Incredibly Oblivious Driver Invades Marathon Route, Because She's Late

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Incredibly Oblivious Driver Invades Marathon Route, Because She's Late

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on May 22nd, 2018 in the Car Culture category.

 

[Moglet]

Can I just say; kudos to whoever filmed this in 4K and held the camera steady in landscape orientation the entire time. Catching these nutters as clearly as possible really helps make a fool of them online.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

Probably related to Ronnie Pickering.

 

[Mad Matt]

I believe her argument was that the signs didn't say which day the road would be closed. I can't comment on the truth of that. She also says she's disabled and that she'd tried alternative routes but was unable to leave the area. Again, I have no idea if that's true or not.

The event may be annual but obviously the date changes each year as it seems it's always run at a weekend.

I'm not saying she was right to do what she did but she clearly wasn't a danger to anyone, just a frustration and inconvenience. There's never any indication, even for a second, that she's some kind of mad terrorist intent on mowing down a line of runners.

I did hear one guy say to her "you could have killed someone" which is obvious rubbish. as for the guy who tries to stop the car by pushing it... that's idiotic!

Devon is another world... they do things differently there :-)

 

[Pebb]

Maybe next year the council should put up temporary metal fencing, instead of just cones and signs.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

Probably related to Ronnie Pickering.

Do you know who she is?

 

[Moglet]

I believe her argument was that the signs didn't say which day the road would be closed. I can't comment on the truth of that. She also says she's disabled and that she'd tried alternative routes but was unable to leave the area. Again, I have no idea if that's true or not.

The event may be annual but obviously the date changes each year as it seems it's always run at a weekend.

I'm not saying she was right to do what she did but she clearly wasn't a danger to anyone, just a frustration and inconvenience. There's never any indication, even for a second, that she's some kind of mad terrorist intent on mowing down a line of runners.

She says she was unable to leave the area but it's funny how there were no other people that had to drive on a live marathon route to get where they needed to go. If she were truly stuck it appears there were plenty of marshals about who may have assisted her, especially as she is disabled.

As for not being a danger to anyone she may not have injured anyone or looked like she was going to but driving a car into a large crowd of people (even slowly) has the potential to cause panic given the current situation with terrorist attacks. It's that sort of situation that can cause a stampede or people running for their lives and injuring others in the process.

 

[witham]

She says she was unable to leave the area but it's funny how there were no other people that had to drive on a live marathon route to get where they needed to go. If she were truly stuck it appears there were plenty of marshals about who may have assisted her, especially as she is disabled.

As for not being a danger to anyone she may not have injured anyone or looked like she was going to but driving a car into a large crowd of people (even slowly) has the potential to cause panic given the current situation with terrorist attacks. It's that sort of situation that can cause a stampede or people running for their lives and injuring others in the process.

This! It's exactly what me and my girlfriend were talking about yesterday, her actions were stupid and incredibly selfish at best! Usually, with these events there is always a way around and if not, guess what? it is only one day that is affected so just change your plans

 

[Zona]

What a stupid, selfish woman. I bet she's the kind of person who comes into a store just to complain as well.

 

[TS050]

Probably related to Ronnie Pickering.

Who?

 

[Moglet]

I see that Twitter has already started to complain about her having a disabled badge because "she got out of the car to move the cone without any problems". As someone who drives a Motability car with a disabled badge for my wife, this sort of thinking really frustrates me!

 

[WillOxleyGB]

Well there's a dipstick for you. In regards to her argument being true or not, as a disable person almost running over people doesn't give her a leg to stand on.

 

[Liquid]

Gammon.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Who?

Ronnie ******* Pickering

 

[Famine]

Well there's a dipstick for you. In regards to her argument being true or not, as a disable person almost running over people doesn't give her a leg to stand on.

Perhaps she was recruiting.

I don't quite know what the guy with the cone thought he was doing, but he was the only person who came close to harm. Perhaps he plays a lot of GT Sport and thought the cone would be a lot more solid...

 

[WillOxleyGB]

Haha fair enough.

 

[Moglet]

Perhaps she was recruiting.

I don't quite know what the guy with the cone thought he was doing, but he was the only person who came close to harm. Perhaps he plays a lot of GT Sport and thought the cone would be a lot more solid...

My favourite bit was when he tried to stop the car by pushing the bonnet. Always a good move, that.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

Ah that guy laying his life on the line to save the integrity of a long distance run I heard about just yesterday.

 

[Oyashiro-sama]

I'm with the driver. Damn runners, they think they can just go and use public roads for their amusement, and **** everybody else. THE ROADS ARE NOT FOR RUNNING. POINT. Go to a stadium and run in circles, like I care! If all marathoners get run over by crazy drivers, I would even laugh.

