Bin Lorry Crashes Into Pedestrians - Glasgow
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Originally Posted by Bare Necessitie:
“Nowhere is safe anymore day or night.”
“Nowhere is safe anymore day or night.”
This was a tragic accident. Not the first by any means.
Originally Posted by Jim_McIntosh:
“Isn't there access on Hannover street (or something like that) directly across from Queen Street station? I went to the union a few times during the 90s and that's where the access to the union was then. Maybe it moved. Maybe I was so drunk at those times that my memory is shot.
It matters not anyway - my point was about how dangerous that particularly street (North Hannover) could be due to the combination of very steep hill and lots of people at the bottom and that it's probably not the best street to have buses on.”
“Isn't there access on Hannover street (or something like that) directly across from Queen Street station? I went to the union a few times during the 90s and that's where the access to the union was then. Maybe it moved. Maybe I was so drunk at those times that my memory is shot.
It matters not anyway - my point was about how dangerous that particularly street (North Hannover) could be due to the combination of very steep hill and lots of people at the bottom and that it's probably not the best street to have buses on.”
If you go straight down the hill from the Union you will end up in the courtyard of the city chambers then into John St. I worked in Cafe Rouge there many years ago and went to Strathclyde uni too
Originally Posted by mazzy50:
“Depending on how bright the lights are, perhaps it means the police can continue examining the area for debris/skid marks/evidence overnight rather than having to suspend everything until tomorrow morning. Just a thought.”
“Depending on how bright the lights are, perhaps it means the police can continue examining the area for debris/skid marks/evidence overnight rather than having to suspend everything until tomorrow morning. Just a thought.”
That's how I took it.
Originally Posted by macsmurray:
“If you go straight down the hill from the Union you will end up in the courtyard of the city chambers then into John St. I worked in Cafe Rouge there many years ago and went to Strathclyde uni too”
“If you go straight down the hill from the Union you will end up in the courtyard of the city chambers then into John St. I worked in Cafe Rouge there many years ago and went to Strathclyde uni too
”
No doubt you are correct. I might have been thinking of a separate building that's part of the university but not the actual union. Now I come to think of it you do have that sort of garden area outside the union too and that's before the bus would turn left down the steep hill on the way around George Sq and back up to Buchanan Street so yeah, I can see it now - the union is back a bit from George Sq.
I wasn't trying to make a big point about where the union was but more about the safety aspect of the street I was trying to identify - seems more pertinent to the topic. Have you any thoughts on that?
Sorry, I thought you were talking about the Millennium Hotel, which it hit, which looks like this
http://www.taste-of-scotland.com/pho...nium_hotel.jpg
Originally Posted by Jim_McIntosh:
“No doubt you are correct. I wasn't trying to make a big point about where the union was but more about the safety aspect of the street I was trying to identify. Have you any thoughts on that?”
“No doubt you are correct. I wasn't trying to make a big point about where the union was but more about the safety aspect of the street I was trying to identify. Have you any thoughts on that?”
Not especially as it's never been an accident blackspot, one tragic incident doesn't mean the whole layout is wrong.
Originally Posted by Honestweegie:
“Sorry, I thought you were talking about the Millennium Hotel, which it hit, which looks like this
http://www.taste-of-scotland.com/pho...nium_hotel.jpg”
“Sorry, I thought you were talking about the Millennium Hotel, which it hit, which looks like this
http://www.taste-of-scotland.com/pho...nium_hotel.jpg”
Yeah, there's a funny wee covered-over-but-still-outside bit with a pillar or two that sort of joins the Millenium Hotel to Queen Street station but I don't know if it counts as either of them - taxi drivers use it to turn in, and delivery drivers use it, I think. That's where the lorry ended up, because it is pretty much straight on if you're coming up Queen Street.
Originally Posted by saffron_star:
“Agreed. The mods have acted very quickly in this instance and with good reason.”
“Agreed. The mods have acted very quickly in this instance and with good reason.”
I wish the mods on the Daily Mail website were a smidgeon as good, the comments on there are horrendous!
Will the ice skating and wheel be closed till after Christmas? Suppose that would be the right thing to do
Originally Posted by macsmurray:
“Not especially as it's never been an accident blackspot, one tragic incident doesn't mean the whole layout is wrong.”
“Not especially as it's never been an accident blackspot, one tragic incident doesn't mean the whole layout is wrong.”
