Nasty incident on M5 this morning

Bad start to the day for many, but not anywhere near as bad as this man's day...

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/man-who-died-m5-parked-475165

After 30 miles of pure filtering through stationary queues, I had my first dose of "why I always need a bike". It was a long trip from Bristol, down the M4, and up the A38, squeezing past uncountable amounts of vehicles. Most people were stranded for up to four hours. I heard rumors about it, but the news was up and telling most of the story.

This man's van allegedly broke down and sat on the hard shoulder, while he was said to have been stood in lane 1. A lorry collided with him, sending him into the paths of other vehicles, who also collided with him.

Horrible start to the day, and my thoughts are with the family of the deceased, as well as the drivers of the vehicles who hit the guy. They will be in a real state of shock, following the incident.

Be careful out there, guys. This is why you should get OFF the motorway if you exit your vehicle in the event of a breakdown. The incident took place at around 4:40am, when it would have been very dark.

luckily I've never broken down on a motorway but if I did I'd be as far away from the road as possible.

Oh no wait the OH broken down on the M25. luckily he was able to coast to a nice bit with a 3 foot concrete barrier we could hop over and be separated from the actual road. If it had been a bit earlier we would have stopped on a bridge with only a hard shoulder and I would have walked back down to a safer area.

I mean thought are with the guys family but really that was quite dumb

That was right by my area as I come off at Aztec west or the m32. Bradley Stoke was f*cked for traffic as a result.

Really shouldn't of been stood in lane 1. Yet people seem to keep doing this with broken down vehicles.

That was right by my area as I come off at Aztec west or the m32. Bradley Stoke was f*cked for traffic as a result.

Really shouldn't of been stood in lane 1. Yet people seem to keep doing this with broken down vehicles.

I used to work in Aztec West. You don't, by chance go up the A4174 every morning? Look out for the yellow Triumph.

The traffic used to be hell up there, anyway. When I started in Bristol, about 3 years ago, I had a company car and it used to take me a good hour (minimum) to do the 7 miles back to Mangotsfield. When there was a crash, you might as well forget going home. I use the bike every single day now - only now I go to Cheltenham (40-50 miles each way), and still takes me about the same time as Aztec West to Staple Hill / Mangotsfield.

I work from home currently so I don't have to endure the arse that is traffic.

No I have the joys of a 16 months old toddler as an alarm clock instead. So I don't even have the enjoyment of a lie in.