I take two things from this, one, we need to start teaching drivers how to use motorways and two as part of that training how bloody dangerous the hard shoulder is. I see so many stopped just to go to toilet and stuff (how often do you see them with a small child?!?!) and even more get out the car and stroll around like they are in Tesco’s car park. Its also about time we followed France and made every car carry hi viz vests for it passengers. People just don’t realise how dangerous the hard shoulder is.
Maybe this bloke actually broke down but from the sounds of it, the truck driver hasn’t been arrested, the man killed may have put himself in the line of danger.
I’m sick of seeing cars on the hard shoulder at night without hazards on too. I always put mine on and give a quick squirt of the horn as I go past but I imagine it falls on deaf ears.
One of our mechanics did a trip in the van a few months back, I couldn’t believe it when he said he changed the rear offside wheel on the hard shoulder of the M25, he couldn’t see that he’d done anything wrong.
Yes so education might be the answer to a few of these incidents, especially with the holiday season coming up and more people who rarely travel long distance on the motorways using them.
But of course like our mechanic, some people are just to stupid to realise when they’re putting themselves in a high risk situation, he’ll think nothing of changing a wheel with his back to 44 tonnes trucks passing within feet of him at 56mph, but he won’t fly in our company aircraft preferring Ryan Air as their aircraft are bigger.
Shame we don’t get those public information films anymore.
I nearly killed a guy on the 25 round by clacket lane in the road works, saw the van in the coned area, did have his hazards on just thought it was one of the roadwork guys checking the cones, what I didn’t see as it was dark the guy was knelt down in the live lane changing his o/s rear wheel, nearly ■■■■ myself when he appeared out of the dark 20’ in front of me, and the guy in the car next to me as well had a heart attack when I had to swerve to avoid the complete idiot changing his wheel, thankfully he was able to get into lane 3 and we didn’t make contact, I phoned police straight away before this guy got himself killed
People need to be trained in what to do when on the hard shoulder. For normal breakdowns you should get straight out of the car and up the embankment or at least as far from the road as you can.
However, having worked as a breakdown fitter and also as a recovery driver, there are thing you can do to minimise the risk to your safety. There’s a post above that says a fitter changed a wheel on a truck while needing to work in the inside lane.
What I used to do in that situation is pull up 20ft behind the breakdown, beacons, hazards, everything on. Start putting out cones, 3 or 4 feet into the slow lane and working back toward the hard shoulder. Then pull the van up to about 10 feet of the breakdown, half in, half out of the slow lane, effectively blocking that lane and lock the steering in toward the barrier.
At least then the cones and van afford you some protection while you work. If the van was to get a smack, it goes toward the bank and doesn’t hit you.
It’s never going to be safe so all you can do is try to make it safer.
The amount of people (usually women) I see sat in their cars oblivious to the danger that they are in.
The life expectancy of someone sat in their car on the hard shoulder is between 8-26 minutes depending on what figures you look at.
kitbuilder123: People need to be trained in what to do when on the hard shoulder.
What I used to do in that situation is pull up 20ft behind the breakdown, beacons, hazards, everything on. Start putting out cones, 3 or 4 feet into the slow lane and working back toward the hard shoulder. Then pull the van up to about 10 feet of the breakdown, half in, half out of the slow lane, effectively blocking that lane and lock the steering in toward the barrier.
Patently wrong in fact I’m pretty sure unlawful.
If it went t:ts up I really wouldn’t want to be in your shoes in the witness box
green456:
The railways are better fenced now than what they used to be.
Just saying.
I believe the railways are actually obliged to keep ‘their’ land secure from whatever surrounds it. That and they have been sued times by the families of people who have walked onto the track and ended up spread across the next train along.
There was one in Crawley the other day where apparently a big chunk of the body came through the windscreen and ended up splattered on the back of the cab…
kitbuilder123: People need to be trained in what to do when on the hard shoulder.
