RealStory (BBC1); roads are worse now than in 70's
Discussion
Fantastic programme with Fiona McBruce on last night. Apparently 47% of local authorities admitted to spending below their budget on road repairs in the last 12 months.
But the Highways Agency said the safety of road users was their top priority. In response to the Real Story survey, AA spokesman Paul Watters said
"We looked at some data for 2002 which shows that in areas that had underspent there were 900 more casualties than those that had overspent.
And yet speed cams etc are supposedly all about Safety. When you think how much they invest in GATSOs harvesting fines from us, its a disgrace that so many people are dying on poorly maintained roads; esp when motorists contribute some £42bn to the Exchequer.
Full story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/real_story/4104180.stm
edited to correct quotation
>> Edited by ed22 on Tuesday 21st June 00:37
>> Edited by ed22 on Tuesday 21st June 00:38
The whole programme was summed up for me when the viewer was told that the Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) that has been used on roads all over the country, causing hundreds of accidents, was 'cheaper' than the alternatives.
So, at least they saved a few quid.
Shocking.
And the solution was to put slippery road signs up , instead of resurfacing the road of course. The shit we have to put up with. :they don't even do a smiley for how bum
ed us drivers get:.
[rant off]
So, at least they saved a few quid.
Shocking. And the solution was to put slippery road signs up , instead of resurfacing the road of course. The shit we have to put up with. :they don't even do a smiley for how bum
ed us drivers get:. [rant off]
mojocvh said:
OK, apart from the fact that this deliberate negligence (?) is almost unbelievable, just how do you identify this type of road surface from your vehicle??
MoJo.
When you look back at the road you have just slid off and you can see no reason for the spin..... That was one of them
Interestingly, on the A16 near Spalding they have just treated a lovely bend with ShellGrip after a few cars went off..... Now you can really fly round it
YWHM soon, my PC died!
mojocvh said:
OK, apart from the fact that this deliberate negligence (?) is almost unbelievable, just how do you identify this type of road surface from your vehicle??
MoJo.
Tricky, but I think they are all the roads (resurfacing) you see which have loose chippings afterwards because a) it's cheap and b) they can't be bothered to finish it off properly. So roads with a very stoney surface, loose stones still in the centre or side of the road for some time after.
The reason that SMA is deadly for skidding in the dry is pretty straightforward. Unlike normal roads, where the chippings are rolled into the tarmac as a seperate stage, the SMA is pre-mixed. This means that you have a tarmac coating over all of the stone chippings. When you brake, the tarmac coating heats up, liquefies and you have a surface which is, well, lubricated. Hence skidding.
The thing that blew me away on the programme was the official response when Fiona Bruce asked the official testers whether SMA had ever been skid tested in the dry.
No, they said... we didn't have the technology at the time.
Yeah right. How hard is it to measure the lengths of two skid marks?
The thing that blew me away on the programme was the official response when Fiona Bruce asked the official testers whether SMA had ever been skid tested in the dry.
No, they said... we didn't have the technology at the time.
Yeah right. How hard is it to measure the lengths of two skid marks?
All it proved to me is that they don't give two ss about motorists, and would rather skimp on the resurfacing of roads in order to free up more cash to spend on scameras, humps, bus lanes, and other things to just make driving worse and possibly more dangerous.
And now they've got blood on their hands. Speed Kills? Go fk yourself 
s about motorists, and would rather skimp on the resurfacing of roads in order to free up more cash to spend on scameras, humps, bus lanes, and other things to just make driving worse and possibly more dangerous. And now they've got blood on their hands. Speed Kills? Go f
k yourself Cheap skate ers...
So what do we actually pay for?
They put cheap tarmac down, don't test it for safety, save a few quid, and simply don't care if it's crap?
All they think about is a pound saved today, even though it wears out sooner, costs them more in slippy road signage and accident costs.
Then there are all the pot-holes. However, they just fill them in with this sh1te tarmac that goes glossy and sags and fills with water again, blowing the tarmac in frost and when cars drive over it again!
Absolute tit heads. Do any of them know how to engineer, or do councils now contract the stereotypical irish tarmac drive people to do the work on the roads?
Two inch of sand and a few mm of tarmac should do the job kinda people.... Tw4ts
You would at least think that since drivers subsidise over 80% of their taxes etc to other areas of spending, they'd at least make sure the roads we get were up to scatch first!
Dave
ers... So what do we actually pay for?
They put cheap tarmac down, don't test it for safety, save a few quid, and simply don't care if it's crap?
All they think about is a pound saved today, even though it wears out sooner, costs them more in slippy road signage and accident costs.
Then there are all the pot-holes. However, they just fill them in with this sh1te tarmac that goes glossy and sags and fills with water again, blowing the tarmac in frost and when cars drive over it again!
