"I will not accept that it's a highly dangerous road" (1988)

In March 1988, ITN reported on the notoriously hazardous A19 road in the Teesside area between County Durham and North Yorkshire. A new safety barrier had been installed, and local councillor Mr Davidson - doing his best impression of the Mayor from Jaws - insisted that the road was no more dangerous than any other in Britain. Guess what happened next... 🚙 ⛔️❗️
#DangerousRoads #FunnyNews #MostDangerousRoad #MostDangerousRoads #PileUp #HighlyDangerousRoad #A19
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[@thebernice6062]

It appears to be sunny and clear, so very challenging and unusual conditions for British drivers.

[@Schnort]

Oh, that completely changes the picture. I understand now.

[@Sykesx]

😂

[@IncarnateSable]

This is the one

[@sonofpears4691]

Yeah they must have thought they had accidentally travelled to America and been confused

[@glyn6170]

Es[ecially in the North East. Driving conditions they don't usually get.

[@TimSlee1]

This looks like a Monty Python sketch, the comedic timing is too perfect

[@pengyzin8668]

All that's missing is a laugh track

[@22espec]

They would have used a clown car

[@doughall2932]

Enough of that! It’s _silleh!_

[@mariocastillo8334]

I legit thought it was MP, I mean John Cleese could look like the suit with some makeup and I would have been none the wiser.

[@Gfysimpletons]

You should see the new and improved monty python, it’s called sharia Law and it’s a hoot!

[@raulemanuel0310]

“Bloody hell, what‘s that enormous light coming from the fookin‘ sky?“

[@CatIsMad]

😂 "Fookin"

[@roderickjoyce6716]

@@CatIsMad Teesside. 😁

[@roseCatcher_]

​@TrustandbelieveintheLORD2 now say that in a British accent

[@robertdavidson8028]

@@roseCatcher_ It is a bit Liverpudlian, I'd say. Whether or not that's appropriate for the north east I leave to others, but it's one way of avoiding the censor.

[@shea455]

Where'd that giant ball of hydrogen come from??!

[@draheim90]

As an American I see the problem, all those cars have a passenger but no driver!

[@evilborg]

nice one !!

[@waynesworld7804]

😂

[@Scullgaming962]

dont forget theyre on the wrong side of the road

[@s-c..]

Guffaw, guffaw!

[@Jessepigman69]

This one made me chuckle

[@Optidorf]

This type of braking is called engine braking. You slam your engine on the vehicle in front and then you brake.

[@lab9998]

😂😂

[@Bossfightmedia]

Thats a golden Joke lmao

[@Coolcarting]

But he clearly skidded before making contact with the car in front. 🤦

[@detroitdan8487]

A definition that could only made by the British. Well done!

[@Ohnaw666]

@@Coolcartingand you’re too stupid to get the joke

[@anthonycraig1458]

That's a treacherous bit of road, deceptively flat. And straight. Who knew that driving such a road could be so perilous.

[@victorchozen4205]

Speaking in slang I see

[@markfox1545]

​@@victorchozen4205- you clearly don't understand what slang means.

[@insightphoto]

I think the idiot meant 'sarcasm' @@markfox1545

[@j.wwilson4866]

@@markfox1545 I think you don’t know what sarcasm is sir.

[@capndallas4918]

​@markfox1545 seriously you need jesus. What a comment.

[@garwynrosser8907]

Ironically, the interview became it's own hazard because drivers would be distracted by the cameras.

[@saladspinner3200]

Well, that's actually not the first time that happened.

[@herrzyklon]

I actually think that's exactly what happened!

[@matton36]

Thats exactly what happened but few seem to have noticed lol.

[@testy462]

"Let's go have a news conference in the median of a road everyone is saying is super dangerous". Lol who thought that was a good idea.

[@holimoli8802]

​@@testy462careless drivers took their eyes off the road to look at something, coincidentally the news crew and cameras, leading to the crash if what was said was the reason why. it is not the news crew fault, it is a lack of discipline in those drivers

[@Normee]

I've seen this clip before and only just realised the blue car was doing the right thing by swerving to avoid rear-ending a stopped car on the road

[@jefffeatherstone7785]

No, the right thing would have been to be travelling at a speed that gave them a safe stopping distance.

[@TalRohan]

daft thing is the cameras and mayor doing the interview is probably what distracted the driver and made him get too close to the car in front...the one behind must have done pretty much the same thing and but had no where to go.

[@superAweber]

Aaah, brilliant, there's a horrendous speed change, now I understand. They'd need traffic slowing measures a few miles beforehand.

