Roads in the news

mittfh · Post by **mittfh** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 07:36

1) More fun on the M6 - there's likely to be 5 months of roadworks between 6 and 8 (A38(M) - M5) over the summer whilst they resurface it - to reduce the chances of more potholes appearing.
Reminds me of that "Grumpy Old Men" trailer - "Cones Hotline? I've spotted about 4? thousand of them on the M6!"
2) Another dodgy pensioner tale - one was recently fined and awarded 4 penalty points for driving at 20mph on a D/C section of the A9and (surprisingly enough) causing long tailbacks in doing so.
3) BBC Breakfast today, whilst covering the first anniversary of London's Congestion Charge (with obligatory trader moaning "It's a disaster!"), briefly mentioned other cities thinking of introducing a congestion charge - through a backdrop of driving onto the M1 at Staples Corner. That footage showed a lane drop (+ plenty of accompanying cones) on the main sliproad from the roundabout - library footage or current roadworks?

PeterA5145 · Post by **PeterA5145** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 07:44

<<1) More fun on the M6 - there's likely to be 5 months of roadworks between 6 and 8 (A38(M) - M5) over the summer whilst they resurface it - to reduce the chances of more potholes appearing.>>

Sounds like a good way of drumming up business for the M6Toll.

<<2) Another dodgy pensioner tale - one was recently fined and awarded 4 penalty points for driving at 20mph on a D/C section of the A9and (surprisingly enough) causing long tailbacks in doing so.>>

Report can be found at:

http://tinyurl.com/2nqaf
She said last night: 'I'm a safe and considerate driver." Not if you behave like that you're not, hen...

Regards,

Peter

Chris5156 · Post by **Chris5156** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 10:48

<<1) More fun on the M6 - there's likely to be 5 months of roadworks between 6 and 8 (A38(M) - M5) over the summer whilst they resurface it - to reduce the chances of more potholes appearing.>>

I was on a train back from London Euston to Warrington, which took a slightly unusual route via Birmingham International, so I got a ground-level view of the M6 and M5 interchange for a few minutes. It was quite dark so I couldn't see much, but what struck me was what a terrible state the elevated sections seemed to be in - underneath, 50% of the room seemed to be taken up by scaffolding.

<<2) Another dodgy pensioner tale - one was recently fined and awarded 4 penalty points for driving at 20mph on a D/C section of the A9 and (surprisingly enough) causing long tailbacks in doing so.>>

Today's Metro claims she missed the correct exit from the roundabout and joined the wrong *carriageway*, thus doing 20mph in the wrong direction in the fast lane of the A9.

Her status as a safe and considerate driver must lapse when she starts the engine up.

Chris

Chris5156 · Post by **Chris5156** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 10:49

<<1) More fun on the M6 - there's likely to be 5 months of roadworks between 6 and 8 (A38(M) - M5) over the summer whilst they resurface it - to reduce the chances of more potholes appearing.>>

I was on a train back from London Euston to Warrington, which took a slightly unusual route via Birmingham International, so I got a ground-level view of the M6 and M5 interchange for a few minutes. It was quite dark so I couldn't see much, but what struck me was what a terrible state the elevated sections seemed to be in - underneath, 50% of the room seemed to be taken up by scaffolding.

<<2) Another dodgy pensioner tale - one was recently fined and awarded 4 penalty points for driving at 20mph on a D/C section of the A9 and (surprisingly enough) causing long tailbacks in doing so.>>

Today's Metro claims she missed the correct exit from the roundabout and joined the wrong *carriageway*, thus doing 20mph in the wrong direction in the fast lane of the A9.

Her status as a safe and considerate driver must lapse when she starts the engine up.

Chris

gazza72 · Post by **gazza72** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 11:06

Repairs start on 77 bridges on the M1. Off peak lanes may be reduced to 1.Work to continue until September
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nort ... 494255.stm

gazzaman28 · Post by **gazzaman28** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 16:49

But her two-year-old Ford Focus was forced on to the wrong stretch of road by a boy-racer.
She said: 'I was trying to get off the Inveralmond Roundabout, near Perth, when a young lad cut me upvery badly.
'He forced me on to a really busy stretch of road I didn't want to be on.
'I was stuck in the outside lane at rush-hour and there were cars all around me.
'I did my best to pull over but everyone was overtaking me on the inside and I just couldn't get in.
'It was really horrible because as I got more frantic I got slower and slower, although I didn't think I was going as slow as 20 miles per hour.'
I'm so glad the police prosecuted, it happens all too often. If a driver gets into such a state of panic due to being cut up (happens to us all and we deal with it ok) that they fall to pieces and can't drive safely then they should be banned for being unfit to drive on our roads.
There are far too many old people on our roads who don't know how to drive in busy traffic and on multi-lane highways, they are a danger to themselves and others.