Steep hill, single driver of multi-ton vehicle, many passengers, heading down to square filled with kids and shoppers. Many buses every single day.
I can see significant safety risk myself. We're lucky if we haven't had many accidents. At the least, I'd put a significant crash barrier at the bottom of the hill because I would struggle to think of a worse place to have an out of control vehicle.
Originally Posted by Honestweegie:
“Sorry, I thought you were talking about the Millennium Hotel, which it hit, which looks like this
http://www.taste-of-scotland.com/pho...nium_hotel.jpg”
“Sorry, I thought you were talking about the Millennium Hotel, which it hit, which looks like this
http://www.taste-of-scotland.com/pho...nium_hotel.jpg”
Obviously I don't know the place. So what's the building with the pillars underneath? it seems it hit the side of the hotel and wedged next to a pillar. That's why I said it's lucky it never hit that pillar.
Originally Posted by Jim_McIntosh:
“Steep hill, single driver of multi-ton vehicle, many passengers, heading down to square filled with kids and shoppers.
I can see significant safety risk myself. We're lucky if we haven't had many accidents.”
“Steep hill, single driver of multi-ton vehicle, many passengers, heading down to square filled with kids and shoppers.
I can see significant safety risk myself. We're lucky if we haven't had many accidents.”
I don't think buses usually come down North Hanover Street, do they? Cos of the one-way system, it's easier for them to go along to Renfield Street and down there. And they only go up North Frederick Street.
Originally Posted by Jim_McIntosh:
“Actually thinking about it now - the street I mention which is a giant hill is used by masses of buses from Buchanan Street station. If a bus driver ever took a heart attack you'd be talking massive casualties because you'd have the passengers and then the scenario that you'd be travelling head on down a steep hill with ahead of you lots of families at whatever funfair or ice rink is in George Square at the time. And then there's the size of the bus.
I think George Square might need to rethink it's design a bit.”
“Actually thinking about it now - the street I mention which is a giant hill is used by masses of buses from Buchanan Street station. If a bus driver ever took a heart attack you'd be talking massive casualties because you'd have the passengers and then the scenario that you'd be travelling head on down a steep hill with ahead of you lots of families at whatever funfair or ice rink is in George Square at the time. And then there's the size of the bus.
I think George Square might need to rethink it's design a bit.”
Any time you have a large vehicle you have the potential for a loss of life if there is a medical problem with the driver. It could equally have happened to a HGV truck or National Express bus on the motorway. In fact, such accidents on the motorways are so common that 6 deaths in a road collision would make the news but it wouldn't get the blanket coverage that we saw the afternoon. What made this so unusual was that it happened in a shopping area.
Originally Posted by mazzy50:
“Depending on how bright the lights are, perhaps it means the police can continue examining the area for debris/skid marks/evidence overnight rather than having to suspend everything until tomorrow morning. Just a thought.”
“Depending on how bright the lights are, perhaps it means the police can continue examining the area for debris/skid marks/evidence overnight rather than having to suspend everything until tomorrow morning. Just a thought.”
Surely they'd just bring in their own search lights though. The lights from Christmas lights can't be particularly bright
In the great scheme of things the reason why they want to keep the lights on is probably not important but I did wonder why.
Originally Posted by pickwick:
“I don't think buses usually come down North Hanover Street, do they? Cos of the one-way system, it's easier for them to go along to Renfield Street and down there. And they only go up North Frederick Street.”
“I don't think buses usually come down North Hanover Street, do they? Cos of the one-way system, it's easier for them to go along to Renfield Street and down there. And they only go up North Frederick Street.”
I'd need to get out google maps but when I was a student the X1 bus (primarily students) from Lanarkshire area would turn off the motorway and pass the hospital on the left, then straight down the street with Strathclyde uni buildings either side, then turn left down the street with the side entrance into queen street station (the street I was saying seemed quite dangerous because of the steep incline, etc) which looked directly down onto George Square, then go around George Square, up a block or two, then up the hill towards Buchanan Street station.
I remember because when I was on the bus I'd often wish they would miss out the round George Square bit and just go direct to the bus station!
The bus routes have probably changed though. I'm old.
Originally Posted by Jim_McIntosh:
“I'd need to get out google maps but when I was a student the X1 bus (primarily students) from Lanarkshire area would turn off the motorway and pass the hospital on the left, then straight down the street with Strathclyde uni buildings either side, then turn left down the street with the side entrance into queen street station (the street I was saying seemed quite dangerous because of the steep incline, etc) which looked directly down onto George Square, then go around George Square, up a block or two, then up the hill towards Buchanan Street station.”