Absolute tit heads. Do any of them know how to engineer, or do councils now contract the stereotypical irish tarmac drive people to do the work on the roads?
Two inch of sand and a few mm of tarmac should do the job kinda people.... Tw4ts
You would at least think that since drivers subsidise over 80% of their taxes etc to other areas of spending, they'd at least make sure the roads we get were up to scatch first!
Dave
It's all part of the anti-car forces that control our road taxes.
I've said this several times now, but our roads near where I live are abysmal - potholes, cracks, cable-lines - ours has three types of surface on it alone. I daren't drive over 15 mph down most of them for fear of sliding off or having a puncture.
When the Liberal Democrats were canvassing, they said that, if elected, they would address the problem and make our roads safer.
Their version, therefore, of 'making the roads safer' was to spend all the money on speed humps and '20 zone' signs.
After last night's programme, I think this will only make it worse. God I hate their blind car-hating ignorance.
I've said this several times now, but our roads near where I live are abysmal - potholes, cracks, cable-lines - ours has three types of surface on it alone. I daren't drive over 15 mph down most of them for fear of sliding off or having a puncture.
When the Liberal Democrats were canvassing, they said that, if elected, they would address the problem and make our roads safer.
Their version, therefore, of 'making the roads safer' was to spend all the money on speed humps and '20 zone' signs.
After last night's programme, I think this will only make it worse. God I hate their blind car-hating ignorance.
Obviously it's time that the public took these lax and wasteful authorities to court for their blatant mismanagement and sheer incompetency....
BUT probably someone will have to die before corporate negligence can be proven......
Question for our legal eagles:- is there a corporate negligence law in GB? These exist here on the continent but I'd heard that it's difficult in GB!?!?!
BUT probably someone will have to die before corporate negligence can be proven......
Question for our legal eagles:- is there a corporate negligence law in GB? These exist here on the continent but I'd heard that it's difficult in GB!?!?!
Interesting snippet I heard is that one in five roads now fail the skid test... Someone should indeed be bought to account for this. We pay for it and our very lives depend on it.
Call me cynical, but speed MIGHT actually kill if the councils fail to spend the vast amounts of money we give them on the roads
Call me cynical, but speed MIGHT actually kill if the councils fail to spend the vast amounts of money we give them on the roads
BliarOut said:
Interesting snippet I heard is that one in five roads now fail the skid test... Someone should indeed be bought to account for this. We pay for it and our very lives depend on it.
Call me cynical, but speed MIGHT actually kill if the councils fail to spend the vast amounts of money we give them on the roads
Point is, I reckon local council underspending is more likely to make speed kill.
I had a friend come over from Germany once, and she was absolutely amazed at the dreadful quality of the roads. She pointed at a speed hump and said 'what's that for?'. She was absolutely staggered that we spent money making roads lumpy and awkward when we have poor-quality surfacing.
And you can see why if you've been to Germany - they probably overspend on their roads, and they're the safest in Europe. And do they have speed humps and scameras? No...
ed22 said:
The reason that SMA is deadly for skidding in the dry is pretty straightforward. Unlike normal roads, where the chippings are rolled into the tarmac as a seperate stage, the SMA is pre-mixed. This means that you have a tarmac coating over all of the stone chippings. When you brake, the tarmac coating heats up, liquefies and you have a surface which is, well, lubricated. Hence skidding.
The thing that blew me away on the programme was the official response when Fiona Bruce asked the official testers whether SMA had ever been skid tested in the dry.
No, they said... we didn't have the technology at the time.
Yeah right. How hard is it to measure the lengths of two skid marks?
Well in that case it looks like the've just done the A1 with this shit, and the dundee end of the A90 as well.
MoJo.
FourWheelDrift said:
OK, apart from the fact that this deliberate negligence (?) is almost unbelievable, just how do you identify this type of road surface from your vehicle??
MoJo.
Tricky, but I think they are all the roads (resurfacing) you see which have loose chippings afterwards because a) it's cheap and b) they can't be bothered to finish it off properly. So roads with a very stoney surface, loose stones still in the centre or side of the road for some time after.
No that is quite incorrect advice!
The road surface when new(ish) appears as very uniform and smooth dark grey, quite unlike the rolled in chippings type surface.
You are also likley to recognise it because a lot of councils also put up slippery road signs at the same time as they resurface the road. Also, like roads on our patch, after a couple of weeks, you'll be sick of pulling muppets out of the hedge, and there will be more black rubber skid marks than on Paddock Bend.
That is more or less as I commented on a thread I started in SP&L because wanted to make a comment about Plymouth council response was to put in a camera!
Also did you notice they completely avoided the numpty drivers assertion by quoting several incidents involving ADs including one IAM instructor.
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