[@carcrusher4x4]

He didn't swerve intentionally. The brakes were not adjusted properly and caused the car to pull to the left during the hard braking. He just got lucky.

[@LEXR6]

​@@carcrusher4x4exactly

[@loungejay8555]

The accidents in this clip were purely down to rubber-necking by the drivers, looking at the camera crew rather than paying attention to the road.

[@thebrowns5337]

Roads are much safer now people just stare at their phones

[@jimtaylor294]

^ 😂👌

[@Smartychase]

Absolutely right especially as a huge chunk of the population wouldn't have known what a camera looked like in the olden days 😂

[@irresistablejewel]

@@thebrowns5337 ...or stare at the speedometer, because speed limits may vary and 24/7 robot policing is more lucrative than fixing the roads.

[@_Just_Another_Guy]

​@@Smartychase This was the late 80's, not the 20's. Many people knew what a camera was. They were probably more curious about what a film crew is doing standing beside a highway and filming interviews.

[@ulsia6740]

I love how he turns around a second time because he didn't believe what he was seeing at first.

[@stephen3654]

Double take init bruv

[@jamjardj1974]

People standing on the central reservation is going to cause rubber necking😂

[@creamwobbly]

Posh twats never know what's going on behind them.

[@randygonzalez6250]

​@@jamjardj1974Yes I agree the crash makes sense for that reason, but it's still funny. It also reminds me of the "observer changes what he's observing by observing it" quantum physics principle.

[@jeffhussey6049]

And the eye roll… 😄

[@iainballas]

As a person from Oregon, the idea of driving on several miles of clear, flat, open road is terrifying. How will I stay awake without having to dodge drivers on blind corners?

[@zhou_sei]

i saw "dodge" and "blind" and i thought you were talking about raised pickups with aftermarket headlights

[@eddiedacunha3755]

try driving on Florida highways. nothing but flat, straight, open road. a perfect lullaby.

[@Heartsii_]

I live near OR18 and 22 which are, for the most part, straight. Each have dozens of miles of double solid lines because of the sheer volume of crashes that occur during passing... and they still do it lol.

[@Txpo50]

Try driving on the interstate in north Texas…it’s flat, straight and is nothing but grass and dirt for miles

[@kjm1059]

I'm old enough to remember seeing this on TV and for me the irony of it makes it one of the funniest news reports I've seen, it could quite easily be a sketch in numerous comedy shows at the time.

[@ifbfmto9338]

I don’t even see it as irony at all, to be honest The road itself is flat and straight It’s the idiots who DON’T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE that are the problem That accident wasn’t in ANY way due to the conditions or configuration of that road, it was 100 percent BLATANT driver error 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@stephenhumphrey7935]

​let me guess, you're American.

[@kjm1059]

@ifbfmto9338 Drivers were probably distracted by the camera crew, the irony is he is talking about road safety but no one had the sense to realise that having a TV interview at side of the road there was a risk this would happen. But you're right no excuses for the drivers not paying attention.

[@greenrobot5]

When he thought the blue car driving up the grass was the bad thing to happen that day

[@FartInYourFace234]

yeah, that was the catalyst. likely nothing else would have happened if not for the blue car

[@Luke_275]

@@FartInYourFace234the blue car drove up there to avoid rear ending the other cars

[@FartInYourFace234]

@@Luke_275 yes, because they were driving distracted, and didn't hit the brakes in time.

[@richhh9000]

He was the smart one lol

[@Lappmogel]

​@@FartInYourFace234wtf are you talking about? He did everything right. He would've avoided hitting the car in front but he would've been rear ended by the second car if he stayed on the road. He saved both the car in front and behind him from a newtons cradle fender bender.

[@illusion466]

When I first saw this, I thought it was a skit out of a bad sitcom

[@theurchin65]

Yes, you're not far wrong. Not the Nine O'clock News did a comedy sketch in the 1980s parodying a road safety advert of the time: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHaUZniqqqZpkJo

[@PhilofBristol]

It does have something of an "It'll Be All Right On The Night" air about it doesn't it!!

[@dewok2706]

reality is the greatest sitcom

[@mb-3faze]

I remember it distinctly when first broadcast. I thought the volvo driver did an excellent job going off-piste to avoid a collision.

[@jimtaylor294]

The difference between reality and fiction... is that fiction has to make sense 😂

[@guzziman100]

Holding a press conference in the medium of a busy roadway. Brilliant!

[@kaygirl10101]

And one known to have an above-average accident rate. It was certainly a big-brain move.

[@jeffbeck8993]

Median.

[@Ometecuhtli]

Don't be too harsh, they just came back from their free lobotomy course.

