There was much publicity a couple of weeks ago about the decision to use the motorway gantry displays to remind people about keeping left ( I wonder , why not use them also re using proper lights in fog and spray , and about tailgating ?)
Anyway - northbound on M40 on Sunday , around Warwick - two cameos.
1. Older guy with woman in red Rover , in lane 2, no traffic at all in lane 1, gantry sings saying to get over . I had to signal , overtake in 3 and come back across .. and I kept a view in my rear view mirror to see many more people having to do the same .Every motorway maneouvre has a risk , and these people are inflicting unncessary extra risk on others .The display was a complete waste of time.
2. A few miles further on ; car in lane 1 and one in lane 2 , virtally abreast , approaching exit which has, like all others been signed a mile before .At the exit the lane 2 guy decides to leave , and without signal simply crosses yards in front of lane 1 car to do so .It was sheer luck there wasn't a high-speed collision .
What is it going to take ?
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What is it going to take ?
More cameras? Oh, no, that won't work in this case.
Some police officers? No, we don't need them now that we have cameras.
Best just price all cars off the road. Everyone will be happy that way.
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How about having messages on ALL the signs and not just on one? I went from Leeds to Sheffield and back on Sunday 80 miles of motorway in total, plenty of signs and just one message on one sign - 'keep left unless overtaking'!
When they were being fitted the signs all said 'Sign not in Use' - but they were! If they hadn't have been in use they would have been blank!!
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#Warning Warning Pet Hate rant mode on#
Traffic information signs.
They are there to give me information. Information I need to know. Like major hold ups, roads closed, diversions, accidents, or "slow down now before you hit this major obstacle in front of you homicidal maniac" etc etc.
They are not there to give me useless information I dont need like "have a nice day" or "think" or "dont drive tired" or "dont forget to feed the dog" etc etc.
The more these things get cluttered up with crap like this the less value they become. If they are on all the time displaying useless information they more they blend into the background and fail to register something important. It ends up as just more road furniture of the DFS variety.
There
#Rant mode off#
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RF:
I'm going to disagree with you rather strongly.
On my lenghty M1 journeys the past 2 weekends, the inside lane has been noticably busier. I believe this to be caused by the new signs, so good thing I say.
I agree with you insomuch as the signs have the potential to be useful in informing road users of, for example, major road incidents but 99% (I believe this to be no exaggeration) are WRONG. They warn of holdups that don't exist, or or accidents long since cleared, of accidents coming up that you've already passed, lane closures that aren't etc, etc. The police are absolutely completely and utterly useless at maintaining the information on these signs and they might as well be used for prompts such as "keep left" because they currently have no other purpose.
My rant over,
Andy
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Well, since we're on the subject anyway... :-)
I agree, Andy. The information on these signs is worse than useless because it is wrong more often than it is right - it is misinformation. The same goes for most radio travel reports in my experience - I have turned off the Traffic Announcements on my radio and just take my chances now.
The same goes for temporary speed limits. They're there for a very good reason - to moderate the speed of traffic approaching congestion so that the congestion can evaporate and everyone can keep flowing at (say) 50, rather than stop-start. However they are wrong SO often (almost always - I've seen signs left on for literally days!) that almost everyone ignores them and continues to do 70+. This presents an interesting problem: I usually like to stick within the speed limit (not preaching, not wanting to get onto the topic of speeding here) but if everyone around me is doing 70+, sticking to the temporary 50 limit is very dangerous - I am basically asking to be rear-ended, or at best have people braking very hard behind me, as I'm going slower even than the slowest lorries. So as a result of their inaccuracy, I am basically forced to more-or-less ignore most of these temporary limits and consequently they have no effect whatsoever.
-Mark
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"Every motorway manoeuvre has a risk"
I guess that is the 'justification? for the middle lane hoggers. They are in a comfort zone where they do not need to change lanes!
Totally agree about the out of date warnings of traffic hazards on the motorway signs; they have become discredited and are thus ignored.
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Well, they must have changed lanes once to get into the middle lane in the first place ( and then again to come off the motorway).
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Well, they must have changed lanes once to get into the middle lane in the first place ( and then again to come off the motorway).
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Have you not seen the helicopters above the M25?
I'm convinced they must be there because I'm sure people are airlifted on to the M25 in the middle lane and then airlifted off again.
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Have you not seen the helicopters above the M25? I'm convinced they must be there because I'm sure people are airlifted on to the M25 in the middle lane and then airlifted off again.
These always used to be used for police cars. Dad was in his 3 litre Capri (1987, and 11 year old me in passenger seat) and we'd been following something for a while. A bit of open road, so a bit of right foot work, and suddenly FLASH - an enormous police Range Rover in the rear screen. Came from nowhere. How we laughed about it as Dad got his talking to...
O
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"Every motorway manoeuvre has a risk" I guess that is the 'justification? for the middle lane hoggers. They are in a comfort zone where they do not need to change lanes!
Certainly is, I read in a paper the other day a self-righteous letter from a middle-lane hogger making exactly that point.
He would remain in the middle-lane, thank-you very much, so as to avoid having to make all those unnecessary manoevres. Totally blind to all the manouvres he's forcing other people to make.
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I really can't see these peoples logic - fair enough yes they don't have to worry about manouevers (sorry spelling bad!) but I prefer to keep changing lanes when I come across a slower moving car. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it also means I am fully aware of what is going on around me - not just in the 200m or so infront of me.
I bet these midlane hoggers couldn't tell you anything that is behind them in any lane. At least by changing lanes you must be aware of what is going on.
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I must admit to sometimes being a MLH.
My rationale on such occasions is usually either - that lorry a quarter of a mile ahead is going much slower - or, there's an on slip coming up shortly so may as well stay here until I'm past it.
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Who am I? Where am I going? Will I be able to park when I get there?
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I must admit to sometimes being a MLH. My rationale on such occasions is usually either - that lorry a quarter of a mile ahead is going much slower - or, there's an on slip coming up shortly so may as well stay here until I'm past it.
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None of us are perfect and there will always be an argument for how long it is worth reverting to the inside lane when we know there is another reason to leave it shortly ahead. I'll confess to staying in the middle lane longer when I am tired.
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Mind you, just think about all the effort, petrol and wear & tear he's saving by driving in a straight line. He'll certainly not have to replace his indicator stalks or bulbs in a hurry will he. His tyres will also last longer since they won't keep getting bumped by all those pesky cats eyes and he won't wear out the white lane marker lines. He'll even reduce his liklihood of premature cervical disc problems too since he won't need to use his mirrors. I think I can see where this guy's coming from.
NOT!
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In the same vein, there also now seems to be the outside lane hogger- who never moves over. Met 3 of them this morning on the M5, holding each other and every one else up despite an empty middle, and often inside lane.
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M40 this morning. Several consecutive convoys of OLHs, totally oblivious to what was sitting behind them.
Also totally oblivious to what was flashing past on their left. And still oblivious to what pulled out in front of them and vanished into the horizon.
A cup of hot coffee would do a darn sight more to help than a nanny message on the matrix display. Mind you, you might have to throw it in their face rather than pour it down their throat.
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Could have done with some of these signs this morning....on a B road near Woodstock.
Followed (very carefully) a french lorry with trailer driving on the wrong side of the road. After 2 miles he met a car coming the other way and swerved violently back no doubt realising the problem. Not a case of wandering back and forth across the white line, driving very carefully on the RHS.
After this he drove much less carefully on the LHS just doing a wander across the white line every now and again. I was very nervous about passing on the one good long straight in case he decided to wander across again.
StarGazer
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