Stopping on the hard shoulder to change a wheel

[saaby93]

Message is to not stay with your vehicle
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22651108
Does that mean the guy in the RAC or AA cant do anything with your car either?

In the past you'd stop on the hard shoulder if you thought your wheel had gone wobbly or to check the map to make sure you came off at the right exit.
the article
Is it an emergency if someone is about to empty their stomach or bowle contents inside your car?

[LeoSayer]

saaby93 said:

Does that mean the guy in the RAC or AA cant do anything with your car either?

I guess a big yellow van with flashing lights offer some visibility and protection to enable the AA/RAC to do their job in safety.

In practice though, I imagine you could put a flashing lighthouse with foghorns on the hard shoulder and some drivers would still contrive a way to crash into it.

[saaby93]

LeoSayer said:

I guess a big yellow van with flashing lights offer some visibility and protection to enable the AA/RAC to do their job in safety.

In practice though, I imagine you could put a flashing lighthouse with foghorns on the hard shoulder and some drivers would still contrive a way to crash into it.

Yep
So best to get the wheel changed and on your way as quick as you can?
Rather than waiting an hour or more in the danger zone?

[Twin Turbo]

When Mrs TT had a blow out on the M4, the first AA patrol refused to change the wheel as it was too dangerous. So, she and the 2 kids had to wait another 30mins for a second patrol that would.

Whilst I appreciate the dangers, surely ALL AA patrols should be expected to carry out wheel changes in such circumstances?

[Bluebarge]

Twin Turbo said:

When Mrs TT had a blow out on the M4, the first AA patrol refused to change the wheel as it was too dangerous. So, she and the 2 kids had to wait another 30mins for a second patrol that would.

Whilst I appreciate the dangers, surely ALL AA patrols should be expected to carry out wheel changes in such circumstances?

Don't think any employer can expect an employee to put himself in a position of danger, unless Police etc. If the employee wants to take the risk so be it.

So, they're not really the 4th emergency service.

[alangla]

Twin Turbo said:

When Mrs TT had a blow out on the M4, the first AA patrol refused to change the wheel as it was too dangerous. So, she and the 2 kids had to wait another 30mins for a second patrol that would.

Whilst I appreciate the dangers, surely ALL AA patrols should be expected to carry out wheel changes in such circumstances?

Strange. I thought normally if they thought it was risky then a Highways Agency/Transport Scotland support unit was called out & blocked lane 1. You certainly hear plenty of mentions on Radio 2 of lane 1 being blocked to allow an HGV to have an offside wheel changed.

[Fittster]

Bluebarge said:

Twin Turbo said:

When Mrs TT had a blow out on the M4, the first AA patrol refused to change the wheel as it was too dangerous. So, she and the 2 kids had to wait another 30mins for a second patrol that would.

Whilst I appreciate the dangers, surely ALL AA patrols should be expected to carry out wheel changes in such circumstances?

Don't think any employer can expect an employee to put himself in a position of danger, unless Police etc. If the employee wants to take the risk so be it.

So, they're not really the 4th emergency service.

It was fking cheeky to ever use the term 4th emergency service.

Police
Ambulance service
Fire Brigade
Coastguard

[CraigyMc]

BBC said:

Research suggests more than 800 people a year have been killed or injured in such incidents since 2000.

Fact: in 2008, there were 158 deaths on motorways (all causes).

Draw your own conclusions.

[joewilliams]

saaby93 said:

Yep
So best to get the wheel changed and on your way as quick as you can?
Rather than waiting an hour or more in the danger zone?

The advice is to move away from the vehicle and the road. Last time I had to stop on the hard shoulder, I was near one of the raised police vantage points and managed to get the car in there before it died.

I'd consider changing a nearside wheel if conditions were good and I could see up the road. There is no way I'd change an offside wheel next to a live lane.

[dave_s13]

Many years ago, before it was common knowledge to get out of your car when stuck in the hard shoulder, a friend of mine was sat in his car which was then punted off the road by a HGV.

Driver fell asleep, wollop. Very nearly killed him but managed to recover eventually.

You can understand peoples reluctance to get out of their cars though, in bad weather sitting on a mway embankment is not a nice place to be for any length of time.

[minky monkey]

When I used to get a job as a contractor for the AA on the motorway, it was always a case of "if it's quicker to repair than load the car, then repair it." However, having said that, I would never carry out a wheel change if it was next to the live lane. You only got to get a lorry drift through the wind, or driver lack of concentration and you're toast.

But then we only ever sent a low loader, never a service van. Too many potential problems even with a W/change. Send a service van, and then find out the spare's knackered or they're missing a locking wheel nut key and all of a sudden, you're waiting for another unit.

Generally, I'd always try to recover them off to a place of safety and then do it. A firm local to me had a driver killed on the M25 a few years back and it always makes you think as the lorries thunder past you!

[minky monkey]

This is what happened to a tyre fitter on the M25 a couple of years back.

[jurbie]

dave_s13 said:

You can understand peoples reluctance to get out of their cars though, in bad weather sitting on a mway embankment is not a nice place to be for any length of time.

It always amazes me how many people actually do stand as far up the embankment as they can after a breakdown. We're so used to seeing people do any number of stupid things in all sorts of scenarios yet the one piece of advice that pretty much everyone listens to is this.

[saaby93]

currybum said:

Nope...if you are on the hard shoulder, get out of the car and up the verge as far as you can and call for help.

Surely if the HGV is going to wander out of lane it's going to get the person who's been called? You're substituting one for the other but giving extra time for it to happen

How many wheel or nappy changes take place without a wandering HGV?

If the only safe way is to close lane 1, is that easy to put in place?
(What chance of the wandering HGV taking out lane 1 too?)

Edited by saaby93 on Friday 24th May 15:04

[rasg]

A driver working for my sister's courier/transport company died on the hard shoulder. Think it was the M4. One of the few instances where runflats are useful.

[orhan]

Been working for the AA for 12 years now and thats the one job I really hate. Dangerous does not cover wheel change at all ona hard shoulder.

[V8RX7]

Having changed a wheel on the hard shoulder it's not a fun experience.

But there really isn't a safe option.

[B'stard Child]

V8RX7 said:

Having changed a wheel on the hard shoulder it's not a fun experience.

But there really isn't a safe option.

I'd change a nearside wheel on the hard shoulder but an offside one...... Nope that's just silly

I'd drive along the hard should at a pedestrian pace till I'd reached the next exit and sod the tyre it wouldn't be repairable but I wouldn't be putting myself in danger trying to change it

[VictorMeldrew]

Having been just behind the artic that wandered onto the hard shoulder and wiped out a broken down car with a young girl in it several years ago on the M6, I can honestly say I would not stop on the hard shoulder if there was even the remotest possibility that my vehicle could move under its own steam, no matter how much damage it may cause to the vehicle.

I recently witnessed a breakdown/crash on the M1 where more than one vehicle was involved and were blocking the outside line. A group of probably 20 or so people were just stood about in the outside lane, making no attempt to move to safety, not even hopping over the armco into the central reservation. Unbelievable.

Edited by VictorMeldrew on Friday 24th May 15:54

[monthefish]

Twin Turbo said:

When Mrs TT had a blow out on the M4, the first AA patrol refused to change the wheel as it was too dangerous. So, she and the 2 kids had to wait another 30mins for a second patrol that would.

Whilst I appreciate the dangers, surely ALL AA patrols should be expected to carry out wheel changes in such circumstances?

Could she not 'limp' along the hard shoulder to the next exit with hazards on?

That what I would (and did) do.