limeyphil:
Otis.
what’s with the emphasis on slowing down? if someone slows down they are not going with the flow of the traffic. this causes accidents. you only have to look at the carnage rubberneckers cause.
Phil, I think it’s to do with less turbulence at 40 rather than 56.
ok. but look at it like this. you are travelling at 56mph, you see a hato vehicle on the hard shoulder, so you indicate to pull into the second lane. whilst pulling across you are slowing to 40. an 80mph BMW hits the arse end, or tries to take evasive action, he crosses onto the hard shoulder and kills the womble.
limeyphil:
Otis.
what’s with the emphasis on slowing down? if someone slows down they are not going with the flow of the traffic. this causes accidents. you only have to look at the carnage rubberneckers cause.
Phil, I think it’s to do with less turbulence at 40 rather than 56.
ok. but look at it like this. you are travelling at 56mph, you see a hato vehicle on the hard shoulder, so you indicate to pull into the second lane. whilst pulling across you are slowing to 40. an 80mph BMW hits the arse end, or tries to take evasive action, he crosses onto the hard shoulder and kills the womble.
Like others I doubt this would be enforceable but I’ve signed the e-petition anyway.
Sorry if I’ve missed something but I don’t see that anyone is asking people to slow down to 40 mph whilst moving into lane 2
When there are people working on the hard shoulder moving over to lane 2 and if necessary slowing down to let other drivers do the same should be normal practice for anyone who claims to be or aspires to be a good driver.
It’s not always possible to move over and in those circumstances asking people to slow down seems to be perfectly acceptable to me, it’s not just lorries that hit vehicles or people on the hard shoulder but light vans and cars also do it, a car driving within a couple of feet at 70+ mph or a lorry doing 56 mph passing within a couple of feet whilst you’re working on the hard shoulder must be enough to make you wonder if you’ll be going home at the end of the shift.
If I was to make any criticism of this campaign it would have to be that the website doesn’t really go into any sort of detail of what the campaign organisers are asking for, I’m sorry to say that it appears to me that there hasn’t been enough thought or preparation gone into it.
To me it seems that the slogan should be “Move over or slow down” or something similar, but that’s just my personal opinion.
Having said that the emergency services, Highways Agency and recovery / breakdown people who find themselves working at the scene of motorway incidents of any description do a worthwhile and dangerous job and in my opinion deserve drivers full support.
I always move over where its safe to do so, though how many times have you had a dosy car driver sat next to you who sees your indicators but doesnt move then when you brake they do the exact same thing?
“Current statistics indicate that …. more than 1,500 people are killed or injured each year on the hard shoulder.”
Source: Green Flag Motoring Assistance
I’ll sign it on the condition that the recovery lads turn the flashy lights off once they are going unless they are actually slow or wide. Its really distracting and makes it difficult to see ahead at night.
Can anyone remember the tellyvision campaings that used to be on, how to use a roundabout etc? I really think these should be brought back as so many people don,t know how to use the lanes on a roundabout, this is one of the topics that could be covered for all to use and be aware of.
I have a few friends who work for the RAC and only a few years ago one of my friends was killed on the heard shoulder leaving a wife and two little kiddies,
the reason? A foreign artic driver over tired and over his hours.
I try to move over when possible but when a numpty MLM is blocking me in what am I supposed to do, push them out the way? The best I can do in those circumstances is try and get over as far as I can in lane 1.
If this is to work then all drivers need to be educated, not just HGVs
mr lordi:
As standard this is what i do when i can and safe to do so, i have to say when completing this manouvre i do look in my mirrors and are dissapointed not to see the hgv behind me not do the same.
This ^^^^^
Always try and move over but not just for emergency vehicles but for anything that is sitting on hard shoulder. I seem to work on the principle that people are stupid and as I cant see where they are I’d much rather not run them over.
I also remember the one for box junctions and the one for parking (reginald molehusband) and there are a lot of drivers out there who could benefit from them today, might save a few lives too.
richvanho:
I also remember the one for box junctions and the one for parking (reginald molehusband) and there are a lot of drivers out there who could benefit from them today, might save a few lives too.
