Angle of police cars on the hard shoulder
Discussion
Hi all
I spend a lot of time wandering up and down the motorways if this green and pleasant land for my work and have done for 5+ years
Up until very recently, whenever I see a traffic car that's pulled someone on a motorway, they always, without fail, pointed towards the inside of a motorway and not into the live lanes. This was reinforced last night when I saw it happen several times on old episodes of traffic cops.
I asked this was to avoid the situation of a car being hit by an hgv Nd pushed into love traffic
For the last month or two, I've seen a good dozen or so traffic stop on motorways and ALL of them, without fail are stopped almost straight, but with the front wheels turned to point towards the live lanes.
Has some new research been carried out and we are now doing this for a reason? Or have I spotted a dozen lazy/ uneducated traffic cops?
I spend a lot of time wandering up and down the motorways if this green and pleasant land for my work and have done for 5+ years
Up until very recently, whenever I see a traffic car that's pulled someone on a motorway, they always, without fail, pointed towards the inside of a motorway and not into the live lanes. This was reinforced last night when I saw it happen several times on old episodes of traffic cops.
I asked this was to avoid the situation of a car being hit by an hgv Nd pushed into love traffic
For the last month or two, I've seen a good dozen or so traffic stop on motorways and ALL of them, without fail are stopped almost straight, but with the front wheels turned to point towards the live lanes.
Has some new research been carried out and we are now doing this for a reason? Or have I spotted a dozen lazy/ uneducated traffic cops?
SV8Predator said:
eltax91 said:
I asked this was to avoid the situation of a car being hit by an hgv Nd pushed into love traffic
What does that sentence mean?A simple guess creates:
"I assumed this was to avoid the situation of a car being hit by an HGV and pushed into live traffic."
SV8Predator said:
eltax91 said:
I asked this was to avoid the situation of a car being hit by an hgv Nd pushed into love traffic
What does that sentence mean?OP there are various thoughts on the fend position, The reasons used will always be slightly different such as being at an angle will display the battenburg livery and make the vehicle more visible.
We sit approx 18 meters back vehicle straight with wheels locked over to the nearside as we don't run such visual livery on the sides, only the rear. We have tested the theory on a closed road and the position we use the vehicle exits stage left
SV8Predator said:
eltax91 said:
I asked this was to avoid the situation of a car being hit by an hgv Nd pushed into love traffic
What does that sentence mean?These days it's down to visibility of the lightbar and livery. The kinetic engery transfer from a 40 tonne truck doing 55mph into the back/side of a vehicle really doesn't matter how the vehicle's wheels are pointed. There are so many variables such as angle of impact/site of impact that the struck vehicle could end up anywhere.
Six Fiend said:
Oh FFS! You really need that translated?
A simple guess creates:
"I assumed this was to avoid the situation of a car being hit by an HGV and pushed into live traffic."
Correct! Sorry for the confusion. Shouldn't post from an iPhone and then not check my speeeeling mistooks!!A simple guess creates:
"I assumed this was to avoid the situation of a car being hit by an HGV and pushed into live traffic."
From the NPIA Roads Policing Manual:
The main methods of positioning the police vehicle on the carriageway are:
• In-line – the police vehicle is parallel to the running lanes on the carriageway. This
maximises rear facing lighting and rear vehicle markings. Patrols should be aware
that, to the approaching traffic, the stationary in-line vehicle could appear to be
moving with the traffic. The police vehicle will not completely fill the carriageway and
offers less defence than the other two methods. If the police vehicle is struck from the
rear it will travel forward towards the safety zone.
• Fend-off – the police vehicle is angled, pointing front end towards the carriageway in
the direction the traffic should pass. This method will fill the lane that is going to be
closed, and also acts as a visual reinforcement of the cone taper. It will appear
stationary to the approaching traffic, but the effectiveness of rear facing lighting will
be reduced. In the event of a rear-end collision, the police vehicle is likely to be
projected into a live carriageway.
