Nigel "Spygate" Stepney killed in traffic accident

[Famine]

Nigel Stepney - JRM's team boss and the engineer at the centre of the 2007 McLaren/Ferrari Spygate scandal - has been killed in an incident on the M20 in Kent after entering the carriageway while his vehicle was stopped and subsequently being struck by an HGV.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-27250766

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113739

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3b7e85c6366c81b77d50b7b35&id=6e13968f31

 

[Bo]

Nigel Vaulkhard, co founder of Bamboo, was also killed in an accident today.

RIP to both.

 

[Roger the Horse]

That's sad. My thoughts will be with his family and loved ones.

 

[Furinkazen]

Oh damn thats doubly bad to hear. RIP.

 

[ECGadget]

There are rumours going about that it was suicide...

 

[Tired Tyres]

^ Stupid rumours then. There are far too many variables involved for people intent on suicide.

 

[BHRxRacer]

Yeah I don't think parking your car in the middle of traffic is a convenient way of committing suicide.

RIP

 

[Famine]

Yeah I don't think parking your car in the middle of traffic is a convenient way of committing suicide

That's not quite what happened.

He pulled off the motorway (70mph limit three lane road with central divider) at 1.30am onto the hard shoulder (additional emergency lane for stopping, no divider) and exited his vehicle.

He could have been struck while on the carriageway or, as the hard shoulder is an incredibly dangerous place to be, been struck by a wandering truck, like this (recommend not having sound on for this; may be NSFW due to driver exclamations).


Oddly, another man was killed in exactly the same place only 3 weeks ago in exactly the same circumstances, only at 2.10pm...

 

[ECGadget]

^ Stupid rumours then. There are far too many variables involved for people intent on suicide.

That's what I thought, but it'll be a while before we find out I guess. All we know is that he stepped out into the carriageway. Personal assumption, being a dangerous stretch of road, I think a lorry may have been a little close to the shoulder and struck him.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Yeah I don't think parking your car in the middle of traffic is a convenient way of committing suicide.

RIP

You'd be surprised. The police statement says that they are "still trying to establish why the person walked into the carriageway". Trains/trucks are not uncommon suicide methods. If the police could establish any reason for him to have stopped and entered a live lane then they would have said what it was.

To be clear, there's a "closed" lane at the side of the motorway called the "hard shoulder", that's where he parked his van. This lane's separated with a solid line and it's illegal to stop there except in an emergency... and even then the nature of your emergency might get you ticketed by the HATOs.

Some people are surprised by the speed of traffic on a motorway when they stop on the shoulder. Nigel Stepney... I doubt it.

My feeling is that, very sadly, Nigel Stepney took his own life. Driving at 1 in the morning is a lonely thoughtful time, who knows what he was thinking?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

In the event of an emergency, you pull over to the hard shoulder. The driver's-side door opens straight into the traffic lane. And with the car occupying the shoulder, there's very little space between the two. It's entirely plausible that Stepney pulled over, climbed out, closed the door, and was struck by an oncoming vehicle.

 

[TenEightyOne]

In the event of an emergency, you pull over to the hard shoulder. The driver's-side door opens straight into the traffic lane. And with the car occupying the shoulder, there's very little space between the two. It's entirely plausible that Stepney pulled over, climbed out, closed the door, and was struck by an oncoming vehicle.

The space you describe is much greater than that - I know that bit of motorway extremely well.

The accident you describe is certainly one that does happen too often though, in fact some modern Mercs won't allow those doors to open on the hard shoulder if the passenger-side is undamaged. Now THAT's a police state

It's only my feeling that he took his own life and it's based only on how bad things have seemed for him since the sabotage/spygate cases and the peculiar circumstances. He actually entered the carriageway according to police without any apparent debris or other reason for doing so.

I accept I may well be wrong and I think I hope I am.

EDIT: The police statement says "For reasons yet to be established, the man appears to have entered the carriageway and was then in collision with an articulated goods vehicle. He was pronounced deceased at the scene."

In mitigation of that the site isn't a straight-and-flat piece of motorway, it isn't as wide as some modernised motorways, but it isn't the most narrow by any means at all.