It's the matter of fact headline which caught my attention, nobody hurt so I allowed myself a quick chortle. Mercedes drivers can quietly consider the fact that their cars, when subject to a collision at 8 mph, are total right offs. It is not reported if the engineman's air bag deployed :

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cam ... e-46249122

Regards

Rob C.

I imagine it’s not a speed issue that wrote the car of but one of mass.

Evidently, the urge to tee off on the golf course was much more important than the preservation of the lives of his passengers.
Typically, it's another German high performance car, driven by an idiot with a low performance brain!
There is a need for special licencing permission for these cars as they almost always seem to be driven by people who lack any level of common sense and have no apparent driving skills.
No wonder all of our insurance costs continue to escalate.
It's all of us that end up paying for the gross stupidity of others.
Peter

Oh dear Peter, you don't hold anything back do you, that is a very strong view, your comments are unfair, not at all well founded or backed up by fact.

My wife and I have both driven Mercedes cars for the past 30 years, between us we have covered over 450,000 miles. With the exception of a rear end shunt, not my fault, never a nasty moment has beset either of us.

Can't be sure of the model involved here but it is not an AMG, could be a 1.8 "C" class, hardly a high performance machine.

We have a steam railway here in Aberystwyth, the engines creep along almost silently when approaching crossings, the country lane crossings are unprotected, if you have the radio on or are talking to a passenger and don't hear the hooter, it is, believe me, very easy to get caught out. But then I guess I am as you put it a stupid Mercedes driver.

Calm down Peter, treat your self to a mug of warm milk and please, don't tar all drivers of German cars with the same brush.

The trouble is Syd, we're having to do battle with irksome and extremely dangerous stupid people on a daily basis in Nottingham.
Of course, not all BMW /Mercedes-Benz/Audi drivers are responsible but the fact is, if I see some idiot overtaking dangerously or doing something equally as daft, there is a 90% chance it's in one of these marque's.
Seriously, I thought perhaps it was due to the red led dash lamps affecting the brain in some way.
In the incident mentioned, the lights and bells were flashing. How on earth could the driver not see?
My local garage that does accident repairs has a ratio of eight to 1 on accident damaged cars. That's 8 German marque's to all the Toyotas Honda, Fiat, Citroën and everything else. Says something to me....
Peter

Perhaps that's a reflection on the number of cars we import from Germany, which of course might change after Brexit with a bit of luck.

It could be that the German car drivers have things to do, places to go and people to meet.
It could be frustration that causes the drivers you see that want to make progress.
It is a little tedious to be behind a car doing 38mph in a clear zone on a good A road.
That or a drivers lack of progress due to distractions within the car (texting, phoning, children, pets, ranting, makeup applications, shaving, hair combing, spot picking and many more) which seem to suddenly slow cars which were previously making good progress.
It could also be the drivers that have all day to aimlessly tour the roads with little gap behind vehicles in front with no intent to pass safely. Yet they take great measures to abuse and indeed hinder someone who wishes to pass safely.

I suspect the rash of bad driving from bigger German cars is down to high power older BMW's and Mercedes sports versions having become very cheap and available to young drivers. A high mileage 12-15 year old BMW 5 series or Mercedes CLK which still looks modern, can be picked up for the price of a Corsa but has a good deal more street cred.

They appeal to a certain sector of society, no end of them end up in the hands of boy racers with personalised number plates to hide the 02 03 age. They hurtle around the country at high speed, tailgating anyone who dares to get in their way and over taking in risky places. No doubt with either 3rd party or no insurance.

Not so sure there is any sin in owning a German vehicles, I have owned hundreds of vans and cars over the past 40 years and in my experience German built vehicles have been much longer lived, with fewer breakdowns, rust or electronic problems.

Having said that my current ML250 Mercedes was built in America.

Sorry Rob we seem to have hijacked your post.

To get back on subject, I gather from our Welsh E24 Guru, that the engine involved belongs to the railway Neil Sharp is involved with?

This is our loco - the M&GN Society. (Y14 No. 564)

The lights (wig - wags) etc were working correctly on the crossing, as were the warblers.

The crossing has an ANPR camera and it was clear from the pictures the "Berk in the Merc" as he became known went through while the reds were flashing.

The saving grace of all this was that thankfully no - one was hurt.

The Merc is a complete write - off and the loco suffered the major damage of a 2" scratch on the buffer beam...................................

1.25 tons of Merc v. 90 tons of locomotive? - don't go rushing to Ladbrokes to bet on the car.

Yes, the drivers going IN to the golf club are more interested in teeing off................................

The matter is now with Norfolk Police. RAIB have indicated that they will not be conducting an investigation - I assume as it's clear as day whose fault it was.

I feel sorry for the wedding party who went absolutely nowhere and had their meal stationary in the platform at Sheringham.....................
Neil

ps - one day someone is going to be hurt/killed. Advice to all - if the red lights flash - STOP.

If I may take this post a little further. We are all, I am sure aware of the stuff posted on You Tube (YT). There is a video, shot by the police, of the clowns that have decided to run the red flashing lights at a particular crossing. They stopped one idiot and he really didn't think he had done anything wrong. Really? Flashing red lights, railway crossing that not sufficient?
The number of times pedestrians had dodged across another crossing, one a young woman pushing a pram, just before the train rolled past at some speed were quite amazing. One brainless idiot was inches in front of a speeding train and he'd lost his shoe in the process. Apparently his mother was displeased.
Somewhere there is a photo of a courier van with the railway crossing gate jammed across his van like a guillotine blade. I do wonder how his boss might have reacted.