Motorway Hell on the Highway S01E05 (07 Apr 2023)
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CreativityTranscript
00:00Motorways are fastest, widest, and busiest roads.
00:07But when risks are taken...
00:10That's one hell of a near miss.
00:12..laws are broken...
00:14People are just far too impatient.
00:16..or sheer lunacy takes over...
00:20One of the most dangerous clips I've probably seen is that.
00:23..motorways become the stuff of nightmares.
00:26Eww!
00:28You just can't think stupid.
00:30It's just dangerous. All-out dangerous.
00:36In this series, we'll reveal the shocking, jaw-dropping...
00:42..and just plain frightening incidents...
00:45..all captured on dashcam by the public in the UK
00:49and across the world,
00:51where incredibly no-one was fatally injured.
00:55You can hit the brakes as hard as you want.
00:57That force is pushing you forward.
00:59We'll show you our panel of drivers and driving experts
01:02reacting to the mayhem in real time...
01:05Jeez!
01:06..before they reveal what they think really went wrong...
01:10Some of them have completely failed to look at what's in front of them.
01:13..why they think things ended in catastrophe...
01:16The driver's just going too fast for the conditions.
01:19..and why all of this chaos was almost completely and utterly avoidable.
01:23It's a recipe for disaster.
01:25It's like bumper cars.
01:27This is how not to drive.
01:34Coming up...
01:37..an outrageous overtake in China causes fireworks to fly.
01:42It's mirror, signal, manoeuvre, but so few people get this right.
01:46In the UK, a driver tussles with a trailer that's out of control.
01:50Oh, no!
01:52No!
01:53And a white van wallops someone in the fast lane.
01:57Oh, my goodness, look at this.
01:59That is completely and utterly out of order.
02:07The thing about luck is you never know how lucky you are when you're driving.
02:12A few miles an hour faster or slower than you could have been toast.
02:17And this next clip is a good example.
02:23We're on the west coast of the US,
02:25where an unsuspecting family are taking an early morning drive
02:29in the Californian sunshine.
02:33So just riding along the road through the countryside,
02:35listening to the radio, chilling out a little bit.
02:38Quite a nice day.
02:39Next to the road the dashcam vehicle's travelling on
02:42is another busy road.
02:44I can see a separate carriageway on the far side.
02:47Clear observations, no distractions.
02:51Good road. Looks like a stunning location.
02:55Well, we're in agreement.
02:56It's a lovely day, so what could possibly go wrong?
03:07Wow, that's got some right air, hasn't it?
03:10Incredibly, an incident on the adjacent road
03:13launched a silver car skywards.
03:15Oh, my goodness, did that car get fired out of a cannon?
03:19Wow.
03:20How fast will that go? That's got to be going like 80 miles an hour.
03:23I mean, it looks like a rocket ship coming over the side of that bank.
03:26Is this a Hollywood production that's gone wrong or something?
03:29Wrong on both counts.
03:31The driver of the motor meteorite misjudged a sharp corner
03:35and simply took off.
03:44Look how close that car comes,
03:46not only to the post that holds those power lines up,
03:50but also just misses interfering with that electrical supply
03:54and making that accident even ten times worse.
03:58Incredibly, this crazy crash doesn't result
04:01in any serious injuries for the driver.
04:04How do you walk out of something like that?
04:06That is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
04:09Incredible that anybody got out of that.
04:11Over the last, say, 10, 15 years,
04:13cars have just got safer and safer and safer.
04:16Most cars are fitted with airbags every single place now,
04:19not only on the steering wheel but in the roof lining,
04:22so that's what protects most drivers now.
04:24That is the standard of modern car design
04:26or a little bit of luck that day.
04:29Also lucky was the driver with the dashcam
04:31who had a very fortunate near miss.
04:34The forward planning of the driver, the point of view we got here,
04:37very, very impressive to get on those brakes, slow that vehicle down.
04:40Proof that you really need to keep your wits about you.
04:43What a lucky escape for everybody concerned.
04:50Meanwhile, in the UK, two drivers are about to have another lucky escape.
04:56It's just gone 6am on the M40 near Birmingham,
05:00and a van driver with a dashcam is on their morning commute.
05:04Completely dry road, a bit overcast,
05:07moving to overtake a couple of lorries.
05:09But it's not the lorries that are the problem.
05:11Over on the other carriageway,
05:12another van driver has fallen asleep at the wheel,
05:15causing it to hit the bank on the far side
05:17and go on to flip across the motorway.
05:22That's frightening.
05:24Oh, mate.
05:26Assuming the closing speed is close to 70mph for each car,
05:30that's 140mph impact speed potentially.
05:34The poor driver as well, the van.
05:36Did he say he's been around that many times?
05:38I think it's every driver's nightmare
05:40when you're in the fast lane of the motorway
05:42to see something coming the opposite direction
05:44at very high speed towards you.