[@zhou_sei]

but how else was he supposed to demonstrate just how not unsafe it was?

[@JoaoSilva-yh4dg]

Different times eh

[@sid35gb]

Treacherous piece of road indeed with its dazzlingly bright sunny skies and long smooth road free from potholes that would be challenging for any British driver.

[@SatanicHamsterThe]

Its not that its an inherently dangerous road, its just that its populated by inherently dangerous drivers.

[@waltersobchak1719]

Well said. If you drive too close to the car in front, it is hardly the road’s fault when you drive into the back of them!

[@carlosmpsenyorcapitacollon6977]

​@@waltersobchak1719Yes but the guy who just went over to the grass xD

[@alangordon3283]

There are no dangerous roads . Name one road that has killed any person. The only dangerous thing is the buffoons that use the roads. Prove me wrong .

[@jonathongellibrand3632]

@@waltersobchak1719 I think the vast majority of accidents are caused by failing to look far enough ahead, and travelling too close to the car in front. Stop doing that and I think there'd be a 90% plus reduction in avoidable 'accidents'

[@shootmcrunfast]

@@jonathongellibrand3632 For sure, it would also help reduce avoidable accidents if people just avoided them in the first place.

[@McNamee93_]

Insurance companies: "Do you have any dashcam footage of the incident?" Victim: "No, but ITN caught the whole thing on national television"

[@Sideway8]

A "dashcam" in 1988 would be a giant camera rig that replaces the entire front passenger seat

[@philippe2715]

@@Sideway8Not really. We had things like the Canonvision 8. (With the 8 standing for the 8mm tape.) Even a kid could hold those things with one hand. It would be massive compared to a modern dashcam. It would definitly block a part of you view if placed on the dashboard.

[@planescaped]

@@jmw1500Well considering the most likely cause of the accident was them watching the camera crew doing the interview and not paying attention to the road, probably not, lol.

[@jgcondron]

By "caught" you mean "caused".

[@SilverRiMiX]

​@@jmw1500Nah, they'd come up with some bs like, "Our policy doesn't count live television as proper footage." Or "Section X lines X through X say you need to meet some arbitrary requirement we just recently added without telling you because our policy we wrote allows us to. Yes, the only reason that requirement exists is to deny paying out and to make it easier to raise premiums."

[@whateversunpopular1338]

Reminds me of that scene in Johnny English: “Don’t worry sir, you are in the safest place in the whole of the country.” KA-BOOM 😂😂😂

[@Schnittwin]

Him: „It is not a dangerous road. It is only dangerous when there are accidents“

[@aquanick2001]

How he rolls his eyes 😂

[@RUBBER_BULLET]

Nnnnyesss.

[@Smedley1947]

Very British understatement method of eye rolling.

[@queenslander954]

Yea a complete tosser

[@MentalParadox]

"There goes my argument".

[@sgtpepper91]

dreamy

[@joshuahenderson]

I love he admits with his eyes, “yah this is horrible timing.”

[@jussayinmipeece1069]

i think he was more thinking. "See its the idiot drivers"

[@francistaylor1822]

Not the news crew and interview on the road that will cause rubbernecking. yes drivers are responsible but come on@@jussayinmipeece1069

[@Willfa_]

@@jussayinmipeece1069he didn't think it had them.

[@emily1]

These idiots would’ve been very much capable of the same thing on a national road in the same circumstance. Some people just can’t drive.

[@observer4916]

I live in the Teesside area and I swear that half the news on the car radio is "there has been a major accident on the A19, there has been another major accident on the A19, there has been yet another major accident on the A19"

[@FeelingShred]

Fred Flintstone braking technique 😂

[@athgt6630]

Imagine driving on a road and then the car in front of you suddenly stops 'cause of traffic. What a dangerous road

[@rbdan]

these are British people we are talking about, you need a license to watch this video!

[@CursedWheelieBin]

@@rbdanI haven’t driven in other countries but the roads in Scotland are packed with mongoloids who don’t know how roundabouts work, hog the fast lane instead of moving over, and can’t park inside the lines. Oh and when the light turns green they move off one…at…a…time, instead of together 🚦 Makes me wish Putin would press the big red button and just sink us into the Atlantic 💥

[@copter2000]

​@@rbdanOui mate. You got a license for that comment?

[@caeserromero3013]

It can be incredibly hazardous to smash right up the back of stationary traffic...that's why I had my car fitted with brakes 😂

[@dpskatoo75]

they didn't have brakes then you had to push your feet though holes in the floor and hope your shoes were up to it.

[@hughofIreland]

You rich people!

[@biddyboy1570]

No ABS in those days. Needed a bit of extra attention.

