Crash sparks m-way chaos

June 24, 2009

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COMMUTERS faced road chaos after a motorcyclist died when his bike collided with a van on the M66.

The 35-year-old victim was heading south near Bury when the collision happened. Police said he was pronounced dead at the scene after he hit the motorway's central reservation.

Drivers faced major delays on the M66 following the crash at 5.55am on Wednesday, near Junction 2.

The southbound carriageway was closed as traffic police investigated. Traffic was also delayed heading north along the M66 as the carriageway was reduced to one lane. Motorists were being urged to avoid the area.

Drivers also faced delays on the M60 after a six car pile-up at rush hour.

The crash happened at Junction 4, where the motorway meets the M56 at Sharston at 8.10am on Wednesday. Police said no one was injured. The cars were later removed from the clockwise carriageway.

A police spokesman said of the M66 accident: "The 35-year-old was travelling along the M66 southbound towards Junction 2 at Heap Bridge at about 5.55am when he collided with a small van and hit the central reservation.

"The man died at the scene. The M66 has been closed southbound and is reduced to one lane northbound."

Witnesses should call traffic police on 0161 856 1550.

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Maynard Kitchener Lampwick Manchester , (24/06/2009 at 10:52)

The Poor Motorcyclist probably going to work, Motor bikes are targets on the roads with idiotic van drivers.
and the Vans on the roads don't care one bit as they don't own them, company vans get pure abuse and are driven in a bullying agressive way with no consideration, just rush, rush, rush...

Grumpy of Chorlton, Manchester (24/06/2009 at 11:09)

Kitchener, to some extent you are right, van drivers can be a pain in the ***, but how many idiot motorcycle riders are there on the road, doing God knows what speed, with a total disregard to theirs or other road users safety (of course not sugesting in this instance that the poor fella on this bike was to blame, as we do not know).

Supreme Being, Manchester. (24/06/2009 at 11:13)

But the standard of driving has gone drastically downhill over the years.

People don't know what their indicators are for and some people don't know the difference between a stop line and give way line.

Motorway drivers are thick, pulling out into a space, doesn't anyone know the braking and stopping distances for the road, let alone the motorway.

Give way to traffic coming from your right, means just that, so why do people think they can pull out and you are not going to have to brake?

Angie33 , Manchester (24/06/2009 at 11:22)

Im not a driver but from what I hear about the road rage and aggressive driving these days it a brave person who rides any sort of bike or motorcycle on the roads these days.

dog hardy, manchester (24/06/2009 at 11:39)

As a lorry and van driver of 8 yrs my experience is that the majority of van driver behave ok if a little fast on Motorways but too agressive off Motorways.Think this is due to the amount of deleveries and deadlines they have to meet,but their brain is ticking over faster than the average driver due to the nature of the job.People have deadlines at work but are not involved with possible serious possibilities if things go wrong.A fair percentage of motorcyclists on the other hand behave irresponsible weaving 1 lane to the other,overtaking on the inside,especially when Motorways are crowded in rush hours and i used to think some poor driver will knock them over 1 day.I,M amazed the cameras don,t pick up their por driving habits and prosecute for what is dangerous driving

Pushkin (24/06/2009 at 12:16)

Tragic. I think most of today's problems are down to selfishness and poor lane discipline. People will create a 'queue' of traffic in the outside, middle lane as they don't want to 'lose their place', forgetting that if they let a faster vehicle pass, they won't actually get there slower than if they let them pass.

It's the same when a lane's lost. If everybody occupied all the lanes and then allowed alternate vehicles to enter in turn, the queue would be half as long with the same number of vehicles in it and there would be no 'pushing-in'.

local_lass, Burnage (24/06/2009 at 12:22)

I spend enough time on motorways to know you can't tar everyone with the same brush. There are good and bad motorcyclists, van drivers, lorry drivers and car drivers. Only this monring I was cut up on the M56 by a very aggresive vectra driver.

In addition to this even I admit that while I think I am a considerate driver most of the time occasionally I do make mistakes.

Rammylad (24/06/2009 at 12:56)

I find it a sad reflection on us all when we need signs at road works to tell us to let people pull in from the closed lane, one by one. Personally I do it anyway, I'll even let two people in if I feel the 4x4 behind me is not going to let anyone in, but that I guess makes me just as mad as the 4x4 nutter behind me.

jac_mr82, Bury (24/06/2009 at 13:02)

I think you need to remember here that we do not know what has happened. We don't know who is at fault, if at all.

Remember that a person has died, and a family has tragically lost a loved one. Please reserve judgement.

Jo14, Somewhere on planet Earth (24/06/2009 at 13:10)

I'm just hazarding a guess here, but I reckon the Jn4 accident will have been caused by someone who feels they have the right to zoom across 3-4 lanes from lane 3 to the slip on to the M56?

Just going from previous experiences here!

Just last night, further up the M60 I had a white van man (sorry to tar you all, white van men) almost take my front wing off doing exactly that! Just HAD to overtake me and then pull over to get off at the junction, therefore leaving me to overtake HIM as I carried on my journey. There was loads of room behind me he could've used to cross the motorway lanes! He seemed oblivious to what he'd just done too.

That bit of fluff, under the sofa (24/06/2009 at 13:17)

Pushkin says "I think most of today's problems are down to selfishness ..."

I think you are absolutely right - but not just in relation to road accidents. I am astonished and truly saddened at how selfish people are these days. People now just do what suits them and &8%£ everybody else.

Ted Striker, Banned from being Cunning for no apparent reason it would seem... (24/06/2009 at 13:32)

Someone has died here, there's a time and a place for 'who's a worse driver' dont you think?