05:45As dangerous as things get,
05:48it doesn't get much more dangerous than this.
05:52As the tumbling van goes over the central reservation,
05:55it's down to the alert driver with the dashcam
05:57to try and avoid a catastrophic collision.
06:01Oh, my goodness.
06:02That's going to wake you up.
06:06He's caught him.
06:09What a bad day.
06:11Incredibly, the driver of the pirouetting van
06:14only suffered minor injuries.
06:18I can't believe he's walked away from that, to be fair.
06:20A really spectacular crash like this
06:22with a vehicle flipping over and over and over again
06:25That was probably one of the worst wake-up calls
06:27he's ever had.
06:28He's definitely having nightmares after that one.
06:30That would scare the living daylights out of me
06:32and I don't think I'd be brave enough
06:34to get behind the wheel again after that.
06:38Over in the Chinese city of Huzhou,
06:40the owner of the white Mini is about to have their day ruined.
06:44And when I say ruined, I mean destroyed.
06:47So, seeing that the traffic light's here,
06:49we can see that the driver of the white Mini
06:52That's a big metal pole, isn't it?
06:54Wow.
06:55I mean, look how long it's hanging off
06:57the back of the tractor-trailer unit.
06:59That's got to be 20, 30 feet.
07:02The danger here is at the rear
07:04and that tail swing of that load protruding round there
07:07is absolutely incredible.
07:09You're not wrong there, Paul.
07:12So, we're going to have to wait and see
07:14how long it's going to take to get the trailer
07:16off the back of the tractor-trailer unit.
07:18You're not wrong there, Paul.
07:23In fact, you're very right.
07:26Oh, wow.
07:29You just didn't want to be part of that at that time, did you?
07:31How can it just be dragged along?
07:35I'm not sure that's going to buff out with a bit of tea cut.
07:38This overhang is absolutely swinging out.
07:43What we call this is tail swing,
07:45whether it's from the load that's protruding
07:47or whether it's from the vehicle itself.
07:50The driver should be massively, massively aware
07:52of what's going on if you're towing a load like that.
07:56The oblivious tracker is ignoring
07:58all the warning signs from other drivers.
08:02If the driver's just not switched on enough
08:04to know how far your vehicle is going to swing out
08:06when you're turning, he shouldn't be driving it.
08:08He shouldn't be in charge of such a heavy or large load.
08:10So, when those loads get a certain dimensions
08:14or the overhang becomes a certain amount,
08:17we have to have escorts,
08:19we have to notify police of where we're going
08:21and we have to be careful of what's going on.
08:24The driver and passenger of the Mini make a sharp exit.
08:30It's like their survival instincts have kicked in.
08:34They're like, you know what, screw this for a game of drafts,
08:36I'm out of here.
08:37So they've opened the door and climbed out just in the nick of time.
08:39The car's occupants make it out and appear safe and sound.
08:43But the same can't be said for the Mini.
08:45If it wasn't a Mini before, it's a Mini now.
08:49Crushed Mini.
08:54Coming up...
08:56Drivers in need of an overtaking refresher course.
09:00I mean, let's count on this hand
09:02how many things this driver has done correct.
09:04That's it, exactly, zero.
09:06And drivers in need of an anger management course.
09:10Ooh, what was he playing at?
09:24Great Britain's roads.
09:26Home to a diverse and flourishing selection of wildlife,
09:30including the lesser-spotted white van man.
09:35According to a recent study,
09:37a third of British adults believe white van men
09:40are the worst drivers on our nation's roads.
09:43Unfortunately, the next few clips will unashamedly back that up.
09:51It's a busy Wednesday evening on the M53 in Cheshire.
09:55All traffic's bunching up.
09:57Lane three's moving faster,
09:59so what people normally do is think we can cut into lane three
10:02to speed up their journey.
10:04And the white van ahead is making a move for the fast lane.
10:08You can see the van indicating to get into the faster-flowing traffic.
10:12There he goes. He tries to make the move, doesn't make it work
10:15because there's a faster car coming up behind him
10:18who isn't going to give him the space.
10:20The driver of the black Vauxhall is refusing to let the white van in.
10:24You do not have to let people in.
10:26If that car doesn't let you in, though, it's that simple.
10:29You've got to wait your turn, find a safe gap and pull in.
10:33Do not expect it is your right just to pull in and do what you want to do.
10:38With both drivers not backing down, it becomes a case of cargy-bargy.
10:46Oh, my goodness, look at this.
10:48It's such an aggressive lurch to the right
10:51that it could be a deliberate crash.
10:55See, he's intentionally ramming there, isn't he?
10:57White van gets a bit aggro and then comes across and does a side swipe.
11:01They've gained absolutely nothing apart from damaging the vehicle.
11:04That is completely and utterly out of order.
11:07If I was the driver of the car on the right-hand side,
11:09I would be absolutely livid at being driven into like that.