[@reece005]

​@@biddyboy1570true you see people driving while on there phone texting or filming nowerdays

[@soundseeker63]

Smart choice, brakes are still not standard equipment on Audi models it would appear, thats why they are constantly tailgating whatever car happens to be in front. They should have ticked the "brakes" option box when they ordered! 😆

[@BoogerDeluxe22]

Oh my goodness gracious, is that a stopped vehicle on the side of the road? Fascinating.

[@StrangeScaryNewEngland]

LMFAO!!! The camera was MEANT to be rolling and that interview was meant to take place at that very location at that angle, at that very moment. Absolutely perfect. The eyerolling really did me in,

[@wheedler]

What does this mean? Are you saying it's staged?

[@StrangeScaryNewEngland]

@@wheedler No. I'm saying that it happened so perfectly, that it looks like something that was staged. You cannot get any better timing than this camera crew.

[@alexanderstevenson6484]

The mighty Lada 1200 estate is so bad at staying on the road it avoids accidents!

[@danieljacobson6223]

No! It contains a better driver that avoids a crash. The others are people sleeping behind their steering wheels.

[@DanteICE]

@@danieljacobson6223 your sense of humour is incredible. We only need to find it now to really discover how incredible it is!

[@anthonycraig1458]

That Lada is hilarious, I remember a school friend's mum had one back then in the same colour, it was like a tank (and not in a good way)

[@danieljacobson6223]

@@anthonycraig1458 But the driver is great!

[@mattwebb6056]

Probably driven by Maureen! 😂

[@EATSLEEPDRIVE2002]

This is as good as that video of the chick bragging about how good the airline operates, while the camera pans to the board where everything is delayed/canceled

[@VesproDBA]

saw that one 😊

[@thatstickanimator6602]

@@michaelgusovsky She was the head of Toronto Pearson International Airport, I believe.

[@NavigatorBR]

If anyone wants to see the clip, search "The camera pans up to show multiple flight delays at Toronto Pearson at the same time the airport's" on KZbin. Should bring back a video, credit to the CTV News camera guy on that one. It was Toronto Pearson International Airport's CEO, by the way.

[@balegda]

​@@michaelgusovsky you really do just see what you wanna dont ya

[@EATSLEEPDRIVE2002]

@@michaelgusovsky you were so eager to be a political whiner and you weren't even in the right country😂 you're very accurately representing the rest of the Trump Nazis

[@derrickmoses1507]

Look at that straight ass road. No potholes no damage. Maybe everyone over there should just stick with horses.

[@UnbannedAgain]

The old "thats about right" eye roll xD

[@timhinchcliffe5372]

"Hey look, I'm going to be on the telly..." * BANG! *

[@SaraMorgan-ym6ue]

Happens all the time sadly.🤣🤣🤣

[@TheFakeyCakeMaker]

Like that Rowan Atkinson sketch with the lamp post.

[@YeahNo]

There’s a clip that’s local to me and it has multiple rear enders from the previous one being cleared away and the next one caused by gawkers. So the “clip” is actually collection of clips from different drivers getting caught in the subsequent accidents. Completely ridiculous as it’s not dangerous area at all and takes place in maybe 50metre stretch before some lights. Just from rubberneckers.

[@azasena8896]

​@@YeahNoso uhhmm which news station recorded it? ITN?,BBC?, any british news station

[@ladypenelope99]

🤣🤣

[@foxredt2]

That blue car driver was smart and fast as hell. He knew drivers behind him would crash into the cars in front 😂

[@marksavage1108]

Did you not notice his front wheels were pointing forwards the entire time, it wasn't the driver swerving, it was the brake imbalance pulling heavily to the left that avoided the collision,

[@user-me3go4ku8z]

Them Ladas never had brakes when they were new the driver probably pulled the handbrake most of the smoke is off the back tyres

[@JackTheripper911]

​@user-me3go4ku8z "tHeM lAdAs nEvEr hAd BraKes" ..."tHeY PrOBabLy uSEd tHe hAnD bRakE." So are you always this stupid? Or was it a special occasion this time?

[@mortimerbrewster3671]

I did wonder why the other drivers didn't veer into the grass like he did. They may have been stuck but probably wouldn't have ended up with any damage.

[@thecianinator]

​@@mortimerbrewster3671could have been understeer

[@MarkRasslin]

I love how the politician says he doesn't want to do anything, witnesses the exact problem he denied, and then implicitly blames it on the driver. This man could have been PM!

