This may be a very very silly question but with all the congestion on our roads these days why dont we use the hard shoulder as another lane? The only time you see them used is very very rairly for a breakdown or when some numpty wants to use the phone or a pee break. We dont have them on dual carriage ways so why on motorways???

Silly question I know and i reckon im about to get slated .,,,, wait for it .,,,,haha

thought there were serious proposals somewhere to do this during rush hour ??

Because you can do 70 in any lane of the motorway, if you have a lapse of concentration you could take out a broken down vehicle in the hard shoulder. This happens even though you can not drive in the hard shoulder

And besides where would said broken down vehicles go? I'm sure you would be glad to have somewhere to change a flat etc..

So consider yourself flamed

Im not as staupid as I thought i was then .....haha

Sammy ......the same place a broken down vehicle goes on a dual carriage way i should think??????

ok ok shut up Gary stupid idea

When there is a serious accident and the emergency services want to get to the scene, the hardshoulder is full of stationary traffic and the accident victims bleed to death whilst waiting for medical attention



edited to change orientation of thumb

[Edited by ProperCharlie - 7/7/2003 11:36:33 AM]

Just imagine if Mr & Mrs Somebody out for their annual m'way trip, religiously sricking to the middle lane, and their car conks out 'cos they're not used to doing more than 50 miles per month...

Where would they stop? No hard-shoulder 'cos thats full of traffic, so I guess it'd be either the central reservation (closer to driver ) or prehaps just stop where they are

I can imagine the carnage & headlines now...

M'ways are long stretches of road with no lay-bys/exits whereas a dual normally has these & more entrances/exits for people to nip off on.

I'd also prefer the emergency services to get to me quickly if I came across Mr & Mrs Somebody stopped in the middle of the m/way

if you used puplick transport you wouldnt have to worry about breaking down !!!

There's no hard shoulder on a dual carriageway but at least there are lay-by's for you to attempt to make it into should the car pack up!
Start using the hard shoulder as another lane and you have no hope of getting out of the way of that sleepy artic driver

thought so see here
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/.../ha/pdf/06.pdf

[Edited by mattstant - 7/7/2003 11:53:47 AM]

I've seen some numpties doing this on the M25, 2 miles prior to the next slip road... This prevented a fire engine from getting to an accident in time, the driver burned to death.

"very very rarely" break down?

And you are 'TVR' Gary?

I'll get my coat

One of those clever "think tanks" that cost so much of the tax payer's money suggested that we should use the hard shoulders as a normal lane to try to ease congestion.

Pity they don't get people who can actually drive on these committees.

Les

I heard somewhere that the hard shoulder is the most dangerous lane on the motorway. that's why you are advised to get the hell out of your car if you break down. Probably most dangerous due to HGV drivers having a little nap whilst driving.

why dont we drive on the otherside of the motorway if its quiet?

or tow each other along like large trains!

2 Jags Prescott's job seems safe then.

Where would broken down TVR's stop if we had no hard shoulder!!!

with you lot out the way TVR's could plod on down the fast lane.....they only breakdown out of boredom stuck behind you 0-60 one trick ponies

Look on the bright side - if we start using the hard shoulder as another lane, it'll still be empty, but just maybe a few people will start using the inside lane

why not just start building lay-by's every mile or so rather than whole new lanes, got to be quicker and easier and cheaper