11:12The van driver and black car then make off for a game of cat and mouse,
11:16but it's unknown how the altercation ended.
11:19It's like big kids, big toys.
11:22We don't know where they're going and what they're doing,
11:24but it's not going to end up in a tea and biscuits, is it?
11:27It's probably going to end up in a scuffle.
11:31The only saving grace for both drivers
11:33is that Ben wasn't on duty at the time.
11:3619 years in police and I'm sick to the back teeth
11:39of people acting like babies behind the wheel of cars.
11:43Switch yourself on and behave.
11:45Be kind, be courteous and be nice like me.
11:50Such vanarchy isn't just confined to the roads of Cheshire,
11:55as a lorry driver with a dashcam in Kent is about to find out.
11:59On the A2 near Gravesend,
12:01our man with the cam is, well, minding his own business
12:04as a white van emerges from the slip road.
12:08Nice sunny day, so we're going for a drive down the motorway.
12:11We've got someone on the slip lane coming up.
12:14What's this coming in from the left? Yes, it's the white van.
12:17It could be the transit van of doom in this case.
12:19When you're coming up on the slip road,
12:21you're the one that needs to give way.
12:23If you've got a lorry or a car or any other vehicle
12:26that's going on the lane you need to merge onto,
12:28they don't have to yield, they don't have to give way to you.
12:34The HGV driver with the dashcam decides to stay in lane
12:38and as the white van disappears out of sight, it appears all is well.
12:43You join the road when it's safe to do so.
12:46He must have dropped in behind the lorry we're on board with.
12:49No harm done, no problems here.
12:52But as the lorry continues its journey,
12:54it seems the white van has beef with our lorry driver
12:57for not giving way on the slip road.
12:59So he reappears to cut in once...
13:06..and then a second time before slamming on his anchors.
13:10Why are you braking?
13:12Now the white van only seems interested in a game of brakes and ladders.
13:21Ooh! What was he playing at?
13:24This van driver's clearly in a rage.
13:26He slams on his brakes, thinks he's going to teach the lorry driver a lesson,
13:30you know, but the lorry driver, he can't stop in time.
13:33The ladder gets a fairly hefty impact
13:35and you'll have definitely heard that in the cockpit.
13:38The back of the van moved around, but the driver of the white van
13:41doesn't seem to realise he's had an accident and has carried on.
13:44The van driver speeds off into the distance with his ladders a-jangling.
13:49You can see that ladder rattling around
13:52and more crashes and more accidents
13:55could well have stemmed out of this driving from the white van.
13:58I think the van driver come and stopped there
14:00because he shoved his foot on the brake to teach the HGV driver a lesson.
14:04You know, but he's come and stopped because now he's damaged his van.
14:07As for the HGV, it was reported that there was no damage to it or the driver,
14:11so the incident wasn't pursued any further by its owner.
14:18For our final case of white van man mayhem,
14:21we're travelling with an unsuspecting driver
14:24on the M4 near Chippenham in Wiltshire.
14:27So we've got a three-lane carriageway, visibility's not too bad,
14:31traffic's moderate.
14:33Well, the driver of the car we're riding on board with
14:35is absolutely minding his own business,
14:37so we keep going along, everything's fine.
14:41In the distance, though, a lorry is giving warning signs
14:44to a wandering white van.
14:46He's flashing the white van in front
14:49because I think the white van is beginning to straddle two lanes.
14:52The white van is proceeding through the moderately busy traffic
14:57and has undertaken one vehicle,
15:00so this is quite impatient driving from this white van
15:03because the traffic's flowing, but obviously not as fast as he wants to go.
15:08At this point, the van goes into overdrive.
15:12Oh!
15:13Getting a little bit too impatient,
15:15introducing itself to a Mercedes in an unintended way.
15:19Oh!
15:23Wow.
15:24Wow, that's all I can say about that one.
15:27The altercation with the silver Mercedes
15:30results in the white van hitting the car with the dashcam.
15:33Goodness me.
15:34The white van man just pushes the driver straight into the central reservation.
15:38The car then spins out of control across three lanes of the motorway.
15:43The driver of the car we're riding on board with
15:46probably had absolutely no idea what had just happened to them
15:49until the first impact happened.
15:51As our car with the cam hits the barrier like a bumper car on steroids,
15:56the white van does a vanishing act.
16:01They didn't stop.
16:02It's considered polite in England to stop
16:05when you've crashed into somebody and exchange details,
16:08but clearly that white van driver was in something of a rush.
16:11The white van driver eventually pulled over further up the road
16:15and I'm sure our driver with the dashcam had a few choice words to say to them.
16:24People have made a fortune selling how-to-get-ahead books,
16:28but I'm going to give you a how-to-get-ahead-on-the-motorway lesson for free.
16:32I call it Mirror, Signal, Maneuver, the art of the overtake,
16:37and this next driver in Cheshire could do with listening to it.