M60-Tony · Post by **M60-Tony** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 17:05

<There are far too many old people on our roads who don't know how to drive in busy traffic and on multi-lane highways, they are a danger to themselves and others.>

Remove the word old please.

Then I'll agree with you.

Tony

PeterA5145 · Post by **PeterA5145** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 17:12

<<There are far too many old people on our roads who don't know how to drive in busy traffic and on multi-lane highways, they are a danger to themselves and others.>>
I think we need to be very careful about this. We will all be old eventually, and I suspect we will all be keen to preserve the freedom and flexiblity that come from driving as long as reasonably possible.
Although there are a few high-profile cases, in general young drivers cause far more accidents on the roads than older ones.
And many older drivers recognise their declining powers and voluntarily restrict themselves to less risky situations, for example avoiding rush hours and night driving, and only doing local journeys on familar roads.
Regards,
Peter

J--M--B · Post by **J--M--B** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 17:24

She seems to have got off lightly. What would have happened to a younger driver who perhaps drove at 71 mph completely ignoring the police car on blues behind?
MB

J--M--B · Post by **J--M--B** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 17:32

She said: 'I was trying to get off the Inveralmond Roundabout, near Perth, when a young lad cut me upvery badly.
At least there are some sensible traffic police around there. I was stopped by one right in the middle of that roundabout when he saw me overtake a car on the inside with my headlightslit and horn sounding on the A9 approaching the roundabout. He warned me about "being patient". I explained that the car had been stopped asking directions (or having a chat?) of a worker in the central reservation.He then pulled back into lane 2 right in front of me without signalling or checking traffic. The PC immediately apologised, waved me on and went off for a word with the other driver. Good to see a traffic policeman actually doing his job rather than just sitting with a speed camera.

MB

M60-Tony · Post by **M60-Tony** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 17:39

<She seems to have got off lightly.What would have happened to a younger driver who perhaps drove at 71 mph completely ignoring the police car on blues behind?>

All other things being equal, and I mean all, why should it be different?

If your "younger driver" reacted to being stopped as she did andbehaved as she did to the officer... (I don't know how she behaved though the article suggests contriteness)

In nearly 16 years of being an Observer for the IAM (akacoach or trainer or instructor) the most dangerous person I've ever taken out on the roads was a 23 year old guy. Why was he dangerous? He went too slow. He didn't see any other road vehicles. He couldn't cope with ANY traffic around him. After 30 minutes I aborted the drive for my own safety. 2 other Observers took him out and both agreed with me. He was recommended to sign up for a basic driving course with a good ADI. None of us were prepared to voluntaryly put ourselves at risk. This person gave us a lot of heartache as to what to do with him.

Tony

mnb20 · Post by **mnb20** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 17:43

<<Although there are a few high-profile cases, in general young drivers cause far more accidents on the roads than older ones.>>

I thought older drivers typically caused more accidents per mile, but since as you say many of them drive as little as possible, the total number of accidents they cause is low - also I imagine that the low speeds mean that most of their accidents are less serious.

M19 · Post by **M19** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 22:30

I suppose this is an extreme example of someone using a road while oblivious to other traffic using the roads.
I see this all too often on most dual carriageways and motorways, mainly people hogging the middle or outside lane oblivious to the line of traffic behind and a clear inside lane. I gather that they are either too lazy to pull into the inside, or have fear of being boxed inbehind a heavy goods vehicle, or have that selfish "I'm doing 70 miles per hour so everyone should do the same!" attitude.
I'm afraid I often fall victim to the devil of frustration. If waiting behind that vehicle (at a safe distance I may add) with my indicator on to emphasise mywish to passfails to catch their attention, I resort to passing on the inside lane. I know this is illegal, and two wrongs don't make a right, but what else am I supposed to do?
Variable message boards are readily sprouting on the verges of our motorways. When they are not in use to warn you of a traffic jam that you are already caught up in, why don't they tell people to keep left unless overtaking or somply say "Dont hog the middle/outside lane?"
Another solution would be just to permit undertaking. Perhaps this would encourage would be hoggers to protect their "bubble" by keeping left and thus preventing undertaking - often a sympton rather than a cause of other peoples bad driving? This would also help smooth out traffic flow.
Regards
A19

gazzaman28 · Post by **gazzaman28** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 22:41

