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Hard Shoulders of the British Isles

hash tag said:
It turns out that smart motorways are not such as bad an idea that I thought
www.autoexpress.co.uk

Smart motorway ban: campaigners want hard shoulders reinstated | Auto Express

As government axes plans for new smart motorways, it’s urged to go further and scrap existing all-lane running schemes
www.autoexpress.co.uk www.autoexpress.co.uk
Click to expand...
I have read similar. It runs against my expectations, but if the findings go against the hypothesis, the hypothesis falls.

I’d like to see these articles subjected to scrutiny, though. Are they as robust as they claim?
 
That article is total crap. Smart motorways are only safer on average because they're subject to more congestion on average and thus lower speeds on average. If they compared like for like I'm sure the absence of a hard shoulder would make a significant difference to the rate of non-fault fatalities.
 
It reads a bit like it has been generated by an AI.

It also claims that changing the speed limit to 5mph would cause 'total gridlock'. I don't see why. Seems like a good idea to me.
 
farmerbarleymow said:
Jesus danny la rouge, this is about the dullest thread imaginable.
Click to expand...
I'd better make it more interesting then (praps). Back in 1986 I was working in Bristol during the week while living in Oxford. I was due to get married on a Saturday, but got really bad food poisoning on the preceding Wednesday. I was both vomiting and getting bouts of diarrhoea and was too unwell to drive. A mate came from Oxford to drive me back on the Friday evening. On the way back we had to stop on the hard shoulder twice for me to have a crap. Nowhere to hide, in full view of car headlights. Never had to do anything like that before or since. All I can say is thank God for hard shoulders!
 
M-way hard shoulders are no inviting places due to the risks of being in one, and usually not legal to stop unless in a breakdown or emergency. I've never had cause to stop on one, so it would feel wrong to do just to go for a slash or stretch your legs.

Dual carriageway laybys on the other hand, I am very fond of, and use all the time. The feeling of being well on your way to your holiday destination. Trying to find a gap in the bushes so you can take a piss without passing drivers seeing you. The family stopped there because their youngest is feeling car sick. The truckers having a nap. The unlicensed strawberry sellers. Laybys are a quintessential part of British life :)




roadside-cafe-on-a59-in-north-yorkshire-AP02H7.jpg
 
T & P said:
M-way hard shoulders are no inviting places due to the risks of being in one, and usually not legal to stop unless in a breakdown or emergency. I've never had cause to stop on one, so it would feel wrong to do just to go for a slash or stretch your legs.

Dual carriageway laybys on the other hand, I am very fond of, and use all the time. The feeling of being well on your way to your holiday destination. Trying to find a gap in the bushes so you can take a piss without passing drivers seeing you. The family stopped there because their youngest is feeling car sick. The truckers having a nap. The unlicensed strawberry sellers. Laybys are a quintessential part of British life :)




roadside-cafe-on-a59-in-north-yorkshire-AP02H7.jpg
Click to expand...
I like a layby :)
 
Kevbad the Bad said:
I'd better make it more interesting then (praps). Back in 1986 I was working in Bristol during the week while living in Oxford. I was due to get married on a Saturday, but got really bad food poisoning on the preceding Wednesday. I was both vomiting and getting bouts of diarrhoea and was too unwell to drive. A mate came from Oxford to drive me back on the Friday evening. On the way back we had to stop on the hard shoulder twice for me to have a crap. Nowhere to hide, in full view of car headlights. Never had to do anything like that before or since. All I can say is thank God for hard shoulders!
Click to expand...
Did you get married?
 
Just recently, I have had the non-pleasure of a couple of thousand miles of motorway driving.
My conclusions ...
a) motorway services are the biggest rip-off ever, especially fuel prices, at least the covid-19 rules meant we were spared the coffee.
b) some right idiots driving about the UK [middle lane owners club / "sunday drivers"]
c) motorway roadworks. I don't mind the barrier renewal process, and "average speed checks" but I do object to the chaos caused by converting into "smart" versions.
d) "smart" motorways, I have no objection to congestion control by variable speed limits (not that it works particularly well) but I consider taking away the hard shoulder to be highly dangerous - especially on elevated sections.


As for breakdowns ...
Driving an AJS 650twin down the Lune Gorge (Northbound M6) I was overtaking a lorry when she backfired once and then the engine seized. I snatched the clutch in and free-wheeled across to and along the hard shoulder to stop by a phone.
Police dropped by to check on my welfare (and brought me a butty and a coffee) whilst I waited for the AA to arrange a bike trailer / relay waggon. This took from early afternoon to about nine pm, for a journey that would normally take less than two hours.

Poor bike was seized solid, as the right-hand big-end had snapped and bust a small hole out of the crankcase. [due to a previous owner using an unsuitable sealant, which had broken up and gone into the oilways. That took some cleaning out and a re-bore to fix !]
 
hash tag said:
It turns out that smart motorways are not such as bad an idea that I thought
www.autoexpress.co.uk

Smart motorway ban: campaigners want hard shoulders reinstated | Auto Express

As government axes plans for new smart motorways, it’s urged to go further and scrap existing all-lane running schemes
www.autoexpress.co.uk www.autoexpress.co.uk
Click to expand...

No new ones as of 6 days ago though.

www.bbc.co.uk

No new smart motorways without additional safety measures

Any motorway without a hard shoulder will need to have radar technology to detect stopped vehicles.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Kevbad the Bad said:
Yes we did, but I had to warn the registrar that I might need to rush out halfway through the ceremony. I then spent the next week off sick. Everyone at work assumed we'd been on honeymoon. In fact I'd spent much of the week on the khazi.
Click to expand...
#badtimes
 
I'm fed up my money being spent on the current crop of " go left" adverts.... Anyone know how much the highways agency has spent on the campaign and why it was thought necessary?
 
ChrisD said:
I'm fed up my money being spent on the current crop of " go left" adverts.... Anyone know how much the highways agency has spent on the campaign and why it was thought necessary?
Click to expand...
Meant to add this...https://youtu.be/w6OPQ5O0I1g
 
ChrisD said:
I'm fed up my money being spent on the current crop of " go left" adverts.... Anyone know how much the highways agency has spent on the campaign and why it was thought necessary?
Click to expand...
I do not think that road safety adverts are the worst way this government wastes money. If you don't think they're effective, fine, sometimes ad people get it wrong, but people do need to be taught about the roads changing from when they took driving lessons (look how awfully people drive in shared use areas) and in government budget terms it's just not important.
 
farmerbarleymow said:
Probably best avoid any that Kevbad the Bad has stopped in, just in case.

Great story though - that sort of thing must happen a fair bit on motorways and other long journeys in general - when you've got to go you don't have much choice. :)
Click to expand...
It seems that there are all sorts of funny things happening roadside on long journeys... :eek:

www.somersetlive.co.uk

Laybys near A30 being used by lorry drivers to 'entertain women'

They are also being used for other unsavoury matters
www.somersetlive.co.uk www.somersetlive.co.uk
 
dessiato said:
Why not entertain ladies? What's wrong with a bit of a dance and a drink? Some jokes... a little music... like a cabaret show. I'm sure everyone enjoys it.
Click to expand...
That whole article feels like it was written by Tobyjub... :D

"The laybys have also apparently been used as a public toilet and for boy racers to congregate and play loud music and swear."
 
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