16:41Slightly overcast day on this motorway.
16:44Driver we're riding on board with is in the middle lane.
16:47See this white car in front's just overtaken the car on the left.
16:53There's no indicator, look, you can see.
16:55It's cut the space too short there
16:57and then that Peugeot's had to slam on his brakes.
17:00The sudden unexpected movement of the white car
17:03has now set in motion a series of events
17:06that will result in at least one trip to a garage.
17:10Fully out of control.
17:13Let's go!
17:14Looks like it's about to...
17:22Oh my gosh.
17:23That is what rear-view mirrors are for.
17:26A moment of overtaking madness,
17:28but thankfully there were no serious injuries for our man with the dashcam
17:32and the driver of the Peugeot.
17:34But the only car that escapes without a scratch on it is the white car,
17:38the one that arguably caused the situation in the first place.
17:41The driver of the white vehicle evidently needs a lesson in overtaking.
17:45When you are overtaking, you want to be able to see the vehicle
17:48that you are overtaking in your rear-view mirror.
17:50Then you know that there's enough space to move back.
17:53So if you're the driver of that white vehicle,
17:55hit me up and I'll give you a lesson.
17:59Someone else who might need one of those overtaking lessons
18:02Someone else who might need one of your lessons
18:04is driving along this stretch of road in Port Talbot, Wales.
18:10Fairly sunny day, which is unusual for Wales.
18:13Good views ahead, roads are dry, traffic's flowing nicely.
18:19But road signs indicate there's a lane closure ahead.
18:22The driver we're riding on board with knows that he's got about 800 yards
18:26to pull in and get into that slow lane.
18:28He's travelling a hell of a lot faster than the other vehicles.
18:33They're slowing down quite a bit in the left-hand lane as well.
18:36And now cars are starting to bunch up.
18:38A blue car on the left up ahead makes a snap decision
18:41and tries to overtake the queuing traffic,
18:44possibly to avoid hitting the back of the car in front due to late braking.
18:49Wow!
18:52I have no idea what they were trying to do.
18:56No-one's paying attention to what's going on around them.
18:58They're driving too close and that's what's caused the collision.
19:02There's four cars there, car one brakes, car two brakes again,
19:06and it's car three then that brakes too late.
19:09The blue car's unexpected move into the overtaking lane
19:12has caused a ripple effect.
19:14This car has totally misjudged that gap.
19:17He's not had enough time to check his mirrors before moving across.
19:21And what gets me is rather than hit the car in front and not have them hooked up,
19:24they always try and steer out of the way.
19:26All you're doing is steering your way into danger.
19:28So one person's actions cause three people to damage the cars.
19:33Let's travel over to Qingmen City in China
19:36for this next tale of atrocious overtaking.
19:40Looks like we're riding along a dead straight road in China.
19:43The road conditions look pretty dry.
19:45It might be wintertime, though, as the trees are a bit bare.
19:49But a driver of a white car in the right-hand lane
19:52is in no mood to stare at the passing scenery.
19:55So just looking at the car coming in,
19:57is in no mood to stare at the passing scenery.
20:00So just looking at the car coming in from the right,
20:03they're making an illegal undertake.
20:05The dashcam driver is closing that gap as well,
20:07so he's not allowing that vehicle to pass.
20:09And the gap is closing in on him.
20:12But the driver plows on with the manoeuvre.
20:15The driver of the white car at this point should realise the move has failed,
20:19but they don't.
20:20They decide to try and go through a gap that absolutely isn't there.
20:23They haven't got a full overlap of the car in front.
20:28HE EXPLODES
20:34What the hell was that?
20:37And then he's turned it into a firework.
20:39What?
20:41Luckily, the driver of the impromptu firework display was unharmed.
20:46I mean, let's count on this hand how many things this driver has done correct.
20:50That's it, exactly, zero.
20:52He's hit his brakes. You can see his brake lights are on.
20:55Into that barrier, flips,
20:57and the car that could have just easily eased off at the start
21:01is now involved in the wreckage.
21:04Silly boy.
21:05It's mirror, signal, manoeuvre.
21:07It's so simple, but so few people get this right.
21:14Coming up, what not to do when wild weather strikes.
21:18People always say it's Jesus that walks on water,
21:20but unfortunately it's a Prius.
21:22And terrifying tales of terrible towing.
21:25That trailer did not seem to have a car attached to it.
21:41It's fair to say us Brits overreact when it comes to weather.
21:45The wrong type of leaves on the train track,
21:48or one centimetre of snow on a motorway
21:51and half the nation's transport network is almost guaranteed to shut down.
21:57But in Arkansas, in the US, they're a hardy breed.
22:01On average, they deal with 40 tornadoes every year,
22:05one of which is lurking menacingly near this two-lane highway near Mountainburg.
22:11Good road layout, no obstructions. Looks like a fast road.