What I used to do in that situation is pull up 20ft behind the breakdown, beacons, hazards, everything on. Start putting out cones, 3 or 4 feet into the slow lane and working back toward the hard shoulder. Then pull the van up to about 10 feet of the breakdown, half in, half out of the slow lane, effectively blocking that lane and lock the steering in toward the barrier.
Patently wrong in fact I’m pretty sure unlawful.
If it went t:ts up I really wouldn’t want to be in your shoes in the witness box
How can people go from learning to drive, where the biggest road you have been on is possibly the A38 or some road similar, to having to deal with and be comfortable on roads like the M1, M25, M4, M5, M6, M62 etc, etc. When I think back to when I passed my car test, I wasn’t too fazed by driving on the motorways. I’d had quite a bit of experience on the roads from riding motorbikes (125’s) and If I had of broken down, I’d have been up the bank over the armco.
It’s madness to think you can pass your test in Boston, Lincolnshire, where the only A road you’ll use is the A15, A16 and A17 to going driving down the M11 to the M25 the day you pass.
kitbuilder123: People need to be trained in what to do when on the hard shoulder.
What I used to do in that situation is pull up 20ft behind the breakdown, beacons, hazards, everything on. Start putting out cones, 3 or 4 feet into the slow lane and working back toward the hard shoulder. Then pull the van up to about 10 feet of the breakdown, half in, half out of the slow lane, effectively blocking that lane and lock the steering in toward the barrier.
Patently wrong in fact I’m pretty sure unlawful.
If it went t:ts up I really wouldn’t want to be in your shoes in the witness box
Why so?
because members of the public are not allowed to obstruct and shut a motorway
NewLad:
How can people go from learning to drive, where the biggest road you have been on is possibly the A38 or some road similar, to having to deal with and be comfortable on roads like the M1, M25, M4, M5, M6, M62 etc, etc. When I think back to when I passed my car test, I wasn’t too fazed by driving on the motorways. I’d had quite a bit of experience on the roads from riding motorbikes (125’s) and If I had of broken down, I’d have been up the bank over the armco.
It’s madness to think you can pass your test in Boston, Lincolnshire, where the only A road you’ll use is the A15, A16 and A17 to going driving down the M11 to the M25 the day you pass.
I think it’s stupid learners aren’t allowed on motorways (good in other ways) but once you have passed you can go where ever you want , maybe they should have motorway bits in the hazard perception and possibly set up some kind of mock motorway driving somewhere I know it’s easier said than done …
jobseeker:
The life expectancy of someone sat in their car on the hard shoulder is between 8-26 minutes depending on what figures you look at.
And 90% of statistics are made up. In 40 years of driving up and down the motorways I have seen hundreds of people (including myself) on the hard shoulder, not counting the emergency services. Only rarely have I seen where a car has been hit, and I am sure that they were not all fatalities.
I have seen the complaint about the managed motorways before. I drove up and down the M42 daily before and after the HS was converted and laybys added. I think that, with all the monitoring cameras, it was probably safer after than it was before.
I am not so sure that the A38 or the A17 aren’t more dangerous than the M1 either.
jobseeker:
The life expectancy of someone sat in their car on the hard shoulder is between 8-26 minutes depending on what figures you look at.
And 90% of statistics are made up. In 40 years of driving up and down the motorways I have seen hundreds of people (including myself) on the hard shoulder, not counting the emergency services. Only rarely have I seen where a car has been hit, and I am sure that they were not all fatalities.
I have seen the complaint about the managed motorways before. I drove up and down the M42 daily before and after the HS was converted and laybys added. I think that, with all the monitoring cameras, it was probably safer after than it was before.
I am not so sure that the A38 or the A17 aren’t more dangerous than the M1 either.
Granted they are dangerous A roads but as far as the A17 is concerned the vast majority of it is single carriageway was my point, some parts of motorways have 5 lanes.
