Greenline coach in M1 crash .

[5872]

Man dies in motorway fog pile-up

The tanker was carrying syrup which spilled onto the road
One man has died and several others were injured in a crash involving a coach, a tanker and eight other vehicles on the M1 in Hertfordshire.
The accident happened in fog north of junction 4 just after 0400 BST.

Police said the man who died was a passenger in the coach and had suffered head injuries. Another person is in a serious condition with chest injuries.

Hertfordshire Fire Service said poor visibility due to foggy conditions could be a factor in the pile-up.

Syrup

Fifteen of the 47 passengers on the coach, which was travelling from London to Luton airport, suffered minor injuries and were taken to a Watford hospital, a police spokeswoman said.

The victim was seated in the front seat of the coach. The other injured person was driving a car involved in the crash.

The motorway is closed northbound between junctions 1 and 5, between the A406 North Circular Road and Watford.

The entry slip roads are also shut northbound at junctions 2 and 4.

A Hertfordshire Fire Service spokeswoman said: "We had several calls reporting the crash, the first at 4.12am, and all the callers said the fog was a factor."


The coach was badly damaged

A BBC Three Counties reporter at the scene said two people in the coach had to be cut free.

All those injured were taken to hospital.

Fifty-two people in vehicles involved in the pile-up were unharmed, police said.

A Tate and Lyle tanker involved in the crash was carrying syrup which spilled on to the road.

A second tanker from the sugar firm was brought in to pump syrup from the first, while the remaining liquid was cleared from the carriageway.

The Highways Agency said the motorway may be reopened by late afternoon once the road surface had been inspected.

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[Sir_Clagalot]

sticky one that.
Thoughts to the families involved.
Probable cause? Too Fast, Too Close, & Not paying enough attention

 

[ChrisCooper]

sticky one that.
Thoughts to the families involved.
Probable cause? Too Fast, Too Close, & Not paying enough attention

Those 3 things are the main problem in 90% of motorway pileups, usually in combination, and of cource fog just reduces the margin for error on all of them. Chopping lanes (either deliberatly or due to tiredness or lack of attention) is often the cause though (causing someone to brake to avoid an accident, and people behind who are too fast, to close and not paying enough attention pile up into the back of them). Of cource, with the one fatality being a front seat coach passenger, it does leave the question of were they wearing a seatbelt, as is now the law?

 

[Sir_Clagalot]

tbh, if you run into the back of what was possibly an already stationary hgv it aint gonna matter whether or not youve got a seatbelt on

 

[djw1981]

I got teh impression the HGV crashed and the bus skidded on the syrup?

 

[Sir_Clagalot]

like I said, crashing into a stationary hgv at speed (max 65mph being a coach) will not be pleasant

 

[class 313]

Oh dear, this is my stretch! And the M1 is just at the bottom of my road really, I see Greenline Coaches all the time specially when they are on diversions if the M1 is busy. Though I didn't hear any sirens, lets just hope the crash wasn't anything to do with the driver not paying attention or going too fast...

 

[thomasgholmes]

This makes me feel sick.
Poor people.