I read the "advice need for court case" thread (don't worry not going to start that discussion again) and it got me thinking about general visibility from junctions.
In my area there are lots of junctions where trees, hedges and even road signs obscure the view in one or other direction. Does the owner of the hedge, tree, etc have a responsibility to keep it cut to allow a clear view or does this become the councils / highways authoritys responsibility?
If so, does anyone else think that they seem to be ignoring this responsibility more than previously?
Having said that, my car bonnets have been getting longer and longer as I buy bigger cars, so it might just be down to me being further back from the white lines! ;-)
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Interestingly, our council has been putting double yellows on junction corners recently - it's helped no end.
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>>>>>>>In my area there are lots of junctions where trees, hedges and even road signs obscure the view in one or other direction. Does the owner of the hedge, tree, etc have a responsibility to keep it cut to allow a clear view or does this become the councils / highways authoritys responsibility? <<<<<
Section 79 Highways Act 1980 as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1982, Section 46 Local Government Act 1985 Schedule 4 and Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 Schedule 1.
To prevent a danger arising from obstruction of view of persons using the highway impose restrictions in respect of any land at a corner/bend/junction to which public have access, may serve notice on owner/occupier of land directing any wall, fence, hoarding, paling, tree, shrub or other vegetation so as to require it conform to what is stated in the Notice.
Appeal procedure
Fail to comply 200 pound fine and if continued 2 pounbd per day thereafter.
DVD
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Both exits from our road are onto the inside of bends, with car parked right up to the junction on both sides. Even with my cars short bonnet, there is no option but to creep and peep, but even so there is 2ft of car out in the road before we have any view to see if anything is coming.
Following the advice of not proceeding until you can see, would mean you wouldn't be able to leave the road by car.
Fortunately most people travel along the road we emerge onto at reasonable speeds, that allow them to slow or stop when they see a car emerging, but every so often we encounter drivers who think they are on a race track, who end up swerving round the end of the bonnet.
Oddly enough it can be easier to exit at night, as you can see the glow from oncoming headlights.
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Having to pull out from blind or short visibility junctions is not nice. Perhaps the greatest collision danger is posed by motorcycles because, being narrow and tending to be travelling near the kerb, they don't come into view until they are closer.
Also it is not unknown for motorcycles to be travelling very fast. So some junctions that have adequate visibility in normal circumstances become, in effect, blind junctions if you're unlucky enough to pull out onto a seemingly clear road when a bike's approaching at 95 mph.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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>>>Both exits from our road are onto the inside of bends, with car parked right up to the junction on both sides. Even with my cars short bonnet, there is no option but to creep and peep, but even so there is 2ft of car out in the road before we have any view to see if anything is coming<<<
Paul Ripley's advice was to wind down the window and listen. I have avoided at least two nasty accidents with at bikers on blind exits by this method. Bikes are often difficult to see but they certainly are not difficult to hear!
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I recently read in a magazine (might have been the Sunday Times motoring section, can't remember) that some local authorities are planting tall shrubs at junctions and on roundabouts to try and slow traffic. If that is true it seems barmy.
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I recently read in a magazine (might have been the Sunday Times motoring section, can't remember) that some local authorities are planting tall shrubs at junctions and on roundabouts to try and slow traffic. If that is true it seems barmy.
Agree that it is a little strange. Also at some r'bouts there is a screen blocking the view of traffic already on the r'bout so you have to slow down to almost a halt before moving off - which to me negates the purpose of a r'bout.
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>>>Also at some r'bouts there is a screen blocking the view of traffic already on the r'bout so you have to slow down to almost a halt before moving off - which to me negates the purpose of a r'bout.
One of my pet grumbles is 'roundabout rollers' - people who keep rolling across the give way line as one negotiates the roundabout, often pulling while you're still passing, just missing your rear corner. I dare say I've done it myself occasionally, but it's not something to be encouraged.