22:15Our driver and passenger are travelling home with their newly purchased camper van.
22:20But the weather's starting to get a bit iffy.
22:25The weather is shocking.
22:27Those clouds and that rain does not look good.
22:32But the rain is the least of their worries,
22:34as our motorists soon realise they're heading right into the path of a terrifying tornado.
22:43Why are you driving towards a tornado?
22:45It's not like it's like 10 miles, it's like 10 feet in front of your car.
22:48It's not like you can turn left or right as well, it'll just stop your vehicle.
22:53Hoping to avoid the troublesome twister, the couple continue their journey.
22:57Oh my God, David's right in front of us.
23:02What options would you really have here?
23:04Do you want to try and get past this tornado and hopefully it doesn't come across you in time?
23:08Do you want to try and stop and then pray that it doesn't start coming towards you?
23:12The options are so limited, like such a crazy choice that you'd have to make.
23:19The tornado edges closer towards the car and the driving conditions are getting worse.
23:26Oh my God, speed up! Get out of here!
23:31I think a lot of people panic and are just frozen and just keep his foot where it's going,
23:35so he'll not be able to turn his steering wheel or apply brake.
23:39If you thought going through a car wash was scary, what happens next is terrifying.
23:45Oh my God, you're going to have a baby and you're leaving for my sins!
23:49I love you!
23:54Oh!
23:58Oh my gosh.
24:00Seeing something like this, you can't get any more extreme weather than this.
24:03I mean, if it's just going to pick your vehicle up and throw it across the road.
24:08Speeds inside a tornado can reach up to 300 miles an hour,
24:12which probably explains why this van is tossed around like a rag doll.
24:19Thankfully, the passengers escaped the whirlwind with minor injuries,
24:23although I'm sure they'll be keen to check the weather before they head out next time.
24:27We have a lot of weather warnings in the UK where if there's high winds, trees can come down.
24:32So if you're not happy, trust your senses.
24:34If you don't want to go out, don't go out.
24:36And if you do and you get scared, put your vehicle to the side of the road,
24:39put your hazard warning lights.
24:40And if you need to ring emergency services, ring emergency services.
24:50Now, if driving through a gargantuan gust isn't your type of thing,
24:54then how about navigating through a horizontal snowstorm?
24:57Well, that's exactly what this driver is facing over in the US.
25:02That weather straightaway, you can tell that is not the weather you really want to be driving in.
25:07It's a blizzard, full-on blizzard.
25:09Really hard to drive in, so you've got to be looking out for stuff in this situation.
25:14Blizzards can get to the point where you can't actually see the road layout.
25:17And it's like your eyes go off the road and you start looking at, like, spots around the vehicle.
25:23But snow isn't the only issue.
25:25As in the distance, a truck hurtles towards our driver with some very bright headlights.
25:32It looks like this driver's coming the opposite way.
25:34He's got full beam on, which is dazzling the driver.
25:36What they should be doing is dipping them the minute they can see your lights.
25:40It's not just the dazzling lights that our driver has to worry about.
25:44As it soon becomes apparent, the oncoming trucker is on the wrong side of the road.
25:50The closer you're getting and then you're thinking,
25:52The closer you're getting and then you're thinking,
25:54hold on a minute, he's in my lane, like, that has got to be so frightening.
25:58We don't know why he's obviously come across the carriage rail, what they're doing,
26:01but it just could be down to the snow on the road.
26:04And it's snow joke, as our driver behind the wheel has just seconds to avoid a head-on collision.
26:19Wow, absolutely wow.
26:23Good reactions on this driver.
26:25Very, very switched on, knows what they're doing and how to react when there's a hazard coming towards them.
26:30Just goes to show you need to be switched on when driving at night time,
26:33especially in blizzard conditions.
26:36Well done to our driver with the dashcam for not freezing up.
26:39And for everyone else, here's Ben with some tips for driving in bad weather.
26:45When you're driving in winter, you always need to make sure your tyres are in correct order and they're not bald.
26:50Anti-freeze in your car.
26:52Make sure your wishy-wops are always filled up and you've got good wiper blades on your car as well.
26:57And always just keep safe on roads because you never know when it's going to happen,
27:00especially in blizzard conditions or when it's snowy.
27:04Cool advice, Ben.
27:08Let's head over to a flash flood in Virginia now for our final tale of extreme weather.
27:15It looks like people are parked up, roads flooded and it's just coming to a stop is the road
27:20and it just looks like everything else is submerged under water.
27:26We've got a lot of vehicles parked up either side of the flood water, kind of staring at it.
27:31Everyone is seeing this big puddle, this big flood and thinking, yeah, let's just do a little detour.
27:37But the owner of the white Toyota Prius is an optimist.
27:42Oh no, don't do it, don't do it.
27:44Is the road half full or half empty of water?
27:47Oh, it's going to stop.
27:49It appears to them there's barely any water there at all.
