0
Combined Damage:
Roof/Underside Damage:
Sex of Driver:	Male
Age of Driver:	17
Hit and Run:	Other
Foreign Registered Vehicle:	Not foreign registered vehicle
Journey Purpose of Driver/Rider:	Other/Not known

What conclusions can we draw from this? That this sliproad, and this corner, are a crash waiting to happen. Very different drivers, at different times of the day, having exactly the same crash.

But wait you say - thousands of cars a week use this sliproad, and 'only' two rollover crashes in five years? OK, let's compare with the rest of Winchester road, from around the corner to where the 40MPH zone starts. A stretch of road three times as long, carrying twice the traffic (south onto the A34 as well as north off the A34). How many crashes in five years? six times as many? double? the same? ...a few less?

No. None. Zero.


But according to the Highways Authority, it's not worth slowing drivers down on the sliproad.

Not Dead Enough

Finally, a reply from the Highways Authority contractor who manages the A34, and the sliproad at Tufton:

===========================================

Dear Mr Stead,

Further to my email dated 06 September; we have completed our investigations.

There have been 2 reported personal injury collisions in the vicinity of this location in the last 5 years (2007-2011); both of these incidents were slight and both had the contributory factor of lost (sic) of control.

The Department for Transport (DfT) Circular 1/06 ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’ requires all Traffic Authorities to ensure the speed limits on their roads are kept under review with changing requirements. A National Target to review local speed limits by 2011 had been set; requiring the necessary changes to be implemented by the relevant Traffic Authorities.

For the Area 3 network, this was carried out in February 2010 and each link of each route was examined in accordance with the parameters of Circular 1/06 ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’.

It was found that with the exception of two sections on the A3, the rest of the Area 3 Network has collisions per 100 million vehicle kilometres, below the Investigatory Level and thus does not require any further actions to be undertaken in respect of speed management.

Therefore there are currently no plans to lower the speed limit at the Whitchurch Interchange. There are also no plans to undertake any improvements to the layout or signage at the junction based on the evidence explained above.

===========================================

So what this seems to say is yes, people have lost control in this location. Twice in the last five years, resulting in injury. But because there haven't been more collisions, or more severe injuries or death, it doesn't meet government criteria for intervention. We need more people to be injured, or maybe die, before action will be triggered. 

One can only assume that a collision between two vehicles severe enough to cause injuries inside a car would have been much worse, had it been between a car and, say, a child on a bike or a pedestrian, either in the roadway or on the verge. Remembering, these collisions occurred due to 'lost control'. We have an acknowledgement from the government agency that there is a problem here, and a statement that nothing needs doing until more people are injured or someone is killed.

My reply:

Dear HA representatives

Thank-you for your detailed reply.

Can you please advise what the appeal or escalation process is, to have this decision reviewed? 

Can you also please provide me with a copy of the work / assessment done on this intersection, the relevant collision reports (excluding personal information, of course), and the criteria against which the intersection was assessed?

I would also appreciate any technical information regarding the intersection - cambers, sight lines, assumed road surface friction co-efficient etc.

Regards

Mike

This is the limit.

After a bit of digging and reading up on the Road Code etc, I've just realised that the speed limit on the sliproad, coming off a 70MPH dual carriageway, is - er - 70MPH. It doesn't change to 60MPH until the commencement of the single carriageway where the 'NO ENTRY' is painted on the road.

Let's revisit that one: SEVENTY. MILES. PER. HOUR.

Around this corner:

That's about 40 metres visibility. At 70MPH a driver will travel forward 31 meters in the one second it takes them to realise there's a car/truck/tractor/cyclist/family in the intersection. That's the one second it takes the average brain to work out the road isn't clear ahead and something needs doing. By the time their foot lifts off the accelerator and starts to come down on the brake, they will have covered the remaining 9m. So the actual impact speed will be 70MPH. No braking at all. (If you think you're a good driver and could avoid this, think again: a top jet fighter pilot might manage 0.5 seconds reaction time. Apparently a top F1 driver could get to 0.4 at the peak of their career. But you aren't in an F1 car and even one of those couldn't stop in time).

The dry-weather, flat surface Sight Stopping Distance, based on the DfT guidelines, from 70MPH is 247m. As you can see, there's a bit of a downhill slope. Let's call it 3 degrees. That distance is now 272m. Let's add a bit of rain (because it does rain, you know): 290m. Nearly three football pitches.