I think we need to be very careful about this. We will all be old eventually, and I suspect we will all be keen to preserve the freedom and flexiblity that come from driving as long as reasonably possible.
Although there are a few high-profile cases, in general young drivers cause far more accidents on the roads than older ones.
And many older drivers recognise their declining powers and voluntarily restrict themselves to less risky situations, for example avoiding rush hours and night driving, and only doing local journeys on familar roads.
I'm glad I provoked some responses anyway

I agree that young drivers cause far more accidents, but you must agree that there are a lot of very bad old drivers on our roads as well.
Of course we all want to drive for as long as possible, but we either have to accept that at some stage we are no longer capable of driving safely, or otherwise some sort of compulsory test should be brought it - if nothing else you should have to have an eye test and maybe a reactions test (like the new driving test apparently has) every couple of years after you get to 65.
As for younger drivers, I'm all for limiting engine size to 1.1 or 1.2 maximum until the age of 21 or 3 years after passing.

A404M · Post by **A404M** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 23:25

Re dodgy pensioner tale.
This reminded me of a tale I heard sometime back
A woman was driving very slowly alomg the Ware bypass and was stopped by the police. The officer asked the woman why she was driving so slowly and she said 'Well I saw a sign back there which said A10'. The officer points out that this is the road number and not a speed limit sign. He then looks into the back of the car and sees a much older woman, who looks ashen and is visibly shaking. The officer asks the driver who the woman is and what is wrong with her. ' She's my mother' came the reply 'and a few miles back we turned off the A120'!

c2R · Post by **c2R** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 07:35

<<A woman was driving very slowly alomg the Ware bypass and was stopped by the police. The officer asked the woman why she was driving so slowly and she said 'Well I saw a sign back there which said A10'. >>
I think that's more of an urban legend. The true story is the one where the old woman from Hertford Heath accidently turned onto the wrong carriageway of the A10 at Cheshunt, and proceeded to drive northbound all the way to the single carriageway section of the A10 at Thunderidge in the fast lane of the southbound carriageway without noticing. She was reported to the police, who waived prosecution as she voluntarily surrendered her license.
<<As for younger drivers, I'm all for limiting engine size to 1.1 or 1.2 maximum until the age of 21 or 3 years after passing.>> I don't really see the point - 2 litres, perhaps, to stop them buying high powered sports cars - but I've got a 1.1 litre car, which is capable of travelling at well over 100mph, and accelerates almost as fast as my 2 litre plus Peugeot 807...
Chris

RickyB_uk · Post by **RickyB_uk** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 08:36

c2R:<<but I've got a 1.1 litre car, which is capable of travelling at well over 100mph, and accelerates almost as fast as my 2 litre plus Peugeot 807...>>

And I have a 2 litre car which is sluggish (quite a heavy car) and I'm not convinced that it could ever get to 100mph - it would certainly be close to the redline in top gear.

Guy-Barry · Post by **Guy-Barry** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 10:31

A404(M): << A woman was driving very slowly alomg the Ware bypass and was stopped by the police. The officer asked the woman why she was driving so slowly and she said 'Well I saw a sign back there which said A10'. The officer points out that this is the road number and not a speed limit sign. He then looks into the back of the car and sees a much older woman, who looks ashen and is visibly shaking. The officer asks the driver who the woman is and what is wrong with her. ' She's my mother' came the reply 'and a few miles back we turned off the A120'! >>
We had an entire thread devoted toversions of this joke not too long ago!

http://www.ukroads.plus.com/archive/Joke.html

Guy

Tastyfish · Post by **Tastyfish** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 12:20

A19 <Another solution would be just to permit undertaking.>
I think this would be far too dangerous. Drivers would have to keep an eye on who was coming over their left shoulder as well as their right and there's enough things to worry about on motorways. At the moment, 99% of drivers pass on the right and this works fairly well most of the time. On the odd occasion it is frustrating, and even I admit to undertaking, but only when the person in the middle has shown strong intentions of staying in the middle forcing two lanes of traffic into one to get past them (and they're usually wearing a hat and jacket). Or in very slow-moving traffic.
If we let everyone undertake driving would be a nightmare because after finishing your overtaking manouevre you'd have to double-check someone hadn't performed an undertake and was then intending to go into the same lane as you. It probably works in the States because the limits are lower and everyone seems to drive at the same speed.

M60-Tony · Post by **M60-Tony** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 19:52

It always amuses me how we categorise people by their age, clothing, type of car, colour of car, sex, etc.

Given that for most of these you have to be fairly close to assess the category surely it would be better from far off to treat ALL other drivers as potential idiots and plan accordingly.

Of course, that means other drivers treat me and you as potential idiots. Fine, I can live with that.

I can only control the space around my car. And that's what much of my time when driving I'm doing. And if my journey takes me 1% longer - so what? I arrive unstressed and relaxed.

Tony