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Chaos on the north circular after crash
Neil Millard28 Jan 2009
MOTORISTS experienced delays of up to four hours after a BMW hit a lamp post on the three-lane North Circular Road near Hendon.
Tailbacks stretched back five miles up to the Hanger Lane gyratory after the car, left, flipped onto its side before hitting another car near the A1 at 3pm. All three lanes were closed. Two lanes reopened at 6.30pm, but the road did not fully reopen until 9.30pm.
The male driver of the BMW was in a stable condition in hospital. His three passengers suffered minor injuries. No one was harmed in the second vehicle.
At 7pm a TfL spokesman said: "We can't predict when the tailbacks might go." One motorist said: "The lamp post has gone across all three lanes. It took so long for them to sort it out."
Reader views (5)
I was stuck in the jam for 3 1/2 hours yesterday. I set off from Ealing to Southgate at 6.15pm and have just read with incredulity that the smash occured at 3pm. I drove past it at 9.15pm and the cars had only just been loaded onto lorries.
- James Hearn, Ealing, 14/08/2009 08:17
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The North Circular road is the perfect example of this countries attitude. Never improve anything because all governments are useless. Fifty years ago they were compulsory purchasing houses on the North Circular to widen it. Today the same houses are squatted in and the improved road forgotten. The road is a death trap , daily closed by accidents.
An intelligent government would reduce the speed limit to thirty and start to improve London's premier highway Instead they will do nothing except allow members of both houses of parliament draw thousand of pounds in expenses
- Alan Green, Woodford green, 28/01/2009 16:04
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Where were our galant boys from the Highways Agency during all this? Having first removed any injured people, why couldn't they tie a rope to the Beemer and drag it out of the way. Ditto for the lamp-post.
Doubtless the road had to be closed so that a legion of Health and Safety people could examine the car before deciding on the best way to tow it away and then another division to decide on how to deal with the lamp-post. Next there will be a cohort of road-menders, 75% of whom will stand around in day-glo jackets, smoking, and staring at the tarmac.
If the Highways Agency were allowed to appropriately use the 4x4 toys that my tax pays for, they could have cleared this up in less than half an hour. Think on that.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 28/01/2009 14:24
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Here in Thailand they would have tied some rope to said lamppost and dragged it out of the way. Traffic would then just driven past the accident. No problem. Same with dual carriageway blockages. They simply cross to the opposite carriageway and drive past the accident then re join the proper side.No police cars, no miles of traffic cones co major tail backs. If you come across a car in the fast lane travelling towards you then you know there is an accident ahead and simply move over. In the UK a slight accident can cause tail backs of several miles very quickly before plod gets there and does something. I once sat on the M25 and didn't move for 12 hours. PATHETIC!!!!!
- Duncan Walker, Lucky to live in Thailand, 28/01/2009 12:17
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Many times there have been accident on A40 or North Circular, there was even a huge pool near Stonebridge a few year ago. But the traffic was not as bad as yesterday, it us over an hour to get home, a journey that usually take about 15-20min.
Tailback was everywhere, including Wembley High Road and the inner roads.
- Pv, Wembley, 28/01/2009 12:07
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