[@CursedWheelieBin]

Politicians can’t transform people into more observant, capable drivers 😂

[@Gamesaucer]

@@CursedWheelieBinNo, but better designed roads can transform people into more observant, capable drivers. And politicians can force roads to be designed better. Quality of infrastructure is largely invisible but plays as much if not more of a role as just plain "being good at driving." If you don't believe me, here's a nice fact for you: in the US, drivers crash into buildings all the time, and you'd expect those to be bad drivers, but the opposite is true: most of the time, they're long-time (but non-elderly) drivers who haven't ever been in a single accident. Even when those kinds of crashes happen in broad daylight and sunny weather, this remains true. Safety should never depend on a single factor, especially if that single factor is human diligence. Safety culture is about making sure that no individual mistake can lead to horrible accidents. And by extension, it's about making sure that there's never a single point of failure in general. That's why cars have seatbelts _and_ airbags _and_ crumple zones rather than just one of those. And it's why good infrastructure means that being momentarily distracted or not watching your speed won't cause you to drive into a building or get into a head-on collision, or if at all possible even cause you to so much as rear-end the vehicle in front of you.

[@Adam-oc6pq]

​@@Gamesaucer oh brother we got a yapper on our hands

[@DS-qz2gu]

@@GamesaucerBro you wrote a whole essay in the comment section of a YT video. Go outside and live life my man 😭

[@jordanbell4736]

It's a paragraph. That took him two minutes to write. People both walk and chew bubblegum

[@stevephillips7264]

That was awesome !!! As I was watching I was thinking surely not !!! Brilliant

[@soundseeker63]

The comic irony of this whole scene is pretty epic, but I especially loved the blue Lada's very early version of autonomous crash avoidance tech (severely unbalanced brakes!) 😆

[@simonhodgetts6530]

Wasn’t that Maureen from Driving School?

[@derekmcmahon5950]

Love the comment bad break imbalance

[@javelinXH992]

It’s a Teslada.

[@stephenwilliams6451]

Totally agree. Dodgy too close drivers.

[@raccoon681]

hey it worked no damage to the blue car

[@Kinlochbervie50]

if this wasn't uploaded by the ITN youtube account, I'd struggle to believe it wasn't a TV comedy sketch.

[@dububro]

if it were a comedy sketch, it would have just happened, they wouldn't have announced it beforehand.

[@user-fg5xs9lh7s]

I legit googled if this was even a real company or not and I'm still not convinced this isn't another case of the onion

[@jbrown7403]

His eye roll is sooooooo good! 🤣

[@Chowder12345able]

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. This looks like a bit from Monty Python

[@teffhoward9134]

I remember watching this on the news on the day it aired. I never thought I would see it again. Thanks for posting and giving me a laugh😂

[@steakwilliams4448]

Why did anyone think it was dangerous? It's flat, it's straight. What was the big deal?

[@teffhoward9134]

​@@steakwilliams4448 I think it was when Peter Bottomley was transport secretary. He would try and convince you that if you went over 40 mph you would suffocate !!

[@neilgodfrey2669]

They Must have been on their rotary phones

[@otdosa]

Killed me

[@Redwarfa]

Ha ha really funny

[@toyotasprintertrueno86]

when i read rotary i thought of the mazda engine lmao

[@jenispizz2556]

LMAO what are those drivers DOING

[@Carewolf]

Driving straight on a sunny clear day.

[@0LoneTech]

Failing to predict the road they cannot see may be blocked. As in just past a crest on the other side of the underpass we can see. So they go from a common flow of traffic to sudden obstruction with literally nowhere to go. Now, normal signage would have instructed them to slow down in anticipation before reaching this point, but this politician is here to tell you that's not a reasonable response.

[@wheedler]

@@0LoneTech But the road they can see is blocked.

[@0LoneTech]

@@wheedler At that point they braked. Before that point, what they saw was the car ahead of them moving just as fast.

[@occamraiser]

Watching a TV crew in the middle of a dual carriageway.

[@TheWelshSportsPodcast]

This is one of my favourite videos of all time

[@JonBowe]

That was a typical Lada reaction to heavy straight line braking, no steering wheel input needed.

[@Meibeon]

mine did exactly the same, you literally held the steering wheel for grim death when you braked. The steering also had a habit of de coupling on certain models.

[@caprimann87]

thats an AI-powered feature to prevent rear-end collisions

[@Don_Melon]

​@@helmuthareah, yes, the good old lack of crumple zones and whiplash you get from 5mph up.

[@PneumatinisPlaktukas15]

@@Don_MelonYeah, having an accident in anything made in the 70s is a bad idea.