Cheers, SS
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I recently read in a magazine (might have been the Sunday Times motoring section, can't remember) that some local authorities are planting tall shrubs at junctions and on roundabouts to try and slow traffic. If that is true it seems barmy.
It has been quite common practice for some time now. The theory is that if you can't see some of the entrances on to the roundabout then you will slow on approach and treat the situation as if hidden traffic could be joining the roundabout and exercise caution accordingly. Personally I find that a large proportion of people don't slow and are then going too fast to stop when you appear from behind the vegetation and cut across in front of you without a great deal of gap!
The whole theory revolves around drivers slowing when they perceive a hazard, if only.....
Cockle
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One of our local roads has a very bad 'T' junction. I was nearly hit by a very low sports cat (Elise) which was lower than the hedge at the junction. The next day there was a heap of glass and plastic at the junction and there had been an accident so serious that it involved the local Air Ambulance. I rang the local road authority and the landowner trimmed the hedge within 2 hours and have redone it this spring. I nearly drove into the side of a car the other day, I was on a minor road entering a not so minor one. The angle of the down hill of the road I was joining exactly matched the angle of the very thick 'A' pillar on my 307. The car was almost 100% obscured by the combination of angle and car structure. I am even more careful now!
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>>>The angle of the down hill of the road I was joining exactly matched the angle of the very thick 'A' pillar on my 307. The car was almost 100% obscured by the combination of angle and car structure. I am even more careful now!<<<
Door/window pillars are now so stuffed with airbags to improve your chances in an accident that their size makes it harder to carry out the effective observation you need to avoid one in the first place.
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Roundabout rollers are a growing menace. Particularly it would seem when they are turning left. In this situation the rollers simply roll slowly from the entry lane over the roundabout and on to the exit lane. I hit the airhorns (compulsory for all bikes) and point at the stop line. But hey they ain't speeding so they can't be doing anything dangerous.
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>>>Both exits from our road are onto the inside of bends, with car parked right up to the junction on both sides. Even with my cars short bonnet, there is no option but to creep and peep, but even so there is 2ft of car out in the road before we have any view to see if anything is coming<<< Paul Ripley's advice was to wind down the window and listen. I have avoided at least two nasty accidents with at bikers on blind exits by this method. Bikes are often difficult to see but they certainly are not difficult to hear!
This is usually a problem when turning right. I've been in situations where a right turn would have been a complete gamble, so I've turned left and either gone a different way or doubled back in a safer place. My thinking is that even if something still crashed into me, I'd rather it was up the chuff, than into my RH side.
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Yeah but thats no different to people parking right up the edge of junctions so you're in the same position in having to edge out further to 'see' out - IMHO these cars are dangerously parked and in contravention of what the Highway Code says in relation to parking at junctions...or those that insist on parking in the 'controilled zone' of pelican crossings (on the zig-zag lines) - people just don't care...
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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I think the law is that you cannot park within 10 meters of a junction, it is one of the questions in the driving theory test. It seems to be a thing that is not policed though. There is a cross roads which I use quite often and you literally have to be competely blocking the road before you can see if it is clear as a result of parked cars- very dangerous.
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"I think the law is that you cannot park within 10 meters of a junction, it is one of the questions in the driving theory test. It seems to be a thing that is not policed though."
It's policed round my way - but not in the way you might think!
A police dog van is frequently parked top centre of the T junction at the end of my road - think his parents live there - causing a real hazard.
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A police dog van is frequently parked top centre of the T junction at the end of my road - think his parents live there - causing a real hazard.
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The driver should really know better, if it is parked as you say, sine if I was involved in any accident there, I would certainly look to the Constabulary to mitigate my losses. Obvious exception would be if the vehicle was there for an 'urgent operational committment' - which in this case it might not.
As a marked Dog Van, the driver should really know better :P
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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I think the law is that you cannot park within 10 meters of a junction, it is one of the questions in the driving theory test
It's a 'DO NOT' rather than a 'MUST NOT', so ends up as a recommendation rather than law. Unless at night wihout lights.
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