There have already been collisions here in the last few years. It is only a matter of time before someone who:

a) Doesn't know the road
b) Is an idiot
c) Is in a huge hurry (and is also an idiot)

will try to take the corner at or close to the legal limit. Even at 50, or 40MPH - all these distances will exceed the accepted minimum Stopping Sight Distance...

....just as a family or individual, in a car or on a bike, turns right...seeing how the road is clear.

Or as a resident of Tufton, or Longparish, or Hurstbourne Priors turns left out of the lane, on their way south to the A34. Not forgetting the fact that there is also a bus stop under the A34 (Buses tend not to be too fussed about cars running into them at 50MPH, but the car drivers probably won't appreciate it).

The bottom line is this intersection and the sliproad feeding it at a legal 70MPH is a Highways Authority and Hampshire County Council-sanctioned deathtrap. I have informed (text below) Tom Thacker, the Hampshire County Councillor for the ward, as well as Sir George Young, MP for the ward, also Ken Thornber leader of HCC and the council minister for transport, Mel Kendal, along with our Borough and Town councillors, in the hope that some executive oversight might get things into the fast lane, so to speak. Of course we have yet to hear back from the Highway Authority contractor for the area, but it's probably better to have our elected representatives in the loop sooner rather than later.

I've spoken with some former Hampshire Police advanced driving instructors and road crash investigators, with many, many decades of experience dealing with the consequences of poor judgement and poor road design. They all warned not to expect fast progress, or indeed any progress at all given the government funding cuts and the political desire not to be seen to be waging a 'war on the motorist'. Ironically it is motorists most likely to end up dead or maimed because of this intersection layout.

===========================

Dear Sir George, Councillors,

I'd like to bring your attention to the issue of speed on the A34 sliproad heading into Whitchurch from the south. The current limit is 70MPH off the A34 dual carriageway, then down to 60 where Winchester road begins and the Highways Authority jurisdiction ends.

Both speeds are patently, ridiculously high for this slip road, given its sharp bends and the location of an intersection around a blind corner. It is also frequently used by cyclists and pedestrians, and has a bus stop in the roadway. It is the textbook 'crash waiting to happen'. I would not call any crash, injury or loss of life here an 'accident', as deliberate choices have been made by HCC and the Highways Authority regarding the design and regulation of this intersection that clearly put people in harm's way.

For the last few months I have been engaging with HCC and now the Highways Authority on this matter, and wanted to alert you to the public record I'm keeping of progress: http://tuftonordeath.blogspot.co.uk/

You can click over on the right to see the archive of posts, starting from the bottom up with pictures and diagrams of the various issues this location faces - speed, ill-placed signs, footpaths (or lack thereof)...

As noted I am engaged with both HCC and the HA contractor, and have had many messages of support from Whitchurch and Tufton locals who use this intersection.

I will be sure to keep you appraised of progress or lack thereof.

Kind regards

Mike

No News. Just admin.

Back on 23rd August I raised three 'Track It' cases with HCC. Here's a review, three weeks on:

For the sign (111001145001) 

Problem details

• Problem type: Broken or missing sign (note: HCC don't have an option for 'sign in a silly place', so 'broken or missing' will have to do)
• Location: PAPER MILL LANE, WHITCHURCH
• Status: Open - Problem Report received
  The above problem has been received, and is in the process of being inspected.
  We aim to carry out the inspection within 5 working days but could take longer in some circumstances, such as severe weather conditions or flooding.
  
  The outcome of the inspection will be displayed here when completed.

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The verge's uneven surface (111001144994) 

Problem details

• Problem type: Uneven pavement
• Location: PAPER MILL LANE, WHITCHURCH
• Status: Open - Problem Report received
  The above problem has been received, and is in the process of being inspected.
  We aim to carry out the inspection within 5 working days but could take longer in some circumstances, such as severe weather conditions or flooding.
  
  The outcome of the inspection will be displayed here when completed.

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What the legal status is of the footway, back toward Whitchurch and at this spot (111001145050).

Problem details

• Problem type: Problem
• Location: Error: could not be matched to a street (Weirdly the Track It system thinks this is about a salt bin - Have updated the case to explicitly describe exactly where it is)
• Status: Open – Repairs arranged
  We have inspected the reported problem, and made arrangements to fix it.
  We aim to have the problem fixed within 2 months but it could take longer during severe weather conditions.