[@phoenixvance6642]

​@@PneumatinisPlaktukas15at least in america, if you drove your mobile shipping container into anything but another one, you wouldn't even notice

[@jebbroham1776]

The power of “speaking things into existence”. 😂

[@instantnoob]

If you are reading this comment, that means your thoughts are energetically aligned with me. You already know the truth. Your thoughts shape your reality. Since Poe's Law is a thing, let me clarify I'm not actually delusional. I'm mocking with parody by quoting a popular "influencer?" Who became a meme for looking as crazy as he sounded.

[@domdiddy7209]

magical thinking 😊

[@paulpalmtree9295]

A classic clip. Brilliant timing. 😂👍.

[@alienlife7754]

The way he says “Well . . . “. 😆🤣🤪

[@RegenTonnenEnte]

"Speed never killed anybody. Suddenly becoming stationary that's what gets you." -Jeremy Clarkson

[@kristinajendesen7111]

My parachute instructor said, "it's not heights that kill you it's grounds." 😁

[@bjb7587]

​@@kristinajendesen7111we would say "the sudden stop".

[@bjb7587]

Or When the people look like ants, fly. When the ants look like people, pull.

[@TheTrulyMentalShow]

Speeding definitely kills people

[@kristinajendesen7111]

@@bjb7587 Another one said, "if your parachute doesn't open, grab hold of the grass when you hit the ground. It's the second bounce that kills you." 😁

[@georgigobg]

One of the best moments captured by TV!

[@mysteryboyee]

honestly i agree with the councilor, the road isn't the issue here, it's the people driving on it who clearly don't actually know how to drive, and should not have a license

[@adamesd3699]

Something like that happened three feet away from me in LA. Heavy traffic moving quickly on a straight flat freeway, people aren’t careful, traffic suddenly stops but drivers behind are too close and BAM!

[@affabaffa4393]

I thought this was a Top Gear skit until I realized it was real LMAO

[@hugoagogo9435]

Those Lada estates had terrific handling in corners. But very poor road holding on a flat straight road at low speed

[@SahilPawar95]

😂

[@pictsidhe6471]

They were awful cars.

[@fix0071]

Лада производилась до 2011года😂 без особых изменений.

[@StreetPunk161]

​@@fix0071теперь выпускаем устаревших французов начала 00-хх под оберткой новой современной машины(с двигателем от нивы 1986 года)

[@robertjenkins6132]

When you say "terrific" do you mean _terrific_ in the olden sense of _terrifying_ ?

[@hughjass1044]

The look on the guy's face....... 😂😂😂

[@peterfitzpatrick7032]

At least he had a sense of humour about it, you could see it in his eyes... 😂

[@faisceauwolf6172]

It looks like a Monty Python sketch 😂

[@connorgames6668]

I love how he just looks ober like " perfect timing ay"

[@MikeKollin]

NO rain, no hail, no snow, 100% Visibility, straight, flat paved road... Sir! That's called bad driving! 🤣🤣🤣

[@PlaywithJunk]

That's what I call perfect timing! It is possible that the TV team is the cause for this accident. People get distracted easily.

[@AidanMillward]

Same when people slow down to look at an accident on the other side of a motorway. Does my head in.

[@prholenstein]

“If the brakes don’t stop it - something else will!” 😂

[@nowaaaaaaayyy]

I got it! it was hazardous because there was a bunch of homeless people without their TV licenses. And they were carrying unregistered scissors.

[@pikadroo]

The eye roll. Just priceless! 😂

[@davemorris6747]

The eye roll did it for me😂😂😂

[@torstenscholz6243]

How has that not become a meme yet?

[@David_Bower]

The UKs most insightful politician.

[@andthefunkybunch1466]

Another person on their phone not watching where they're going

[@e-tan3911]

This is 1988...

[@user-fh1rz1uq6c]

This is a good example of the dangers for drivers of camera teams doing interviews in the middle the road.

[@peterduxbury927]

If you had put several Bikini-Clad girls on the Central Reservation - you would have witnessed multiple crashes. The TV Team should not have been there at all.

[@LRM12o8]

@peterduxbury927 if you're not man enough to ignore a bunch of bikini-clad girls while you're barreling down the highway, you're a teenage-brained man-child who has no business behind the wheel!

[@L._Titus]

To quote Paul McCartney: “Why don’t we do it in the road.”

[@thekingbradable]

I’m with him, that just looks like bad driving to me lol

[@sgordon8123]

If it had been just that one crash you might have been right. But given that people were obviously saying how dangerous it was before it happened absolutely not.

[@niklascarlsson2841]

Yeah but 3 cars in 3 seconds?

[@colonelarmfeldt8572]

@@niklascarlsson2841 Traffic suddenly slowed down, creating a ripple effect where the cars that were tailgating, had little time to stop. You can see that all the drivers also locked their brakes in panic, so an accident would've probably been avoided today with ABS.

