These have been introduced on a stretch of the M56, which I use quite often, and I have to say I find them very useful. I admit I don\'t always leave the correct distance between me and the vehicle infront so I try really hard to keep to the \"2 chevrons apart\".
On the whole most of the traffic around does the same, apart from the odd car/van that nicks your space, but what really facinates me is that as soon as the chevrons have finished everyone goes back to the single mindedness of \"I\'m going to drive right up the rear of the car infront\".
As for what I do? Well it makes me think and if only for a little while I try and keep that safe distance.
GC
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I use the M56 from Runcorn to Chester twice a day, at around 6:30 in the morning, and then again at around 6:00 in the evening.
When you do leave the required two chevron gap - the car in front seems like it's miles away! I get annoyed when someone hops into my space, but then I suppose it's just a case of lifting off the gas until the gap appears again.
You're right though - after they end (incidentally who decided where they would start and end and why?) cars go back to the normal style of driving, although I do try to maintain the distance earlier set.
Harumph.
I
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They've had these on the M1 southbound around ?Northampton? for a good few years now, they tend to get ignored on the whole, but apparently there is an alterior motive for them being there anyway.
My Dad is a civil engineer planning manager who has done a lot of work on the M1, and says one of the key reasons the chevrons are in where they are is that it gives people driving down from say Leeds to London something to look at, at a point in their journey where triedness starts to kick in.
I've done that journey myself and must admit that they tend to wake you up a bit as you actively monitor your own distance from the car in front rather than being on autopilot
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It does give you something to look at but is it not a little dangerous looking at the chevrons rather than the road ahead?
GC
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Er...they are on the road ahead.
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Yes i know, I meant that you are not looking further ahead than 2 chevrons and will be more interested in that, than looking at the traffic and conditions ahead of you.
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The M1 around Northampton was always having losts of minor bumps, far more than it should have based upon traffic flows, it is not a particularly nice open stretch of motorway.
The Chevrons were put in as an experiment and apparently worked, so they are slowly appearing elsewhere in accident blackspots
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I thought they were put there to give idiots who can't count a Janet & John version of: "Only a fool breaks the two second rule." If you keep the correct distance (in good weather etc) from the vehicle in front, by the time you've finished saying this you should be at the spot which the vehicle in front was when you started saying it. Of course, like most novelties peoples' attention span is so short that it only has a temporary effect.
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Re the two second rule, surely the chevrons in lane 3 should be further apart than in lane 1, where the average speed is slower due to lorries?
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hawsey wrote. My Dad is a civil engineer planning manager who has done a lot of work on the M1, and says one of the key reasons the chevrons are in where they are is that it gives people driving down from say Leeds to London something to look at, at a point in their journey where triedness starts to kick in.
Hailing from Leeds, living succesiveley in Harrow, Watford and Northampton and with numerous returns up north under my belt this makes sense. The knowledge that at the end of the chevrons the mile to go for J16 is just round the corner and I will be home in 10 minutes compared with another 70mins in dense traffic to J5/6 is an enormous relief.
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I also find the chevrons useful. In France the the white line on the inside lane is broken rather than the continuous line we have and the safe distance is to be two of the white line sections away from the car in front - and signs on the motorway remind you of this. Doesn't take much imagination to suggest that if all lane markings were done similarly we would have continuous "gap markers" on all our motorways. Or would that mean that we just took them for granted and ignored them?
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