Newly Constructed but unopened roads
Discussion
Does anyone know for what, if at all, a person can be prosecuted when driving/speed testing along an un-opened stretch of newly constructed dual carriageway or motorway. I am not referring to resurfaced I mean new road way cut through rural land. My thinking is that its not classified as public roads untill opened to the public....and as such you could be prosecuted for ...say...trespassing....?
I ask this because very late on last night whilst driving back to the hotel I noticed two bikes screaming along a new stretch of dual carriageway being constructed...My first thought was nutters...but then I thought well at least they are not on the open public highway but I hope that they had slowly run up the road way first checking for any debris before going for the fast run/s.
I ask this because very late on last night whilst driving back to the hotel I noticed two bikes screaming along a new stretch of dual carriageway being constructed...My first thought was nutters...but then I thought well at least they are not on the open public highway but I hope that they had slowly run up the road way first checking for any debris before going for the fast run/s.
I have a scar to prove how dumb that is!
As a sixteen year old a new bypass which looked pretty much complete, but not yet opened, was a very attractive thing to a mate and I. We decided to settle the FS1-E vs SS50 argument once and for all, and staged a race down the length of this virgin tarmac.
It was dark. Very dark. Not wanting to attract undue attention we raced with no lights.
Thing is, it seems there was some tarmac left over, and it was left in a nice pile about 1 mile down the road. Things were going great until suddenly I found myself in between two mopeds, lying atop my own, with my mates on top of me with the rear wheel spinning on my neck (the scar). I had skid marks right down my helmet and no skin left between hairline and shoulder. Lots of other bumps and bruises too, but miraculouly nothing broken.
We'd hit the mound of tarmac, which we didn't even see when we'd hit it, and took off. We landed in a heap about thirty metres after the mound. Pushing the twisted mopeds home while bleeding and smarting was fun.
The daft bit is because it was so dark, and things went pear shaped so suddenly, we had no idea who was "winning" at the time either - though I always maintained that since he landed on top of me I must have gone first!
A lucky escape. That ramp shaped mound of tarmac could just as easily have been a six foot sheer wall. Or a steamroller, genny, or any number of pieces of road building equipment.
As a sixteen year old a new bypass which looked pretty much complete, but not yet opened, was a very attractive thing to a mate and I. We decided to settle the FS1-E vs SS50 argument once and for all, and staged a race down the length of this virgin tarmac.
It was dark. Very dark. Not wanting to attract undue attention we raced with no lights.
Thing is, it seems there was some tarmac left over, and it was left in a nice pile about 1 mile down the road. Things were going great until suddenly I found myself in between two mopeds, lying atop my own, with my mates on top of me with the rear wheel spinning on my neck (the scar). I had skid marks right down my helmet and no skin left between hairline and shoulder. Lots of other bumps and bruises too, but miraculouly nothing broken.
We'd hit the mound of tarmac, which we didn't even see when we'd hit it, and took off. We landed in a heap about thirty metres after the mound. Pushing the twisted mopeds home while bleeding and smarting was fun.
The daft bit is because it was so dark, and things went pear shaped so suddenly, we had no idea who was "winning" at the time either - though I always maintained that since he landed on top of me I must have gone first!
A lucky escape. That ramp shaped mound of tarmac could just as easily have been a six foot sheer wall. Or a steamroller, genny, or any number of pieces of road building equipment.
I once 'failed to notice' a sign stating that a road was closed late one night.
Rural road that I knew well, could see the entire length of it from start, alternative route added 12 miles to the 5 mile journey.
Perfect road surface, no machinery or workers (i had heard from a reliable source that they had packed up and left 2 days earlier and were waiting over the weekend for the road marking team) very enjoyable drive, blissfully unaware of my 'mistake'.
Best bit was meeting another 'mistaken' driver coming the other way on a narrow S bend section, we both simply adjusted lines and passed by each other, as you would do any other time.
Rural road that I knew well, could see the entire length of it from start, alternative route added 12 miles to the 5 mile journey.
Perfect road surface, no machinery or workers (i had heard from a reliable source that they had packed up and left 2 days earlier and were waiting over the weekend for the road marking team) very enjoyable drive, blissfully unaware of my 'mistake'.
Best bit was meeting another 'mistaken' driver coming the other way on a narrow S bend section, we both simply adjusted lines and passed by each other, as you would do any other time.
A local guy was in the papers some years back when a new bypass had been built, because he'd been stopped for speeding (in a single-seater) on the bypass which at that time was not yet open to the public. As far as I recall, he escaped prosecution. However I understand this was because the bypass was built on old farmland, which had been purchased from the driver (who owned the farm) and had not yet been paid for. He argued that although it was a tarmaced road, technically it was on his own private land (as the highways people hadn't paid for it yet) and so he could do what he liked.
I must stress I don't recall the exact details, but the above is the gist of it.
I must stress I don't recall the exact details, but the above is the gist of it.
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