“I'd need to get out google maps but when I was a student the X1 bus (primarily students) from Lanarkshire area would turn off the motorway and pass the hospital on the left, then straight down the street with Strathclyde uni buildings either side, then turn left down the street with the side entrance into queen street station (the street I was saying seemed quite dangerous because of the steep incline, etc) which looked directly down onto George Square, then go around George Square, up a block or two, then up the hill towards Buchanan Street station.”
A lot of Glasgow City Centre streets are on hills, it's never been an issue before. Besides which, this incident took place on a flat road.
Originally Posted by LostFool:
“Any time you have a large vehicle you have the potential for a loss of life if there is a medical problem with the driver. It could equally have happened to a HGV truck or National Express bus on the motorway. In fact, such accidents on the motorways are so common that 6 deaths in a road collision would make the news but it wouldn't get the blanket coverage that we saw the afternoon. What made this so unusual was that it happened in a shopping area.”
“Any time you have a large vehicle you have the potential for a loss of life if there is a medical problem with the driver. It could equally have happened to a HGV truck or National Express bus on the motorway. In fact, such accidents on the motorways are so common that 6 deaths in a road collision would make the news but it wouldn't get the blanket coverage that we saw the afternoon. What made this so unusual was that it happened in a shopping area.”
Yeah, agreed.
This is a terrible hill though. You need to see it to believe it. If I could choose one place not to have an out of control bus (for example) in a built up area it would be on the top of that hill pointing down into George Square.
In this particular event it doesn't seem to have been an issue as it's up a bit and coming from the other direction (well, it seemed that way to me but as I've proven my direction sense isn't 20/20). I was just making the point that the layout didn't seem great to me.
Originally Posted by Jim_McIntosh:
“Yeah, agreed.
This is a terrible hill though. You need to see it to believe it. If I could choose one place not to have an out of control bus (for example) it would be on the top of that hill pointig down into George Square.”
“Yeah, agreed.
This is a terrible hill though. You need to see it to believe it. If I could choose one place not to have an out of control bus (for example) it would be on the top of that hill pointig down into George Square.”
Which has never (to my knowledge) happened and didn't happen today.
Originally Posted by macsmurray:
“Which has never (to my knowledge) happened and didn't happen today.”
“Which has never (to my knowledge) happened and didn't happen today.”
Proactive vs reactive. What works best?
Originally Posted by yorkiegal:
“Hate to think what 6 families are going through tonight so close to Xmas.”
“Hate to think what 6 families are going through tonight so close to Xmas.”
And the families of the injured too. What a sad day - those poor people.
Originally Posted by Jim_McIntosh:
“Proactive vs reactive. What works best?”
“Proactive vs reactive. What works best?”
Using resources where they are actually required imo
Originally Posted by Jim_McIntosh:
“I'd need to get out google maps but when I was a student the X1 bus (primarily students) from Lanarkshire area would turn off the motorway and pass the hospital on the left, then straight down the street with Strathclyde uni buildings either side, then turn left down the street with the side entrance into queen street station (the street I was saying seemed quite dangerous because of the steep incline, etc) which looked directly down onto George Square, then go around George Square, up a block or two, then up the hill towards Buchanan Street station.
I remember because when I was on the bus I'd often wish they would miss out the round George Square bit and just go direct to the bus station!
The bus routes have probably changed though. I'm old.”
“I'd need to get out google maps but when I was a student the X1 bus (primarily students) from Lanarkshire area would turn off the motorway and pass the hospital on the left, then straight down the street with Strathclyde uni buildings either side, then turn left down the street with the side entrance into queen street station (the street I was saying seemed quite dangerous because of the steep incline, etc) which looked directly down onto George Square, then go around George Square, up a block or two, then up the hill towards Buchanan Street station.
I remember because when I was on the bus I'd often wish they would miss out the round George Square bit and just go direct to the bus station!
The bus routes have probably changed though. I'm old.”
Ah, well, I was thinking mostly of First buses just round the city, so you could be right, I don't really have a clue about the others!
Amongst all the arguing, I was trying to find out about what would have happened if it had actually hit the pillars it got wedged against.
And how did it not hit any other vehicles down the road, other then the car it crushed?
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