I know, I'm being polemic about my opinion but you can't just cut a road for amusement. What about everybody else? What about people who live there? What about people who are working and need to pass there? What if there are emergency cars, like ambulances and firefighters, that would need to pass and that they have to take a detour and the patient dies/houses burn? What about people who pass there everyday?

The drivers pay a damn lot of their hard-working money as taxes (when they buy the car, circulation yearly tax, taxes in petrol...) and they can't even use the damn road when they need? The road that is rightfully theirs not for the fun of a few runners. In my country even important bridges with lots of traffic get cut for those stupid events... People should think twice about matters like these instead of taking it as granted, oh how cute, a marathon, of course they can use and abuse about everyone else's life...

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'm not saying she was right to do what she did but she clearly wasn't a danger to anyone, just a frustration and inconvenience. There's never any indication, even for a second, that she's some kind of mad terrorist intent on mowing down a line of runners.

I did hear one guy say to her "you could have killed someone" which is obvious rubbish. as for the guy who tries to stop the car by pushing it... that's idiotic!

It doesn't have to be about terrorism - accidents happen, unpredictable things happen, and who is responsible when they do? You only need to put 'Road Rage' into You Tube to see how quickly things can go south when people get frustrated behind the wheel - the fact the she didn't stop when the guy was leaning on the bonnet kind of indicates she was not acting in a reasonable or predictable manner, or at best, lacked the mental capacity to understand her surroundings - in either case, not ideal for driving through a crowd of people.

The way I'd look at it... If you were stood there, perhaps marshaling at that point, and she asked if she could drive on to the course, would you let her? I marshal (well, take photo's mostly ) at our local Soapbox Derby, it's nothing major but it really focuses my mind on how oblivious the general public can be, and (surprisingly) how bad I might feel if one of the oblivious self-important half wits gets injured... there are carts coming down at 30+mph on a blind bend, if someone says you aren't allowed on the road, you aren't ****ing allowed on the road.... MORANZ!!11!

 

[LaSupra]

Perhaps she was recruiting.

I don't quite know what the guy with the cone thought he was doing, but he was the only person who came close to harm. Perhaps he plays a lot of GT Sport and thought the cone would be a lot more solid...

I'd say the woman probably plays GT Sport more, considering she's trying to use every last inch of road she could to her advantage by driving through the cones. Might turn from a marathon into a Total Wipeout course at this rate.

The funny thing is that she keeps going on about how she wasn't aware of the event, but it's clearly happening right in front of her. How does that excuse allow her to just barge through like that? Where's that facepalm emoticon?

 

[Crazy Taylor]

I'd say the woman probably plays GT Sport more, considering she's trying to use every last inch of road she could to her advantage by driving through the cones. Might turn from a marathon into a Total Wipeout course at this rate.

The funny thing is that she keeps going on about how she wasn't aware of the event, but it's clearly happening right in front of her. How does that excuse allow her to just barge through like that? Where's that facepalm emoticon?

If she does the marathon, will she get a free rally car?

 

[eiriksmil]

What about people who are working and need to pass there? What if there are emergency cars, like ambulances and firefighters, that would need to pass and that they have to take a detour and the patient dies/houses burn? What about people who pass there everyday?

Of course emergency vehicles can pass through.. You have marshalls working at these events for a reason.
You should try to chill a little.. Maybe run off some steam. It's even possible to do that on a road.

* Note to self, stay away from roads in Lisboa when not in car.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

I still don't get why people are saying 'yeah but she didn't hurt anyone'. The road is shut; simple as. Any rational person would perhaps get frustrated but would still turn around and find another way - I know I would. For the record, I absolutely hate it when they shut roads for this sort of thing, but I would never go '🤬 it' and just drive through, especially when it's cordoned off.

Regardless of whether she was disabled or not, that doesn't give her a free pass to just barge through at a pre-organised event because she's annoyed and in a rush (which I find odd because she argues she's late for work, yet also argues she's driving slowly; still going to be late then?)

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'm with the driver. Damn runners, they think they can just go and use public roads for their amusement, and **** everybody else. THE ROADS ARE NOT FOR RUNNING. POINT. Go to a stadium and run in circles, like I care! If all marathoners get run over by crazy drivers, I would even laugh.

I know, I'm being polemic about my opinion but you can't just cut a road for amusement. What about everybody else? What about people who live there? What about people who are working and need to pass there? What if there are emergency cars, like ambulances and firefighters, that would need to pass and that they have to take a detour and the patient dies/houses burn? What about people who pass there everyday?