[@julianevans9548]

tailgating

[@waltersobchak1719]

@@julianevans9548Exactly👍. Nothing dangerous about the road, just the idiots that drive on it.

[@danielbarnard8069]

One of the funniest things I’ve seen in ages 😂

[@Slawnikowic]

This is comedic gold.

[@mxbx307]

Brakes were absolute garbage back then. There was a similar incident in Margaret Thatcher's motorcade in 1989 when on a visit to a nuclear power station, when even marked police cars were skidding into each other after a protestor jumped out in front. This would be much less likely to happen in a modern car due to ABS and brakes just being stronger.

[@adamholmes91]

Agreed. Front disks, bias valves and abs have helped massively! Also tyre technology is heaps better today, even on budget tyres.

[@video99couk]

@@adamholmes91 All these cars will have had front disks. My 1972 Hillman Avenger came with those as standard. But ABS and tyre improvements, yes. Car tyres are generally much wider today too.

[@soundseeker63]

Tyres were about 40% smaller than the norm on modern cars too. Even medium-large family cars came on skinny tyres and small wheels lik 13'/155 section which didn't put much rubber in contact with the road. If you were to put modern wheels and tyres on an old car it would stop way quicker, but still be quite unstable and easy to lock-up.

[@type17]

@@soundseeker63 Modern tyres wouldn't perform well on these cars - while many cars in the 70's and 80's may have been a little "under-tyred", meaning there was a lot of weight on a relatively small tyre footprint, so slightly wider tyres may have helped in some cases, you have to remember that increased grip with increased tyre-width is not a linear relationship - there's an optimum weight per square inch of tyre tread, and those cars above are much lighter than modern ones (eg: Mk1 Fiesta was ~700kg, last one made was 1285kg). This means that if you put modern, too-wide wheels on an older car (eg 1980's and earlier) the grip during hard cornering and braking may be worse, as there is less force (weight) per square inch keeping the tyres pressed down on the road, so they can break free (skid) before a narrower tyre might.

[@patrickganly5206]

I was driving 15 year old and even older bangers back in 1978. It wasn't that the brakes were bad. It's that they were not yet made idiot proof like we have today. You had to understand how to lift your foot back off the pedal at the start of a skid and reapply when the tires regained grip. ABS does all that for us now and has taken a lot of fun out of driving!😅

[@levif7910]

I know it too well, had a crash there myself on the way out of haysbury in 1989. Terrible visibility on the way down the hill in the evenings

[@petermostyneccleston2884]

At one time, people would think that was Maureen ,who was famous for failing her driving test a number of times . I do not think that Maureen ever left South Wales ,and she was not learning to drive ,until about ten years after this clip. Also the blue car was a lighter blue than hers. I was learning to drive about the same time as her, but I have failed more times than Maureen. I have been driving for over 20 years now, but seeing this clip after watching her on an episode of Driving School, made everyone think that it was Maureen .

[@AlfUckhamHall]

I can remember watching this live on the Tyne-Tees news. Paul Frost, the news anchor apologised to all who may have lost their no claims bonus, but he had a very wry smile on his face.

[@TimeMappedExplorations]

one of the funniest things ive seen this year so good

[@kratzeni]

insane driving skill and qick thinking by the blue driver. Respect, I could probably not do that

[@duckofdeath3266]

It was very likely brake failure. Or as they say in Russia, a Special Ditching Operation. Had it been on a bridge, it would have joined the Russian navy converting all of their vessels into submarines in the Black Sea.

[@artyb27]

I don't understand why everyone is giving props to the driver of the blue car? Why did they have to make that manoeuvre in the first place? Couldn't they see the slow-moving traffic up ahead in plenty of time to safely slow down?

[@computeraidedworld1148]

​@@artyb27 It's very hard to see the slow moving cars when you're looking to your right at a camera crew on the side of the road.

[@bjoe385]

Best advert for ABS and ESC you'd ever see.

[@MikeWalls7829]

The crew doing an interview in the central reservation would have been a huge distraction for drivers and likely caused the accident, especially in that era when you rarely ever saw something like that.

[@see-rious-ley]

The perpetual eye-roll does come in handy to negate everything he’d said earlier. Thanks for the laughter!

[@geoffreylee5199]

In Parry Sound, Ontario, at about the same time, there were complaints of a dangerous interchange. The Provincial Highway Minister goes to visit the site and a multi vehicle crash occurs, like this, wheels turned immediately.

