UK Delivery van 'stuck on deadliest mudflat footpath' - The driver is never seen or named, but we all know

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A delivery van appeared to be stuck on mudflats, which locals described as the "deadliest footpath in Britain".

HM Coastguard Southend said it was called out to reports, external on Sunday of an Amazon delivery vehicle on The Broomway, at Great Wakering, Essex, after the driver had been following a GPS route to Foulness Island.

The Broomway is a route across flat sands from the shore near Southend-on-Sea to Foulness Island and is home to a Ministry of Defence firing range.

Amazon said it was "aware" of the situation and was "investigating".

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The route, said to be 600 years old and covering six miles (10km), is managed by Essex Highways. Qinetiq - a global defence and security company which manages the firing range - describes the path as a "unique right of way which requires both caution and specialist knowledge to negotiate safely".

The full route is not suitable for vehicles, and people are advised to only walk there accompanied by a guide who knows the mudflats.

According to parish council records, 100 people have died on The Broomway, with the last known death in 1919.

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The coastguard said it had spoken to a Qinetiq security officer who said the incident had taken place on Saturday evening and that the driver had "removed themselves from the van and reported the incident to Amazon".

It said the vehicle had already been there during high tide and that, alongside a farmer, Amazon arranged to remove the vehicle on Sunday.

Coastguard officers were stood down from the incident after the occupants of the van were confirmed to be safe and the vehicle was due to be removed.



Amazon van rescued from mudflats​

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This was the moment a stricken Amazon delivery van was rescued from a muddy predicament in Essex.

Coastguards were called to The Broomway at Great Wakering after a driver followed a GPS route to Foulness Island and became stuck.

The new video shows a telehandler lifting the grey vehicle and then driving it onto solid ground. Amazon has confirmed it is investigating the incident which unfolded on Saturday.

The Broomway is a route across flat sands from the shore near Southend-on-Sea to Foulness Island, which is home to a Ministry of Defence firing range.


 
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The driver would of had to passed a military checkpoint and go around a roundabout missing the road to the actual bridge to get to this route. They just drove straight into the ocean.

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smartypants302 said:
The driver would of had to passed a military checkpoint and go around a roundabout missing the road to the actual bridge to get to this route. They just drove straight into the ocean.

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GPS told them that was the right way to drive there, so they by God did. Same reason truckers keep getting stuck on a rural road in Appalachia out near my Grandparents old house. Ignore the signs that say "ROAD NOT SUITABLE FOR LARGE TRUCKS" and then make a literal 90 degree turn on a single lane road, and you'll get away with it because there's a field off to one side where your trailer can swing out, but when you come to the 180 degree switchback that's up the side of a fucking mountain a few hundred yards ahead, you'll be in a slightly more troublesome situation.

Technology in general has turned everyone into a blithering idiot, but none more so than GPS.
 
smartypants302 said:
missing the road to the actual bridge to get to this route
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For any curious, that grey diagonal line going from the red Amazon truck dot parallel to the coastline is the "Broomway". So you just cruise along the coastline while the tide is out, and eventually it turns back toward the island (at top right).
 
JohnnyG said:
For any curious, that grey diagonal line going from the red Amazon truck dot parallel to the coastline is the "Broomway". So you just cruise along the coastline while the tide is out, and eventually it turns back toward the island (at top right).
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It's a nice walk, but for the most part the path isn't marked anymore and if you go off it too far in either direction you end up stuck in mud up to your waist with fuck-all hope of getting out before the tide comes in and drowns you. Even the path is muddy enough that any vehicle is going to get stuck trying to follow it, the guy driving that van is lucky he didn't manage to get any further out first or he could have ended up stuck trying to get back to shore on foot.
 
Is this what happened to king John and his Crown Jewels, I wonder?
 
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