27:53If you can see everybody else not attempting it, why would you try it?
27:57What are you doing?
27:58If you can see everybody else not attempting it, why would you try it?
28:02What are you doing?
28:06This is a small car that's decided to go through this flood water, which is increasingly deep.
28:11And even as they've got up to the bottom of the doors, they haven't thought, oh, this is a bad idea and reversed up.
28:16They've kind of just tried to plough through it, which is extraordinary.
28:22At this point, they're still going.
28:24They've got like a bell wave going on.
28:27And they're still moving forward.
28:29Now, I know these cars are hybrid, but that doesn't mean land and water.
28:35People always say it's Jesus that walks on water, but unfortunately, it's a Prius.
28:39It's just going to screw the car up completely.
28:41I wouldn't have gone through there in an off-road vehicle with a snorkel on top.
28:46The Prius comes to a grinding halt, prompting an onlooker to spring to their help.
28:50And luckily, no one was hurt in the incident.
28:53Fair play to the nice Samaritans there for helping her out.
28:56And good luck explaining that to your insurance.
29:06Us Brits love to go on the pull.
29:08We can't get enough of it, from towing caravans to boats and even a bunch of cars.
29:14But when it comes to pulling a large load, it doesn't come without risks.
29:19Around 4,000 accidents a year in England involve towing.
29:26As a driver with a dashcam is about to witness on a dual carriageway in the UK.
29:32So, travelling down lane two, looks like a towing vehicle.
29:36That's quite a large old van to have on a trailer like that.
29:41This isn't really the correct way to be transporting this type of load.
29:48I would suggest using a bigger trailer, for sure, or even get it on a flatbed.
29:53And the oversized load is about to cause the driver serious problems.
29:58He's starting to fishtail now, because the trailer's too small for the vehicle it's actually pulling.
30:04Fishtailing is when a vehicle makes uncontrollable sideways movements due to a loss of grip in the rear wheels.
30:10As we can see, there is a lot of overhang where this van is hanging over the back of the trailer.
30:16That's putting the centre of gravity further back.
30:19So, to be able to control that pendulum effect is a lot harder.
30:23And as soon as you start noticing it fishtailing or S-bending out a little bit, ease off your accelerator.
30:28Don't slam your brakes on, because that, again, could cause an accident.
30:32Ease off until it balances out.
30:34But the driver towing the van is finding it anything but easy.
30:38Here it comes. It's getting worse. It's getting worse.
30:47Oh, no! No!
30:50He's on his roof. Do you know what I mean? That's insane.
30:55Wow.
30:56Well done for having the van strapped down.
30:58But with the force of the accident there, it just completely, like, comes away from the straps.
31:03And just sends everything rolling.
31:06Luckily, the car's occupants make it out and appear physically unharmed.
31:11This is why, obviously, education when it comes to towing is very, very important.
31:16When it comes to loading the trailer, thinking about how much weight you've put on the back of that vehicle
31:22and how it's going to change the way your vehicle handles.
31:25The whole reason the accident's occurred in the first place, in my opinion,
31:29is that the Land Rover driver was going way too fast.
31:33Just those extra few miles an hour can cause carnage.
31:38Which is why there's laws in place for if you're towing anything, you're affected by different speed limits.
31:43Because if you go too fast when you're towing anything, this is what happens.
31:47And I think he's learnt the hard way this time.
31:52It's not just here in the UK where motorists lack a driving licence.
31:56It's not just here in the UK where motorists lack, a term I'm now coining, the correct tow-how.
32:02It's also endemic in the US.
32:04I don't even need to ask where this is. I can just tell it's in America.
32:08Just due to the size of the roads, they're mahoosive out there, aren't they?
32:13You're mahoosively correct, Hayley.
32:15It's in Texas, where the driver on the right is transporting a pricey car on a mahoosive trailer.
32:22We've got an extremely expensive Hummer.
32:25Now, Hummers are renowned for not being the lightest vehicle in the world.
32:31If you've got additional weight on your car, or especially weight and length in this case,
32:36you've got to put that into account if you're cornering, if you're slowing down, if you're accelerating.
32:40Everything's going to be affected by this extra weight.
32:44I think the load's in the wrong position.
32:46I'd have put the load a bit further back.
32:49The wheels are at the back as well, so there's actually no support at the front of the vehicle.
32:53Once you go around a bend, it just wants to topple over.
32:59As predicted, things get glummer for the Hummer as the driver takes the corner.
33:04The last thing you want to be doing is going around a corner really fast.
33:08So he's hit his brakes late, knowing that corner's there.
33:11Once that right wheel lifts up there, the wind's probably catching it.
33:15It's never going to turn back the other way.
33:17He's going to turn over, isn't he? Yep, there he goes.
33:24What?
33:31Look at the way it flips his car.
33:36It's a lucky escape for the driver of the trailer,
33:38as the safety barrier stops him from toppling over the side of the bypass.
