Re: Bit O.T. Speeding ... ?

[John Williamson]

There are 44 tonne gross weight artics on British roads. Not many, and they're all foreign registered, but they are there.

[John Williamson]

In the crush zone. Even if he had parked his vehicle behind the broken down vehicle, it is not recommended to get between the stationary vehicles unless it is unavoidable.

Yup. You should have climbed over the barrier first or walked along off the hard shoulder on the grass or on the gravel covering the drainage system. Nobody should remain in the vehicle under most circumstances.

It's also strongly recommended that you wear a high visibility vest while doing so.

[polygonum]

OK John! - I was really only taking the piss - as if a few tons make much difference when the artic hits you.

[Martin Brown]

Most of the M62 around Leeds on stretches where they have made or are making the hard shoulder into a conditional running lane with overhead gantries denoting which lanes are in use and speed limits. When it is finished at rush hour there will be no hard shoulder and four lanes active with only a few periodic refuges for broken down vehicles.

The entire section is also a heavily instrumented average speed trap at present with gatsos being installed on all the gantries as well. It is still work in progress and far too recent for Google streetview.

The most exciting junctions are small side turnings off fast trunk road dual carriageways where there is no acceleration or deceleration lane or hard shoulder and full of HGVs. They are completely unforgiving.

One of the nastiest that I know of is the turning for Mountgrace Priory off the A19(T) near Northallerton. Highways have refused to upgrade it.

I am fairly sure there is a motorway slip road on one of the M6x motorways near Manchester where the slip ends facing a solid concrete bridge support painted with black and white squares but I forget where.

[Steve Firth]

Lie.

This is my friend Jack Shit. You don't know him.

[mully]

your advice.

Why would you stop? There is a requirement to give way. There is a requirement to match your speed to that of the traffic and then join that traffic. Vehicles already on the motorway are required to leave a suitable gap between themselves and the car in front, so just merge with the traffic adjust your speed and gap as appropriate

[Tim Lamb]

Try it in a 2.4 diesel Hilux towing a couple of tons. I haven't done it lately but joining to go South J10 M1 used to be very testing. Fairly short uphill slip joining a steep uphill stretch of motorway.

I still think using a short run of hard shoulder must be safer than forcing someone to swerve out of lane 1 or brake sharply.

[Nightjar]

...

If that happens, you change to one of the other gaps you have been watching. If you can't manage a simple piece of dynamic adjustment to a situation like that, you shouldn't be driving.

Colin Bignell

[Nightjar]

It is bad observation, as he didn't see the possibility arising.

...

I don't recall ever having an LGV overtaking me in lane 2.

If that highly improbable scenario did arise, then it would come under other emergencies. However, driving along the hard shoulder simply because you cannot deal with merging traffic is not.

Colin Bignell

[Nightjar]

What gives you the right to dictate how a thread develops?

Colin Bignell

[Adrian]

I rather suspect that Dennis has given away quite a bit about his motorway driving in that one "point". I suspect he regards 50mph as dangerously scary, and probably tries to join L1 from the slip at about

30mph.

[Andy Champ]

"The car he had stopped". His prowl car would be _in_ _front_ of the stopped vehicle.

But, hey, we weren't there.

Andy

[polygonum]

Most often, if not always, when I have seen a police car (or agency car or breakdown service) on the hard shoulder it has been behind the car they have stopped. I would have thought it would only be in front if it had been a forcible stop or was preparing to tow off.

[John Williamson]

I see it most weeks, and the police car is almost always behind the vehicle that's been stopped. On occasion, I see one in front and one behind.

[dennis]

That is crush zone number one! You are supposed to be trained to avoid them as much as possible.

Its the reason the AA man will always walk around the front to get to the drivers side. If the vehicle is hit you stand some chance of surviving rather than being crushed between them. AFAIK its also the reason rear door vehicles are not preferred and they like side doors for access even though they cost more.

[Man at B&Q]

Did I say Motorway? You realy are struggling with comprehension.

Other people have given sufficient references.

MBQ

[Man at B&Q]

We're still waiting for you to tell us what *you* would do when you run out of slip road and there is no hard shoulder.

MBQ

[Man at B&Q]

Why would it?

MBQ

[dennis]

Well I could just point out that the M5 j1 and M5 J3 do have a hard shoulder but that's being a bit simplistic.

I have no idea what the M602 is like.

I don't suppose you have stats for the accidents caused when joining at the different types of junction? That would be the obvious difference.

[dennis]

However that extra lane starts after the junction as it does on all the hard shoulder running and therefore the traffic doesn't join a running lane with traffic on it that has driven through the junction on the motorway.

All the traffic on the hard shoulder is required to leave at the junction, then the motorway is only 3 lanes through the junction before becoming 4 lane again afterwards. the people that design the hard shoulder running aren't stupid.