• Fend-in – the police vehicle is angled, pointing front end toward the nearside in the
direction the traffic should pass. This method will fill the lane that is to be closed and
acts as a visual reinforcement of the cone taper. Officers should be aware that the
effectiveness of rear facing lighting on the police vehicle will be reduced, and that
their visibility of approaching traffic will be reduced. On roads fitted with a nearside
crash barrier there is a danger that if the police vehicle is struck from behind, it will
collide with the barrier and could continue to travel along the barrier into the safety
zone. Where there is a nearside ditch or embankment, this may cause the police
vehicle to overturn if struck.
The main methods of positioning the police vehicle on the carriageway are:
• In-line – the police vehicle is parallel to the running lanes on the carriageway. This
maximises rear facing lighting and rear vehicle markings. Patrols should be aware
that, to the approaching traffic, the stationary in-line vehicle could appear to be
moving with the traffic. The police vehicle will not completely fill the carriageway and
offers less defence than the other two methods. If the police vehicle is struck from the
rear it will travel forward towards the safety zone.
• Fend-off – the police vehicle is angled, pointing front end towards the carriageway in
the direction the traffic should pass. This method will fill the lane that is going to be
closed, and also acts as a visual reinforcement of the cone taper. It will appear
stationary to the approaching traffic, but the effectiveness of rear facing lighting will
be reduced. In the event of a rear-end collision, the police vehicle is likely to be
projected into a live carriageway.
• Fend-in – the police vehicle is angled, pointing front end toward the nearside in the
direction the traffic should pass. This method will fill the lane that is to be closed and
acts as a visual reinforcement of the cone taper. Officers should be aware that the
effectiveness of rear facing lighting on the police vehicle will be reduced, and that
their visibility of approaching traffic will be reduced. On roads fitted with a nearside
crash barrier there is a danger that if the police vehicle is struck from behind, it will
collide with the barrier and could continue to travel along the barrier into the safety
zone. Where there is a nearside ditch or embankment, this may cause the police
vehicle to overturn if struck.
SV8Predator said:
eltax91 said:
I asked this was to avoid the situation of a car being hit by an hgv Nd pushed into love traffic
What does that sentence mean?I am sure I am not alone so it would be helpful if people made an effort to have a reasonable stab at spelling instead of being lazy. No one's expecting OED, but even the most challenged PHer should be able to manage to spell four letter words properly.
Oh, and that's not an invitation for people to call me a succession of correctly spelled four-letter words.
Perec said:
I am sure I am not alone so it would be helpful if people made an effort to have a reasonable stab at spelling instead of being lazy.
Oh, and that's not an invitation for people to call me a succession of correctly spelled four-letter words.
It's that frinking predictive text that is at fault for the love live switch. You type it in rite but it comes out all rong. Oh, and that's not an invitation for people to call me a succession of correctly spelled four-letter words.
Sgt Bilko said:
These days it's down to visibility of the lightbar and livery. The kinetic engery transfer from a 40 tonne truck doing 55mph into the back/side of a vehicle really doesn't matter how the vehicle's wheels are pointed. There are so many variables such as angle of impact/site of impact that the struck vehicle could end up anywhere.
So why would West Mid's HATO sit fended out on a slight right hand bend (lights into the countryside) with rear reds on and scrolling arrows for a hard shoulder breakdown last week?There used to be some rules when I did it.......mutter...mutter....
OvalOwl said:
Perec said:
I am sure I am not alone so it would be helpful if people made an effort to have a reasonable stab at spelling instead of being lazy.
Oh, and that's not an invitation for people to call me a succession of correctly spelled four-letter words.
It's that frinking predictive text that is at fault for the love live switch. You type it in rite but it comes out all rong. Oh, and that's not an invitation for people to call me a succession of correctly spelled four-letter words.
Perec said:
So it's not predictive texting is it. It is, as I surmised, cack-handedness and not reading what's been typed.
Well the buttons on my Galaxy are tiny, and the phone will select words based on which bits of the keyboard you stabbed at, there's normally no need to be precise except in cases where similarly spelled words are next to each other on the keyboard...Must be great being perfect though...
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