Slane Pileup!!

[comethekingdom]

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0323/rta1.html

Just seen this on the news - amazing that nobody was seriously injured or killed!

[Louth Exile]

There are still too many HGV's using the N2 to avoid the toll on the M1, I wonder was the driver of the truck in question one of them???

[Hardy]

Good Men PJ and PJ:

"A total of six people, including a baby, were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for treatment for minor injuries following the accident.

Gardaí say it was a miracle that nobody was injured."

Anyway - how is it possible for a truck to "lose its brakes", never mind lose both its brakes and gears?

[Capt Pat]

Good Men PJ and PJ:

"A total of six people, including a baby, were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for treatment for minor injuries following the accident.

Gardaí say it was a miracle that nobody was injured."

I think they were referring to the hospital rather than the pile up when they said "it was a miracle that nobody was injured"

[tyronefan]

There are still too many HGV's using the N2 to avoid the toll on the M1, I wonder was the driver of the truck in question one of them???

the paper says the lorry driver was a local man and looking at the pictures it looks like one of roadstones lorries from the local quarry.

Good Men PJ and PJ:

"A total of six people, including a baby, were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for treatment for minor injuries following the accident.

Gardaí say it was a miracle that nobody was injured."

Anyway - how is it possible for a truck to "lose its brakes", never mind lose both its brakes and gears?

from what i understand you need air to work both the brakes and clutch and seemingly when the lorries are coming down the hill at slane they use up all their air so when they are coming near the bottom the air is used up leaving them without brakes or clutch. I have spoke to a few lorry drivers and they have told me that there is a lot of near misses at slane where they have run out of air going down the hill only that the light at the bottom was green they would have been in trouble.

Although they know that slane is dangerous they still use the n2 because they refuse to pay the tolls on the motorway

[Hardy]

Jesus Christ, that's unbelievable. I had an ould Cortina one time and the heater wouldn't work in cold weather. Is this the same kind of syndrome, whereby the pneumatic system on these trucks is designed so that it fails when needed most?  It is true that there have been many accidents at the bottom of the hill in Slane caused by truck brake failure, a number of them fatal.

[brokencrossbar1]

I recall a number of years ago when Ballincollig had stayed in Cross for the weekend the bus lost it's breaks going down the hill towards the turn on the bridge.  The bus went over the wall there and luckily no one was seriously hurt.  1986/87 or so.

[Hardy]

I remember a number of them. One where a truck literally ran over the top of a car, killing whoever was inside (a few people as I remember). But the one that stands out in my memory was when a truck driver lost his brakes on the hill as a school bus was coming towards him. He shouted to his helper to jump and steered the truck through the wall and into the river, missing the bus but losing his life. Truly heroic.

[tyronefan]

there is a wall at the bridge with crosses on it for all the people killed in accidents at the bridge over the years

there must be about 25 crosses

[comethekingdom]

There are still too many HGV's using the N2 to avoid the toll on the M1, I wonder was the driver of the truck in question one of them???

the paper says the lorry driver was a local man and looking at the pictures it looks like one of roadstones lorries from the local quarry.

Good Men PJ and PJ:

"A total of six people, including a baby, were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for treatment for minor injuries following the accident.

Gardaí say it was a miracle that nobody was injured."

Anyway - how is it possible for a truck to "lose its brakes", never mind lose both its brakes and gears?

from what i understand you need air to work both the brakes and clutch and seemingly when the lorries are coming down the hill at slane they use up all their air so when they are coming near the bottom the air is used up leaving them without brakes or clutch. I have spoke to a few lorry drivers and they have told me that there is a lot of near misses at slane where they have run out of air going down the hill only that the light at the bottom was green they would have been in trouble.

Although they know that slane is dangerous they still use the n2 because they refuse to pay the tolls on the motorway

We can blame the government again for this one - allowing such exhorbitant tolls to be charged on the M1!

[Louth Exile]

I was through it this evening. You wouldn't even have known the carnage that was there a day ago!

[Tyrones own]

Anyway - how is it possible for a truck to "lose its brakes", never mind lose both its brakes and gears?

It's not so much loss of air pressure that causes "brake failure" in these runaway type accidents, it's usually idiots driving too fast for the conditions
and over heating the brakes causing the brake drums to swell which then gives the effect of having no brakes, then with that kind
of weight pushing you it's not possible to change down gears like you can in a car, the transmission simply won't take the lower gear
and the truck in essence runs away rendering you completely helpless behind the wheel.