MR SHIFTY, WORK (24/06/2009 at 14:52)

JUST REMEMBER ALL YOU MOTORISTS THAT WERE CAUGHT UP IN THE HORRIFIC TRAGIC ACCIDENT THAT HAPPENED THIS MORNING ON THE M66 NR BURY YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CARRY ON WITH YOUR JOURNEY ALL BEING ALOT LATER THAN THOUGHT ,BUT PLEASE SPARE A THOUGHT FOR THE BIKERS FAMILY THAT WANT ANSWERS AS TO WHOM WAS AT FAULT,PLEASE DONT MAKE JUDGMENT OR SPECULATE LEAVE IT TO THE PROFESSIONALS AND JUST HOPE THAT IF THERE IS BLAME THEN THE CULPRIT SHOULD BE PUNNISHED TO THE FULL.

MUFC your skint and we know it CTID, Dunham Massey (24/06/2009 at 15:14)

Maynard Kitchener Lampwick Manchester

While i am sorry about the loss of life in this story i am a white van driver of 25 years experience. I drive an average of eighty thousand miles a year and in all that time have had 2 minor accidents, which i think is quite a good driving record. I take it from your comments that you are a motorcyclist. Are you trying to tell me all motorcyclist,s are innocent because i can assure you they are not, and neither are car, van, and lorry drivers. The problem on the roads today is very selfish drivers of all types of vehicles and machines. Companys putting drivers under to much pressure with timed deliveries, timed collections, and other deadlines. If everybody on the roads started respecting each other there wouldnt be as many accidents, also there should be a regulator to control how many hours van drivers can drive for like they do with HGV vehicles because at the moment a law does not exist for this. A van driver can drive for aslong as he or she see,s fit and lots of companys take advantage of this fact. I as example start work at 4am and am still driving for my job at 5pm but my company gives me no choice its either do it or leave.

Gavin Nash (24/06/2009 at 15:21)

I think it's rather callous that the first line of the article is not "man dies in motorway accident", but "commuters faced chaos".

Maynard Kitchener Lampwick Manchester , (24/06/2009 at 17:37)

MUFC your skint and we know it CTID, Dunham Massey

Companys putting drivers under to much pressure with timed deliveries.

You have hit the Nail on the head there lad, but more fool the van driver rushing about trying suceed, to be a good lad for the boss, just tell your boss it cant be done, simples...
I Drove a van for years and told my boss where to get off it, nowadays the van drivers are mounting kerbs, no indication, except two fingers out the window, park on fotpaths, want to be in the outside lane at lights, no consideration, they wouldn't abuse their own car like that, completly different.

Jo, Manchester (24/06/2009 at 18:04)

Instead of bickering over who is right on the road and who is wrong as i have no doubt we all have our faults from time to time, could we spare a thought for the poor lads family especially his three young children as this has to be a very harrowing time for them all.

macalla bradshaw (24/06/2009 at 18:08)

as a friend of the motorcyclist killed i would like to argue to the people who tarred him with the idiot motorcycle brush.he was a careful driver,never exceeding the speed limit.he leaves behind a 3 year old daughter,a 10 year old daughter, a 13 year old son,and a very distraught wife who had to id him this afternoon.being a car driver i know about blind spots and motorbikes and until he police reports comes through can you please reserve judgement.as for your motorbike versus van debate,do you really think this is the right place to be having this,when the only way his 3 year old is going to remember daddy is through photos and news articles like this one.a bit of respect for the dead and his family please,thankyou

Maynard Kitchener Lampwick Manchester , (24/06/2009 at 19:00)

macalla bradshaw

My Condolences to his Family, in the 18 postings on here, not one is related to the bikers fault, most bikers are careful, and stick to speed limits, its firms vans who are the culprits, most out of the 18 post are for the biker in this tragic accident, and not against him...

MUFC your skint and we know it CTID, Dunham Massey (24/06/2009 at 20:41)

At the end of the day no matter who was at fault a man has lost his life in this accident and i think we should show his wife and children a bit of respect and send our prayers their way r-i-p biker

Mary Brooks (24/06/2009 at 20:44)

My sypmathy goes out to this man's family. My brother, aged just 42, was killed in similar circumstances 18 months ago, and left 3 young children, plus myself and 6 brothers and sisters to cope with the loss. And whatever the fault, no-one ever 'gets over it'. Its a devastating experience for everyone, that changes all our lives. And even for the van driver, (like the driver who pulled across my brothers path), he never intended to do such a thing, to kill someone. He also has to live with this for the rest of his days. No-one comes out of it unscathed. No-one should have to pay such a price. So,lets remember the human side of this tragedy. And lets not attach blame. We are all human. And we are all the lesser for it if we don't acknowledge the human tragedy on all sides. My compassion, my prayers and thoughts go out to all. Esepecially the people involved and their families

redbandit, manchester (24/06/2009 at 21:49)

"macalla bradshaw "
With reference to your comment... how can it be firms vans that are at fault ? Is it not the person behind the wheel ...erm and yes I drive a white van for a living and also ride a motorcycle and drive a high perfomance car add that mileage up put it with 24 years on the road and no accidents or convictions ? Your statistics are slightly wrong !!!

PAH , Manchester (25/06/2009 at 06:29)

Ther's some sad sweeping statements on here..........very stereotypical!

macalla bradshaw (26/06/2009 at 16:23)

"red bandit" i was not making judgement on van drivers,i was actually explaining how easy it is to "accidentally" catch someone in your blind spot,i was not pointing blame.i have nothing against van drivers,i was just annoyed at the van driver versus motorbike debate.ironically he was on the way to work on his motorbike to his job as a van driver.

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