How Motorways Work...

[c2R]

...or a lesson to you all*

http://www.howmotorwayswork.co.uk/index.htm


*except those of you living in America

[ujay]

I like the guy's style, he even shows a litle sympathy towards the HGV driver(truckers to our American readers) though we're not all hairy assed Fat Boys and CB radio died the death 20 years ago, multi function mobile 'phones are more the style today.

He's kind of missed the point about speed limiting and getting there 58 secs. sooner. Though the speed is limited the power is not. This means that once you reach 56 mph you can sit on that speed for the rest of the slab, up hill, down hill makes no difference. If you come across a centre lane driver(remember HGV cannot use the outside lane) and have to drop your revs then the time it takes to get back up to speed will make quite a difference to your journey time once you've had to do it a couple of dozen times. It's also why HGVs pull out at the drop of a hat, if you don't take your chances when you can you'll sit on 40 for ever, but that's no excuse for not indicating in plenty of time, at the least it gives the driver behind a chance to co-operate and move into the outside lane out of your way.
Car drivers who don't understand these points will easilly add half an hour to your journey, cutting into efficiency, temper and the bosses profits, but perhaps more importantly, cutting into the driver's tea break.

All car owners should be made to drive a truck before they can pass their test, perhaps then they will understand why they have a homocidal maniac on their tail.

UJ

[ElChevelle]

You and I don't have the time and your monitor will run out of ink before I'm finished.

[rockouthippie]

Is there some gentility among the truckers in the UK that makes them tolerate cars?.

Here in the USA we make sure all of our truckers have copious quantities of methamphetamine and alcohol. We think it creates a more exciting travel experience.

[ujay]

Stereotypes that don't really exist in great numbers over here. Most truckers are pretty professional, even more so in France were they get treated very well. "Camion" is the password for a discount on lunch along any French road. I've never been one for the truck stop mentality, I prefer to overnight in town when I can and go see the local pubs or cafes.

We have a tradition over here of flashing trucks in and out, do you do that in the US, or is it a Euro thing ?

UJ

[ElChevelle]

Flashing in and out?

[zootm]

Truckers have generally seemed quite civil when I've encountered them on the motorways (obviously not when I've been driving, since I can't, but when I've been with people). I don't have a serious problem with them.

[Bilbo Baggins]

The site seems to be missing the most obvious of British road users that deserve special levels of hate: white van drivers.

[gaekwad2]

http://www.howmotorwayswork.co.uk/white_van.htm

edit: ok, "coming soon"

[sgtfuzzbubble011]

We have a tradition over here of flashing trucks in and out, do you do that in the US, or is it a Euro thing ?

If you mean flashing your headlights to signal a trucker that he can change lanes, then yes, some of us more civilized and intelligent Americans do that (which seems to be quite a small percentage).

When I get a chance, I'll read that site in its entirity. I'm sure I could write a small book on the very same subject and probably cover every single topic as that site and then some.

[Dark Ninja]

Originally posted by ujay

It's also why HGVs pull out at the drop of a hat,
UJ

same with robin reliants
other car drivers dont realise that these two moving objects have really bad acceleration
i mean,whats 2 seconds to them just cause they let a slow moving car into the traffic,
they can get it back with a 0-60 time of 4.2 seconds

[c2R]

truckers in the UK generally are quite good, and some of the best drivers on the road.

the problem comes as we have some remaining stretches of D2 Motorway (2 lanes in each direction with central reservation and hard shoulders).

A notable example is the M.11, which also has some very steep hills. Often, during rush hours the entire road is slowed to 56mph because one unloaded HGV can go quicker uphill, and the loaded one can go quicker downhill - so they are forever pulling out.

What's even more annoying is the government have pulled the widening to D3M from the roads programme *again* - it's like a carrot and stick election promise for them - vote for us and you'll get all these roads built. Oh wait, now we're in we're actually not going to bother doing that.

As an interim solution peak hours HGV overtaking bans on stretches like this would be a good idea...

[fwgx]

Gah! He complains about middle lane drivers and yet freely admits that the inside lane is always doing 56mph because of the trucks. Nothing wrong with doing 70 in the middle lane if the slow lane is going 14mph slower than you.

The people I hate are those that tail gate you in the outside lane when you're already doing 90 and there is nowhere to pull in because everyone else is doing 75.

Motorbikes are the worst they tail gate you, I keep my eye on them and then suddenly they're gone and you don't know where because they're in your blind spot. I had a guy almost overtake me doing 90 on the dirt bit on the outside of the motorway when it was solid traffic so I couldn't pull in and I couldn't go any faster because I had someone in front of me - Jackass.

[rockouthippie]

Originally posted by ujay

We have a tradition over here of flashing trucks in and out, do you do that in the US, or is it a Euro thing ?

UJ

Nah, we usually just pass. If you flash your lights, it's usually to warn the other driver that they have no lights, or to warn other drivers about a speed trap.

You have to be careful about flashing your lights though. Sometimes mexican gangs drive around with no lights. If you flash at them, they will shoot at you. I guess it's some sort of mexican gang sport.

[Smeggle]

What you mean they [are] actually supposed to work?wow! news on me

remembers reading [somewhere] M1 motorway opens - 6mnths pass by: M1 motorway obsolete - Design did not take into account that traffic density would exceed in 6 mnths what was designed for 10years after lol

[c2R]

Originally posted by Smeggle
remembers reading [somewhere] M1 motorway opens - 6mnths pass by: M1 motorway obsolete - Design did not take into account that traffic density would exceed in 6 mnths what was designed for 10years after lol

-rant-

I doubt that very much about the M.1 - It was built in the 50s/60s with enough lanes to last a long time - it was only in the late 70s that it began to be insufficient for the traffic using it.

I think you're thinking about the M.25 London Orbital Motorway - which today carries far more traffic than most other roads in the whole of Europe - this was too narrow from day 1 - but originally it was designed to be one of 4 orbital roads - some to cater for local traffic, some to cater for long distance. Some parts of these other roads were built (e.g. the East and West Cross routes in London, or the North Orbital Road in Hertfordshire).

Basically there was a big planning error, where noone took local traffic into account that would just hop on the motorway and hop off again a junction or two later. That and lots of distribution depots and new housing estates have cropped up around it since opening in the early-mid 80s, which has meant more traffic.

Furthermore, it is a victim of its own success in that it is quicker for traffic travelling from the channel ports at Dover/Folkestone and heading for Southampton, Bournemouth, Exeter, or the West Country to travel up the M.20 from Kent to London, then round the M.25, before going back down to the coast again, and all because successive governments have cut down the roads programme, rather than actually investing in cleaner fuels for cars, which would be their position if they actually cared about the environment.

-/rand-