33:43The whole reason this accident has happened is because the pickup driver has forgotten he's got a trailer on the back,
33:48and he's just going way, way too fast.
33:52So if you're going to be towing yourself, whether it's a caravan, whether it's a Hummer or a boat,
33:57you've completely changed the dynamics of your car.
34:01We really do need to adjust the way we drive, and especially when it comes to speed.
34:12Meanwhile, another driver captures some more towing trauma on the M60 near Manchester.
34:18Nice weather, dry roads, good observations.
34:23We've got the towing vehicle, a large 4x4,
34:26towing a trailer with what looks like a Tesla on the back of it.
34:32As an ex-traffic cop and an events driver,
34:34I would not be towing a vehicle and a trailer at all down the motorway.
34:38It's just not really comfortable being on the road towing something that heavy.
34:44But this trailer is about to take on a life of its own.
34:55Wait a minute. That trailer did not seem to have a car attached to it.
35:00Now, I know Teslas are capable of driving themselves.
35:04However, this isn't exactly what Elon Musk meant.
35:08The runaway trailer with the Tesla drifts across three lanes of the motorway,
35:12narrowly missing the silver car.
35:15Just a couple of seconds back, and this car on the right here would have connected with that trailer.
35:21Look how much it's just missed that car there, by millimetres.
35:24The person who's driving there, lane three, well done.
35:27The driver of the Range Rover there clearly realised something had gone wrong
35:30because they'd touched the brakes, but by that point, it was too late
35:33because they looked in their rear view mirror,
35:35and the car that they had on the trailer wasn't there anymore.
35:39Amazingly, nobody's injured from the troubled trailer.
35:43I think everybody was very lucky not to have a very big accident
35:47as the result of this probably poor attachment of a trailer to a Range Rover.
35:54This accident, like others that happen when towing, could potentially have been avoided.
35:59Firstly, once your chocks are away, make sure you've got good visibility of your large load.
36:06When you see on the motorway, caravans being towed by cars,
36:10they've got the mirror extenders on, so they've got a better field of vision.
36:14And finally, keep an eye on your speedometer.
36:17It's so important to drive, yes, within the conditions,
36:20but also knowing what you've got on the back of the vehicle as well.
36:23It's so bringing that speed down.
36:27So, don't be a donut by taking the fast lane with a big rear end.
36:37Coming up, vehicles blindsided by blind spots.
36:43They're both to blame for this accident, if you ask me.
36:46The carnage caused when motorists can't see you.
36:52Oh, my gosh.
36:56Blind spots.
37:05Blind spots. I mean, for me, it's remembering my wedding anniversary or the kids' birthdays.
37:11But in a car, there's a blind spot that's even more dangerous for your health.
37:16It's the area of the road that isn't covered by the mirrors of your car.
37:20And this incident in Australia will kindly illustrate it for us.
37:26The lane is set on a motorway. Let's see how they mess it up.
37:31Everybody's driving along fairly sensibly.
37:34You can see the car in front's got brake lights on.
37:37The car on the right lane's got brake lights on.
37:40So, just at this point here, where the two roads merge,
37:43the driver of the Fiat is indicating it has already started their move to the left.
37:47You can just see this guy signalled late, not checked his blind spot, and then started to move across.
37:52It's very irritating. The driver of the Fiat isn't doing what they're supposed to do.
37:57But the driver we're riding on board with has plenty of time to brake.
38:02But despite the visible danger, our driver with the dashcam stays firmly in their lane.
38:08If you're staying in your lane and you're not changing direction, you've got priority.
38:12But I feel like at that speed, if you've seen that signal come on, ease off the gas, give him an option.
38:22The thing is, that wasn't even a fast crash.
38:26It might not have been fast, but it'll be just as expensive as all the other crashes you'll see here today.
38:32The question is, who do our panel think is to blame?
38:36A little bit of a silly accident, this, from both drivers.
38:39Yes, the Fiat shouldn't have moved across on another car,
38:41but the driver we're riding on board with cannot say they couldn't see the Fiat.
38:45It's obvious. It's right in front of them.
38:47They're both to blame for this accident, if you ask me.
38:49If you look at the way the roads are, when they're coming together at an angle,
38:54your mirrors don't cover what's on that left lane.
38:57So you've got to check your blind spot.
38:59It doesn't have to be turning your head the full way around.
39:02A shoulder glance, just to check that shoulder, will cover what's not covered in your mirrors.
39:07And he would have saw this car if he'd done that.
39:10It's December, on the M3 in Surrey, on what looks like a miserable day.
39:15And for a couple of drivers, it's about to get a lot worse.
39:21So, riding up through some roadworks in the south-east of England,
39:25in what looks like to be a fairly large lorry.
39:27Everyone hates roadworks. It means endless diversion.
39:30It's a bit of a pain in the arse.