The drivers pay a damn lot of their hard-working money as taxes (when they buy the car, circulation yearly tax, taxes in petrol...) and they can't even use the damn road when they need? The road that is rightfully theirs not for the fun of a few runners. In my country even important bridges with lots of traffic get cut for those stupid events... People should think twice about matters like these instead of taking it as granted, oh how cute, a marathon, of course they can use and abuse about everyone else's life...

Not sure about Portugal, but here there are lots of rules and regulations about closing a road for an event, it doesn't just happen one morning. Handling public notice, local transport infrastructure and emergency services are all part of it, and I believe there is a process for objection. Also, not sure how it works there, but here, if you pay tax at all, you pay for the roads.

edit: Not to mention that although you'd like to see runners get run-over, road closures happen for all kinds of events. The Monaco GP for example, the Silverstone GP... I believe major stadium events tend to see local road closures as well.... and that's before you get on to the unplanned stuff, like crashes, or road works.

 

[flamingchariot]

Try walking...or another form of transport ...what an idiot like a few drivers these days on the road - no respect for other people. Rules are rules. Using ignorance as an excuse is a poor one perhaps the town of Plymouth would be better off without idiots like this having a driving licence.

 

[Famine]

The drivers pay a damn lot of their hard-working money as taxes (when they buy the car, circulation yearly tax, taxes in petrol...) and they can't even use the damn road when they need? The road that is rightfully theirs not for the fun of a few runners.

We don't have a hypothecated tax system - there's no tax for roads which is only taken from those who use roads and is only spent on roads. Tax income is pooled and spent from a central fund, blind to where it came from. That means that the runners likely paid for the road too, even if they aren't drivers as well (and statistically they probably are).

The roads are public spaces. Closures like this are short (11 hours for this one), rare (once a year) and notified well in advance - usually at least a week.

Here's the location of the incident: https://goo.gl/maps/q4GEpr528Cw

Here's the local paper's website from the day before: https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/britains-ocean-city-half-marathon-1581202

What if there are emergency cars, like ambulances and firefighters, that would need to pass and that they have to take a detour and the patient dies/houses burn?

They don't have to take a detour - in exactly the same way that they don't have to obey speed limits. That's why races like this have marshals. And it's not the race or the racers that close the roads for their own fun. It's the council, and the police.


This weekend is the Monaco Grand Prix. That's run on closed urban roads too. Is that worth the same derision and anger to you?

 

[MatskiMonk]

From the drivers point of view...

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/woman-who-drove-onto-half-1594204

 

[HuskyGT]

I'm with the driver. Damn runners, they think they can just go and use public roads for their amusement, and **** everybody else. THE ROADS ARE NOT FOR RUNNING. POINT. Go to a stadium and run in circles, like I care! If all marathoners get run over by crazy drivers, I would even laugh.

I know, I'm being polemic about my opinion but you can't just cut a road for amusement. What about everybody else? What about people who live there? What about people who are working and need to pass there? What if there are emergency cars, like ambulances and firefighters, that would need to pass and that they have to take a detour and the patient dies/houses burn? What about people who pass there everyday?

The drivers pay a damn lot of their hard-working money as taxes (when they buy the car, circulation yearly tax, taxes in petrol...) and they can't even use the damn road when they need? The road that is rightfully theirs not for the fun of a few runners. In my country even important bridges with lots of traffic get cut for those stupid events... People should think twice about matters like these instead of taking it as granted, oh how cute, a marathon, of course they can use and abuse about everyone else's life...

I'm with you on this. Makes me waste on gas, time and adds unnecessary stress. Just to see 90% of the runners being overweight and/or just walking while on their phone.

 

[Oyashiro-sama]

This weekend is the Monaco Grand Prix. That's run on closed urban roads too. Is that worth the same derision and anger to you?

Yep, Monaco GP is an atrocious circuit. It got iconic over the years (God knows why, probably because it is a stupid "track"), but forgetting the history, I bet if Monaco was applying today as a F1 track, it would never been accepted. I am totally against any road circuit, by the way, and I could sympathize with angry locals any day (and I like F1).

And of course in Lisbon/Portugal there are regulations too, to set these events... but it is still for the fun of the participants, isn't it? Sometimes I get marathons that pass right in front of my door. If I have the car parked, I can't get out. If I'm out, I can't get in (unless parking a bit far away). Also, in other events, they close Ponte 25 de Abril (yep, the whole bridge). Now, I don't have a detour in the first situation, and for the 2nd, if you see the map, you can have the notion of how out of hand the "detour" is... I would love to see you guys in that situation, see if you like it. Oh, and the notice for those events can totally slip by (if lucky you can catch the announcement that the bridge is closed on TV, if not... The one in my street is less important, they don't warn on TV, you're lucky if you see a flier somewhere).

Problem is, who cares about other people? Yes, catch me in my car in a bad day, and you'd better stay out of the road when in Lisbon