So, you’re on the motorway and you’ve been in it for over 2 hours and moved less than a mile. The traffic is stretching off and you’re reaching the end of your 9 hours of driving with no end in sight.
When you reach your driving limit and need to stop, I take it the hard shoulder is an acceptable place if there is no other? Ok, if you’ve got another hours slot available you could pull over, wait a while for the traffic to clear and then carry on using that second hour’s slot.
If you don’t or the traffic doesn’t seem like it is moving, what is the legality of stopping on the potentially dangerous place of the hard shoulder, even though you are out of hours.
Are there other options that I have not come up with■■?
Carry on until you find somewhere safe to park, whether it takes ten minutes or another 2 hours. You DO NOT stop on the hard shoulder except in an emergency!
When you have found somewhere safe you right on the back of the tacho.
Lee G:
Carry on until you find somewhere safe to park, whether it takes ten minutes or another 2 hours. You DO NOT stop on the hard shoulder except in an emergency!
When you have found somewhere safe you right on the back of the tacho.
Simples
Agreed.
All Vosa officers can reference incidents that have caused traffic jams.
Also of course, if you know about it in advance, use forward planning. Divert or stop before hand.
Saratoga:
So those trucks that were overnighting on the M6 hardshoulder this evening in the tailbacks before the roadworks at 11a were breaking the law?
It seems to be a practice that is on the increase maybe because drivers don’t understand the regs or it suits their purpose to squeeze a break in.
If youre in traffic and its at a standstill there is nothingg stopping you putting the tacho on break, if you get a 45 in all well and good, if you dont you havent lost anything, have you?
The law states that you can drive to a safe place to take rest. The hard shoulder is not deemed as a safe place. Last week, a truck was on the slip road hard shoulder and only because the driver was a rude, obnoxious tt who told me to ''f off, you’re nothing’', I asked for a police unit to ask him to move. He was also rude to the Police officer, so he got a fixed penalty notice for his troubles. If he had spoke to me a bit more politely and said he had five mins left, I would have advised him and walked away. The Police officer told me that she was going to report him to VOSA as well. Parking on the hard shoulder in heavy traffic just blocks emergency access, or recovery vehicles trying to get scene, even people being ill in the tailback requiring medical assistance. It is mainly foreigners, because I suppose, they can get nicked for it abroad even though they went over hours in this country, but its a problem getting worse.
extrucker:
The law states that you can drive to a safe place to take rest. The hard shoulder is not deemed as a safe place. Last week, a truck was on the slip road hard shoulder and only because the driver was a rude, obnoxious tt who told me to ''f off, you’re nothing’', I asked for a police unit to ask him to move. He was also rude to the Police officer, so he got a fixed penalty notice for his troubles. If he had spoke to me a bit more politely and said he had five mins left, I would have advised him and walked away. The Police officer told me that she was going to report him to VOSA as well. Parking on the hard shoulder in heavy traffic just blocks emergency access, or recovery vehicles trying to get scene, even people being ill in the tailback requiring medical assistance. It is mainly foreigners, because I suppose, they can get nicked for it abroad even though they went over hours in this country, but its a problem getting worse.
Most of the foreigners who do it are doing it out of frustration due to the lack of parking areas, In France there will be a rest area on average every 6 miles, in Italy it is a regular occurrence to overnight on the hard shoulder or have a 2 hour “siesta.”
Anyone who finds themselves in this situation can use Article 12 of the regulations
Whell nut, you are spot on. There are too fewer places to take rest breaks in this country and it does not help that lay-bys are closing instead of more being built.
I was stuck on the M40 when half the country flooded a few (many) years ago. It probably took several hours to get from the A34 to the M42 and as all the surrounding areas were flooded there was little point in going off the motorway. The services were all crammed so that was not an option either. The first place I could safely park was at Coleshill (because of load security) and it was something like a 20hr spread which I marked on the back of the tacho and I was told that it was looked at and was classed as exceptional circumstances and OK.
However, what if I had felt too tired to continue creeping forward on the M40 and needed to sleep? I would have had no option but to get a bit of kip on the hard shoulder.