"Red X Means Lane Closed" - Should drivers need this?
Discussion
thetapeworm said:
Spotted on the motorway gantry signs on both the M1 and the M62 this morning, no lane closures in place, just seemed like a general education exercise.
Have standards reached such a low that we have to give out highway code basics to people already piloting a lump of metal at 70mph?
Sadly yes, you only have to look at the constantly re-occuring, fog lights, MLM, overtake blocker, lights flashing on overtakes, tailgaters type threads that appear on here to know that the roads are full of muppets.Have standards reached such a low that we have to give out highway code basics to people already piloting a lump of metal at 70mph?
thetapeworm said:
Have standards reached such a low that we have to give out highway code basics to people already piloting a lump of metal at 70mph?
Yes - there are radio ads playing round the West Midlands too wih the same message. Unfortunately they don't ram home the point that 'you MUST NOT go beyond the signal in that lane'...Unfortunately I think we do in some parts.
I use the M42 pretty much everyday between jct 4 and 6, and they have the system where if it's too busy they open the hard shoulder for use.
The thing is, I see people use it when it's clearly not open (no speed limit on gantrys, no signs saying you can use it, and a big bloody "X" above it). What goes through their head? Would they do that on any motorway if it got a bit busy? Never seen any police to enforce it, even the cameras won't catch them, but they will catch the murderer doing 80 in a 70 on a clear stretch.
The worst is when you're coming up to your junction you want to exit at, and some tit pulls onto the hard shoulder undertaking you just before you pull off left. Then they look at you like you're in the wrong.
The problem is that most drivers just don't engage their brain when they get in a car, the act of driving comes 2nd or 3rd to something else, and they have their own bubble which everything ends outside of.
I use the M42 pretty much everyday between jct 4 and 6, and they have the system where if it's too busy they open the hard shoulder for use.
The thing is, I see people use it when it's clearly not open (no speed limit on gantrys, no signs saying you can use it, and a big bloody "X" above it). What goes through their head? Would they do that on any motorway if it got a bit busy? Never seen any police to enforce it, even the cameras won't catch them, but they will catch the murderer doing 80 in a 70 on a clear stretch.
The worst is when you're coming up to your junction you want to exit at, and some tit pulls onto the hard shoulder undertaking you just before you pull off left. Then they look at you like you're in the wrong.
The problem is that most drivers just don't engage their brain when they get in a car, the act of driving comes 2nd or 3rd to something else, and they have their own bubble which everything ends outside of.
stepej said:
Yes - there are radio ads playing round the West Midlands too wih the same message. Unfortunately they don't ram home the point that 'you MUST NOT go beyond the signal in that lane'...
I reckon that's true - I'm sure a lot of people regard it as an advance warning and don't realise that they must not proceed in that lane beyond the red X.
No, they shouldn't. But I expect there is also a factor of them having been trained by years of matrix sign warnings either many miles in advance of the problem, or where there is no problem, to ignore them, or at least, the first 2 or 3.
(Yes, I'm aware of why the above issues happen, and no, I don't have a solution, but the fact remains that false positive warnings only serve to train people to ignore them).
(Yes, I'm aware of why the above issues happen, and no, I don't have a solution, but the fact remains that false positive warnings only serve to train people to ignore them).
They've started posting this on the matrix signs ont he M25/A2 in Kent. I noticed it a couple of weeks ago and thought exactly the same thing - who really needs to be informed what a flashing red "X" above a specific lane means? Surely the whole point of symbols like these is that they are easy to read and in no way ambiguous in their meaning to any driver of any language.
"KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING - £60 FINE" would be a more useful message
lbc said:
If someone can't see a red X, they are not not going to be reading any sign.
Too busy on their mobile phones.
Good point.Too busy on their mobile phones.
"KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING - £60 FINE" would be a more useful message
percymk4 said:
Never seen any police to enforce it, even the cameras won't catch them, but they will catch the murderer doing 80 in a 70 on a clear stretch.
FWIW the cameras only trigger if there's a speed displayed on them. Some of the guys I work with (obviously not myself, I'm a responsible person) have been through them at 'some' speed without triggering them. I'm not even sure they work with speeds displayed, they only ever seem to flash once whenever I see them trigger in the opposite direction. The only one I would be wary of is the one coming into the M6/M42 junction from the M6 toll, I see that flash a lot, on one occasion it might have been without a speed displayed.
Also, I'm fairly sure I've seen one flash when someone drove through it while displaying a red 'X', although whether it was just for scare factor rather than a real nick
Mandown46 said:
Yes they are very much needed, the amount I people I see go straight through them towards a problem, is insane.
They also ignore lane closure wickets, and even the message boards reading 'lane 1 closed'
There is also campaigns relating to the above poster wanting people to keep left, they have been used for quite a while.
I've not seen any "keep left" messages in my area, which is an area that would probably benefit the most. Lane discipline on the A2 especialy is atrocious. They also ignore lane closure wickets, and even the message boards reading 'lane 1 closed'
There is also campaigns relating to the above poster wanting people to keep left, they have been used for quite a while.
I think it's a step in the right direction to be honest... however, still quite a way to go before we see the much needed "THERE ARE THREE, PERHAPS FOUR LANES ON THIS ROAD. MOVE THE f
k OVER."
Last night was quite extraordinary. Just passed junction 12 of the M1 and there was not a single vehicle in lane 1 or lane 2 for as far as I could see, however it was a nose to tail 48mph affair in lanes 3 and 4.
k OVER."Last night was quite extraordinary. Just passed junction 12 of the M1 and there was not a single vehicle in lane 1 or lane 2 for as far as I could see, however it was a nose to tail 48mph affair in lanes 3 and 4.
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