39:32It's a bit of a pain in the arse.
39:34It's a bit of a pain in the arse.
39:36Everyone hates roadworks. It means endless diversion.
39:39They're the bane of everyone's work day.
39:42But for our lorry with the dashcam, it's not the roadworks that's about to stress them out.
39:46Keep your eyes on the white lorry in the middle lane.
39:51When you sit in these articulated vehicles, you have many areas which are very challenging to see.
39:58You know, when we look over our right-hand shoulder,
40:00we can potentially see any dangers on that right-hand side.
40:04When we look over our left-hand shoulder, we can't see any of that.
40:08And we are absolutely in the pocket of that mirror.
40:13Our HGV driver stays in the lane, unaware that the white truck can't see them.
40:19You've got the white lorry overtaking this vehicle, which we had the point of view.
40:23And he's trying to come back to lane one.
40:26So, a classic blind spot problem here.
40:29The driver of that little white lorry's expecting is for the Arctic to drop back.
40:33He's like, there's a gap there. I'm going to go in it.
40:38And that's exactly what the white truck does.
40:44Oh, no!
40:49Oh, and he's going to spin out. That's it.
40:51He's going to overturn. He's going to overturn.
40:59Oh, my gosh.
41:02Crikey, how he missed that little workforce entrance and exit route there.
41:08You lucky trucker.
41:11You lucky trucker, how you never overturn there.
41:15But the situation could have been mitigated earlier when the first contact was made.
41:20The driver of the refrigerated truck seems to be in a little bit of denial
41:23that he's in contact with another vehicle because he keeps on trying to turn left.
41:30There's a gap there for a reason, pal.
41:32Don't cut into it because you're putting your own safety at risk here.
41:37Why on earth he is still trying to make that manoeuvre is absolutely incredible.
41:43Not a lot of damage done to either vehicle,
41:45but an awful lot of damage done to their egos and indeed their time schedules.
41:51Our next cautionary blind spot tale takes place during evening rush hour
41:55on a motorway near Warrington.
41:58The motorway is quite busy at the moment.
42:00You've got a slip road on your left-hand side.
42:03You can see that lorry's moved out.
42:04There's a lorry in front of him, and he's got a car beside him on the left.
42:09Glad you spotted the car, Richard,
42:10because that tiny car in the left-hand lane
42:12is in the blind spot of the brown lorry in lane two.
42:15It's about to happen.
42:16This car on the left probably doesn't even realise
42:19that this lorry's moving in beside him.
42:21The car's in the blind spot now.
42:24The truck's about to pull into lane one.
42:26It's not going to go well at all.
42:29The car is now out of sight to both us and the lorry,
42:32and the consequences are shocking.
42:38The lorry's in the blind spot now.
42:40The truck's about to pull into lane one.
42:42It's not going to go well at all.
42:45Oh!
42:48Oof.
42:49That is one thing you do not want to crash into.
42:52He struck the car, the car spun out,
42:54and then he's just sent it into the path of the lorry in the other lane as well.
42:59Getting hit by something that size must be so frightening,
43:02and then it's spun you in front of another lorry.
43:06It's got to be the worst-case scenario ever.
43:09He could have blocked him flying over the bridge.
43:11The simple failure to check the blind spot
43:14created a devastating ripple effect.
43:17Thankfully, nobody was badly injured in the crash.
43:20Three vehicles were involved in the collision.
43:22There's debris all over the carriageway,
43:24and the road would have to be closed,
43:26all for a moment's relapse of concentration on behalf of the truck driver.
43:30Sorry, lorry driver, you are in the wrong there.
43:33The driver of the lorry, he would have known there was a car there.
43:36So when he's drifted over and he's indicated over,
43:39where did he think this car was?
43:41You know, if you couldn't see him in his mirror,
43:43it's clearly in your blind spot.
43:46So, Hayley, what can car drivers do when faced with an overtaking truck?
43:52I will say to, like, non-lorry drivers
43:55that when you're on the motorway and a lorry is overtaking you,
43:58don't freak out. It's going to overtake you.
44:00Just stay at the speed you are and let it overtake.
44:02You drop back and overtake it later on.
44:05Hayley makes a good point, and she delivers it passionately.
44:11Next time...
44:12Clapped-out old cars cause chaos on the motorway.
44:17Oh, my goodness! Wow!
44:20Hard lessons on the hard shoulder.
44:24Oh, my God, Jesus!
44:26And severe snows result in sheer devastation.
44:30What is wrong with these drivers?
44:35Dishing out fines and saving lives,
44:37we're on the M6 with the motorway cops
44:39catching Britain's speeders.
44:41Catch the new series Easter Monday at nine.
44:43Next up, glaciers, reindeer sausage
44:46and a bruising roller derby await Nick Knowles
44:49on a brand-new amazing railway adventure to Alaska.
45:04Subs by www.zeoranger.co.uk