People using the hard shoulder to bypass traffic on the M1
Discussion
Hi all
I had to go to Leicester this afternoon for a job, going north on the M1 to J21.
There was obviously a fairly big accident somewhere further ahead as the motorway ground to a halt then over the period of 50 mins I got from the 1/2 mile exit sign to the roundabout at the junction.
During this time there was 30 plus cars that decided to take the hard shoulder to get to the exit then force their way back on as there was a car with a flat just after the exit.
Even then people re entered the hard shoulder after the car.
Now I'm sat there in lane one with all the other traffic with my dash camera running.
I wouldn't normally ever concider doing this if I see someone doing something daft but this was constant. A bunch of self entitled w
kers that are more important than anyone else. At one point the hard shoulder was clogged so if emergency services did need to get through they would be stuffed.
I have all the footage in 4k so you can clearly make out all the number plates make and model no problem.
Would you do something with this footage like send it to Leicestershire police?
Or just accept the world is full of picks and just ignore it.
I had to go to Leicester this afternoon for a job, going north on the M1 to J21.
There was obviously a fairly big accident somewhere further ahead as the motorway ground to a halt then over the period of 50 mins I got from the 1/2 mile exit sign to the roundabout at the junction.
During this time there was 30 plus cars that decided to take the hard shoulder to get to the exit then force their way back on as there was a car with a flat just after the exit.
Even then people re entered the hard shoulder after the car.
Now I'm sat there in lane one with all the other traffic with my dash camera running.
I wouldn't normally ever concider doing this if I see someone doing something daft but this was constant. A bunch of self entitled w
kers that are more important than anyone else. At one point the hard shoulder was clogged so if emergency services did need to get through they would be stuffed. I have all the footage in 4k so you can clearly make out all the number plates make and model no problem.
Would you do something with this footage like send it to Leicestershire police?
Or just accept the world is full of picks and just ignore it.
Edited by Cpl nobby nobbs on Wednesday 16th August 19:57
This will cause debate, but I'm with you. I have seen it happen myself. Sheep mentality of follow my leader. If people don't report, this behaviour will become commonplace. The hard shoulder is there for a reason such as emergencies. This kind of behaviour could prevent an urgent response reaching where it needs to.
Such things should be dealt with by the authorities through proper channels. Sending in the footage will give them a hand and work to protect some of the most important rules of the road.
Such things should be dealt with by the authorities through proper channels. Sending in the footage will give them a hand and work to protect some of the most important rules of the road.
vaud said:
It's all about personal moral compass.
Personally I'd report them, as I would for someone undertaking at 140mph and weaving lanes.
Someone passing me at 85, no.
+1Personally I'd report them, as I would for someone undertaking at 140mph and weaving lanes.
Someone passing me at 85, no.
I would take a view on speeding that unless it's really egregious or something happened in front of me that was basically nearly a big accident, then it's up to that person to decide what they're comfortable with. No harm, no foul.
But this kind of crap I have zero tolerance for, not least of which because the sort of person who does this by definition thinks they're more important than everyone else.
vaud said:
It's all about personal moral compass.
Personally I'd report them, as I would for someone undertaking at 140mph and weaving lanes.
Someone passing me at 85, no.
This is pretty much where I am at morally, can I say I have never broken a speed limit No,and I have had the 3 points to show for it but really stupid stuff like this is bPersonally I'd report them, as I would for someone undertaking at 140mph and weaving lanes.
Someone passing me at 85, no.
ks.I have just got home and brought the card in with me so will see what I have. Then look into where I send the files for Leicestershire police.
TUS373 said:
Our local forces have a Web portal. Asks for your details, what happened and where, and submit footage on line. Might ask for one minute before to one minture after the offence. OP may have quite a lot of footage and large file size!
I am just copying the card to my pc. I would imagine I can crop some down, I think my Next base camera is set to 1min clips. So each one won't be too big.It's a new car so I haven't fitted the rear cam yet or would have that footage also.
TUS373 said:
This will cause debate, but I'm with you. I have seen it happen myself. Sheep mentality of follow my leader. If people don't report, this behaviour will become commonplace. The hard shoulder is there for a reason such as emergencies. This kind of behaviour could prevent an urgent response reaching where it needs to.
Such things should be dealt with by the authorities through proper channels. Sending in the footage will give them a hand and work to protect some of the most important rules of the road.
Agreed. I've twice seen emergency services blocked by idiots who believe red x's don't apply to them. The same applies to the hard shoulder. You are not more important than the emergency ahead.Such things should be dealt with by the authorities through proper channels. Sending in the footage will give them a hand and work to protect some of the most important rules of the road.
mwstewart said:
Personally I'm not one for reporting things like this. It is really low behaviour, though painfully inevitable given that 'smart' motorways diminished the importance of a clear hard shoulder.
I was about to get all high and mighty, quoting another post about potentially impeding the emergency services, but you make a valid point about the smart motorways effectively sending out the message that hard shoukderd aren't that important to only be used in an emergency. On balance, I'm not sure I could be arsed to send my footage to the police. Despite the fact that I'd be pissed off that I (being more or less squeaky clean with my driving) would have been envious of thier ability to make progress.
I wonder how many of them are cloned numberplates ?
Do it. My vote would be to stick the offenders in the village stocks rather than an FPN but I fear I will remain disappointed on that front.
Wonder if that Jag chap from the drink driving thread will be in to tell us that anyone who occasionally makes progress isn't allowed to be annoyed at this behaviour
Wonder if that Jag chap from the drink driving thread will be in to tell us that anyone who occasionally makes progress isn't allowed to be annoyed at this behaviour
CoolHands said:
I say no. Why is it ok for you to decide when something is too bad? But you can do whatever speed you determine is acceptable etc? We don’t need a load of nazi citizens reporting in each other.
This is a valid point and I would sort of aggree with it.But at what point is it acceptable to decide something is bad enough to report to the police, who decides. What is acceptable to one person may not be to another. I know this is just a mere driving offence but like the other post about a drink driver, I would sure as hell shop someone I knew was drunk driving or driving without a license or insurance.
I have had a quick look and in total I have 18 1min long videos with between 1 and 5 different cars in each driving down the hard shoulder both on the M1 it's self and on the slip road.
On person in a black golf reverses back and parallel parks back into lane 1 for some reason. I'm pretty sure reversing on a motorway is also an offence.
If you can only do 1 vid at a time I don't know if I can be arsed doing it all.
haha you should report the person in the golf who changed their mind and reversed back into lane 1! Lol that would make me laugh that the others get away with it and the one that got scared gets doneMay be dump the videos in a cloud folder. Report one, include a link, and leave it to the authorities to fill their boots. They will decide if an offence is committed.
I know someone caught for crossing over white hatching on a motorway. Can't remember if they were late in leaving the motorway. However, they were spotted by a regular motorway camera, registration captured and they were summoned. They got 6 points.
It is therefore theoretically possible that anyone taking the hard shoulder may get a ticket anyway.
I know someone caught for crossing over white hatching on a motorway. Can't remember if they were late in leaving the motorway. However, they were spotted by a regular motorway camera, registration captured and they were summoned. They got 6 points.
It is therefore theoretically possible that anyone taking the hard shoulder may get a ticket anyway.
CoolHands said:
I say no. Why is it ok for you to decide when something is too bad?
He’s not. The police would be the ones deciding if it’s prosecutable or not.Look at it the other way - by not sending it in he may be (well, is) helping them evade prosecution and by inference condoning what they did.
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