M25 No hard shoulder!

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Discussion

fatboy18

Original Poster:

18,930 posts

210 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
sleepezy said:
Glad you got out of there ok.

OP odd question, but did that recovery truck driver tell you about him owning a 600odd hp Ford Anglia and very special Capri?

I may have been with the same guy/truck not all that long ago!
No, this guy had a Caterham smile

grumpy52

5,565 posts

165 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
I actually witnessed a black golf get pulled by plod on the M25 for I presume travelling in a closed lane on Friday .
They do seem to pull offenders if they see them .
It does seem strange that the numpties that do this are the same people that never use the nearside lane when it is empty and free flowing .

fatboy18

Original Poster:

18,930 posts

210 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
They should be Banned from Driving in my book, they piss other drivers off who sit there patently in the correct lanes, then expect to be let in near an incident. It's Dangerous and selfish driving! 3 months ban,9 points and a hefty fine would get my vote.
I will be writing to my MP, they might like the idea of more revenue wink

dxg

8,122 posts

259 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
fatboy18 said:
I was taught to leave the bonnet up in situations like that - so that the car appears visually bigger. Although I guess in your case, there's concerns about the wind from the passing vehicles.

Although I have broken down on a motorway (windscreen wipers seized up, of all things), it was in the old days when motorways were motorways and still had their defining characteristic: the hard shoulder!

Collectingbrass

2,198 posts

194 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
fatboy18 said:
Here are just a couple of the offenders
Well done Thames Water nono


And another Merc Vito van REG No RK62 OFN

Just two of hundreds!
There's more than one way to skin a cat. Write to the Thames Water CEO here, their fleet manager ought to be able to track down the driver and I suspect they will be very interested at the red X offence and the use of the van on a Sunday.

http://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-9576&k=57...


CoolHands

18,496 posts

194 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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How do you know the preceding sign had a red X on it

matchmaker

8,463 posts

199 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
Hard shoulder? What's a hard shoulder?


fatboy18

Original Poster:

18,930 posts

210 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
How do you know the preceding sign had a red X on it
Man on the highways phone told me they closed the lane wink

fatboy18

Original Poster:

18,930 posts

210 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
dxg said:
fatboy18 said:
I was taught to leave the bonnet up in situations like that - so that the car appears visually bigger. Although I guess in your case, there's concerns about the wind from the passing vehicles.

Although I have broken down on a motorway (windscreen wipers seized up, of all things), it was in the old days when motorways were motorways and still had their defining characteristic: the hard shoulder!
Bonnet was up for a while, but the wind picked up and I did not fancy a 6k lid flying down the M25

Landshark

2,117 posts

180 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
fatboy18 said:
an on the highways phone told me they closed the lane wink
You can normal work it out, in that most vehicles are no longer using that lane, just a special few come through as they admire their bonnet!!

fatboy18

Original Poster:

18,930 posts

210 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
Landshark said:
fatboy18 said:
an on the highways phone told me they closed the lane wink
You can normal work it out, in that most vehicles are no longer using that lane, just a special few HUNDRED come through as they admire their bonnet!!
EFA wink

CoolHands

18,496 posts

194 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
Because of the great number it suggests the X was not displayed. And given how (un)reliable many PHers have found gantry information to be (debris in the carriageway bullst etc) that would be my suspicion.

fatboy18

Original Poster:

18,930 posts

210 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
Because of the great number it suggests the X was not displayed. And given how (un)reliable many PHers have found gantry information to be (debris in the carriageway bullst etc) that would be my suspicion.
Sadly no, prior to my top hose blowing out I had been in lane 3 for at least 45min, lane 4 had the red X displayed and Hundreds of cars passed me as they could not see it incident ahead. The red X signs are there for a reason, as far as im concerned anyone who ignores them deserves the book thrown at them weather they can see ahead or not! If they suddenly have to stop and through their selfishness blocks the lane this prevents Emergency vehicles to to the scene of what ever incident is ahead.
it was clear to me they clearly think they are above the law!

Baskey

176 posts

145 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
How do you know the preceding sign had a red X on it

fatboy18

Original Poster:

18,930 posts

210 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
Baskey said:
CoolHands said:
How do you know the preceding sign had a red X on it
Please read earlier posts.

Andehh

7,107 posts

205 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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MrBarry123 said:
You have my sympathy OP, not a nice situation.

However... The hard shoulder running is a great idea if you're heading southbound on the M42 and wanting to exit at J3A (M40 junction) without wanting to sit in the M5 traffic.
Yep, couldn't agree more. It's a fantastic system, not least at that junction.

sleepezy

1,779 posts

233 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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fatboy18 said:
o, this guy had a Caterham smile
Something nice about (at least 2 of) the AA guys that drive those are a bit car nuts then!

Chap who collected me was waxing lyrical about having collected a P1 the day before. I think my Range Rover was a let down but he was a good fella.

Nice Viper BTW - I was looking back at some of my old Le Mans phots the other day from 1996 including the white/green Oreca's

fatboy18

Original Poster:

18,930 posts

210 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
sleepezy said:
fatboy18 said:
o, this guy had a Caterham smile
Something nice about (at least 2 of) the AA guys that drive those are a bit car nuts then!

Chap who collected me was waxing lyrical about having collected a P1 the day before. I think my Range Rover was a let down but he was a good fella.

Nice Viper BTW - I was looking back at some of my old Le Mans phots the other day from 1996 including the white/green Oreca's
I was at Le mans when the first Gen 1 Vipers started racing (1994) smile

Red Devil

13,055 posts

207 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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Landshark said:
Red Devil said:
CoolHands said:
To be fair that doesn't look like a hard shoulder. I thought they normally had a continuous line even when used in high heavy traffic times.
That's because it isn't one. Managed motorways don't have them.
They have emergency refuge areas instead. See below.

CoolHands said:
Can you link to a google link streetview of the area?
The OP was stranded here - https://goo.gl/maps/Nsk8sHVBCip
About a mile and a half prior to Clacket Lane services.
The refuge is further back, here - https://goo.gl/maps/rvMqTfH2pRt
Just to clarify.....

There are normal motorways;
There are managed motorways;
There are hard shoulder running motorways
And then there are All Lane Running motorways.

The Op was on a section of All Lane Running (ALR) motorway.....no hard shoulder at all just ERA's
It seems I used out-of-date terminology. Instead of saying Managed, I should have used the new buzz-word Smart.
There are 3 different types of the latter. Controlled, Dynamic Hard Shoulder Running, and All Lane Running.
That bit of the M25 the OP broke down on was the second ALR section of motorway to be opened.

All you ever wanted to know about the different types here - http://www.rac.co.uk/breakdown-cover/motorway-brea...


Landshark

2,117 posts

180 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
Red Devil said:
It seems I used out-of-date terminology. Instead of saying Managed, I should have used the new buzz-word Smart.
There are 3 different types of the latter. Controlled, Dynamic Hard Shoulder Running, and All Lane Running.
That bit of the M25 the OP broke down on was the second ALR section of motorway to be opened.

All you ever wanted to know about the different types here - http://www.rac.co.uk/breakdown-cover/motorway-brea...
Never heard it called controlled or dynamic. It's still referred to as managed, hard shoulder running and ALR. Smart turned up at the same time as ALR.