A14 expansion means more accidents!

[FunkyGibbon]

Yesterday the local radio reported that at last the A14 will get widened.

Thank fcuk for that most people would be saying as it is far too overcrowded as it is.

But not so for one caller into q103...

local speed is bad brainwashed numpty said:

It is a terrible idea.

Being wider will free up the traffic so it can flow faster.

There are already too many accidents on this road, if they went faster there would be even more accidents.

Grrr.

:mypissisdulyboilingsmiley:

[Mattt]

That wasn't a spokesman from the government was it?

[FunkyGibbon]

sounded like one - but was allegedly a local

[stuthemong]

but its okaaaay, there are average spee.. er, safety cameras now. God bless allah we are saved!!

Luckily there are 2 crazy junctions on the A14 (bar hill tescos eastbound), and shell garage just before godmanchester turn off, that make for some good 30 second diversions off->on again. I plan to cruise at normal speed on road, and take a cheeky chicane/roundabout/right->left hander diversions to keep the ///M on its feet

[cj_eds]

I like the fact the average 'safety' cameras are placed on the 3 lane bit just before the A14/M11 split South bound. So, just in case there weren't enough drivers zooming down the outside to cut two lanes across at the last second to jump a queue, now there'll be an assortment of other drivers nipping from inside to middle, outside to inside and middle to anywhere thats not middle to avoid 3 points...

Local speed-brain washed person quoted is probably one of the ones I follow daily at 45.4mph (until a 30 zone - where the 15.4mph difference opens up a gap!)

[Silent1]

You listen to local radio!?
Burn the heretic.

How can you listen to the endless adverts and the useless presenters, atleast radio 1 doesn't have adverts

Edited by Silent1 on Friday 23 March 13:05

[WHYOHWHY]

I heard that 85% of all accidents on the a14 involve foreign drivers, mostly in lorries. Must be because there is a port involved. Maybe if they closed the port, or just banned foreign lorries the accident rate would be reduced accordingly. !!!!!!

[sultanbrown]

cj_eds said:

I like the fact the average 'safety' cameras are placed on the 3 lane bit just before the A14/M11 split South bound

They are not just there, they still have plenty to put up stretching all the way to past Huntingdon, I believe.
It's either 8 or 16 pairs of cameras, can't remember which.

[FunkyGibbon]

Silent1 said:

You listen to local radio!?
Burn the heretic.

How can you listen to the endless adverts and the useless presenters, atleast radio 1 doesn't have adverts

LOL - I know what you mean, but with the state of the A14 and traffic conditions local radio is a must to avoid the delays.

Plus I quite like the "retro" quiz at 7:40

[neil-f]

WHYOHWHY said:

I heard that 85% of all accidents on the a14 involve foreign drivers, mostly in lorries. Must be because there is a port involved. Maybe if they closed the port, or just banned foreign lorries the accident rate would be reduced accordingly. !!!!!!

Agreed lorries seem to account for most of these accidents. Several times a week we experience lorry crash delays yesterday I had 2 delays in one day both for lorries.

[cj_eds]

FunkyGibbon said:

LOL - I know what you mean, but with the state of the A14 and traffic conditions local radio is a must to avoid the delays.

Thats what RDS radios are for! Listening to a BBC station though you never know when you'll be interrupted by any of BBC Cambridgeshire, Northants, Suffolk, Norfolk, 3 counties, take your pick - they all appear randomly depending on reception! When driving through Earith I like to know when the M1 is blocked . I'd rather know that than hear that women on Q103 breakfast wittering on about how Posh spice wants to start a book club, or why some other regurgitated tabloid headline from yesterday is coming up next. And at least I've heard the Cambridgeshire DJ correcting the travel announcer for calling "speed cameras" "safety cameras"!

[mko9]

Maybe if they had built the road connecting a major port facility to major populations centers in England as a motorway intead of the A14, we wouldn't have all these problems. Notice that the 8 speed cameras between Cambridge and Huntingdon are all directly adjacent to laybys and poorly designed on ramps.

[shuvitupya]

Silent1 said:

How can you listen to the endless adverts and the useless presenters, atleast radio 1 doesn't have adverts

If Radio 1 had adverts and sacked all the so called Deejays, it would make it worth listening too.
Can't believe anyone actually listens to Radio 1.

[WHYOHWHY]

More bib patroling the a14, and picking up on the tailgating lorries would help, as well as someone checking the lorries coming into the country for faults.

On the last inspection at services on the a14 found 47% had faults that meant they weren't allowed to continue driving.

But then that doesn't generate any cash does it.

[supermono]

A few years ago I wrote off my van on the A14 near Cambridge when a deer, eclipsed by the lorry I was overtaking, suddenly appeared on my bumper.

The recovery truck driver said it's a really busy stretch of road for him with accidents. I asked if the speed cameras had improved things (obviously I knew they couldn't have) and he said something like "Christ no! That's when it all started!".

SM