[@seattleshare905]

Rubber necking to see the news reporters, amazing how reporting on safety changes causes accidents haha

[@heavyweather]

The Porsche going up the banks is hilarious 😂

[@savagepanda8458]

As an American, where roads like this are common, I’m with the council member. How bad of a driver do you have to be to go swerving off the road while driving in a straight line?

[@YeahNo]

Highway hypnosis. Australia has many of these straight roads. Certain sections of highway are notorious for fatigue caused accidents because they are X distance between towns.

[@xerxeskingofking]

so, what likely happened is that someone slowed down to rubber neck the camera crew and interview, and that caused successive drivers who were going suddenly from 50-60pmg to what looks like a crawl to have to use increasingly harsh brakes to avoid the car in front. the Blue car appears to have unbalanced brakes (ie the left side brakes were braking harder than the right side so it pulled to the left as it braked), which put it into a skid, and the driver was forced to go up the embankment. the cars behind, watching the blue car and not the road, didnt brake fast enough to avoid the rear end shunt that happened afterwards. in short, the camera crew and minister were likely the indirect cause of the accident that they caught on camera.

[@SanityTV_Last_Sane_Man_Alive]

so your take away is the only guy to avoid getting rear ended is the fool? lol. buddy... you really need to look in a mirror for that fool and try watching what happened again.

[@tisvana18]

@@YeahNothis is a 4.5 mile (7.24 km) stretch, that’s walking distance for most folks lol. That’s walking distance for me and I’m fat and out of shape lololol. Maybe it’s because I’m Texan, but I struggle to believe well-rested people get Highway hypnosis driving such a tiny distance.

[@StreetPunk161]

​@@tisvana18dont lie all Texan walk only inside BIG FUCKIN PICKUP

[@DoubleSmackJacksSmackAttack]

The 😒 🙄 he makes gets me every time

[@edwardcooper5479]

We’ve all been there, desperately trying to pull in somewhere for a picnic !

[@nonsensefactory]

i could watch this for eternity

[@SumoRabbitOfDoom]

I actually remember seeing this, all those years ago! Damn, I'm old! 😮😂

[@undeniableluck3260]

This is why you leave a 2 second time gap, 4 seconds in the rain 10 seconds in snow

[@Spacemongerr]

Yes. In my country it is taught to be at least 3 seconds behind. Maybe its part of why we have the lowest fatalities in the world

[@o0Donuts0o]

We have re-evaluated mankind and determined that a 10 second gap is adequate for normal driving conditions and to stay indoors when a gentle breeze or any other extreme weather is encountered.

[@troyarrington5492]

10 seconds? Gawdam

[@ProGentleman]

I was taught 1 car length of distance from the vehicle ahead for each 10 km/h of speed on highways. Urban traffic is an entirely different game.

[@WM-gr4qi]

​@@o0Donuts0oOn behalf of mankind, we graciously accept your evaluation and will continue to drive naught seconds behind whoever we think should probably be in a lane further to the right of the one they're in, thank you.

[@circomnia9984]

Ah yes, politicians and reality. They very rarely meet. This was one of those very rare occasions, that just happened to be caught on film.

[@filip36365]

Legend has it he still refuses to believe its a dangerous road

[@Electric0eye]

I love how he rolls his eyes over there like "Welp guess the jig us up huh"

[@Kytetiger]

Same energy as the company representative saying everything is fine, and the camera is paning to the stock going down😂

[@lonewolf9390]

Blue car: *Yeah, I'm 'bout to ruin this guy's whole assertion.*

[@aaronbeat1136]

That will never get old

[@paulgibbons2320]

Look on his face. He knew his arguement had failed it's MOT. 😂

[@rugbynimbus]

Dogma: He brings up a valid point. Karma: Wait for it...

[@M0r9h3us]

Thank you karma, thank you. 😂

[@WiscoKnight0806]

The next time someone asks how a person can physically see something and still deny it, im just going to refer them to this video

[@FatLeonard84]

Love how he still has a sense of humour about him even though he's trying to be very serious

[@strayavr3665]

It’s a straight road, how did they managed to f*ck that up ???🤦🏻‍♂️

[@jimtaylor294]

As in many things, *Stupidity, uhh, finds a way* 😂

[@niyablake]

From the comets bad drives ith crap brakes and cars that handled like a brick

[@albertjr7928]

​@@niyablakewtf are you even trying to say? what's wrong with you? i hope you don't drive

[@pigs18]

80s European cars suuuuuuucked. This is why two thing happened: 1) Japan was able to get into the global marketplace with smaller, lower powered, and better handling vehicles 2) Government regulation required car manufacturers to make decent cars and not just slap four wheels onto a brick.