Safe Speed Forums

Another part of driving that is very frustrating.
I drive for a living motly in a class1 hgv.
If the police want people to take their signs more seriously then they must learn to turn them off when the incident is over. Ive seen signs left on for 3 days. Regularly signs are left on for many hours after the event is cleared. Information is only useful if it accurate.

the craziest sign ive seen was one of those little signs on the central reservation on the M4 going back a couple of years. One sign showed a speed limit of 80MPH........ try that one in court !!!

The ones on the A14 heading toward Huntingdon and Cambridge from Kettering generally say very useful things like, "Think! Don't Phone and Drive!" whilst up ahead there is a 200-vehicle pile-up that goes unannounced.

I'm so glad my taxes have gone to pay for that useful bit of kit.

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Carl Prescott

This morning there were 2 separate accidents on the M1 southbound; 1 near J30 (chesterfield) and one near J28 (A38 alfreton).

After I'd been crawling for some 10-15 mins I came across the 1st o'head sign, showing an advisory 40 mph limit! No mention on the previous sign of a queue, no mention of either accident on any sign, just the farcical 40 limit...

At this point the accidents had been on the radio and the police were aware ('cos they'd passed on the hard shoulder).

If the gov't is going to spend so much on these signs, they could at least get them to show more useful info!

I use the A1/M1 link road around Leeds on a daily basis, and am finding this issue increasingly frustrating. On average, along this stretch of m'way, the overheads are on three to four times a week, all without apparent justification. Maybe they are switched on for good reason, earlier in the day but for heaven's sake... turn them off when the incident is clear!. No wonder drivers choose to ignore them.


Kaz

I think that one of the sign operators must read this forum!

Southbound M1 today, another accident near J30, signs were warning of it before J37, and on the northbound side were warning of the A1 closure in North Yorks.

Credit where it's due (for a pleasant change).

noting all of the non messages and past sell by date messages mentioned, What annoys me is the huge structures they use.

The vast majority of them are on huge pillars, they then reach across the highway. As they are s large thepillars have to be as close to the highway as possible. So they have to build crash barriers to avoid any car hitting them, and simply deflect some unlucky s*d back into the road to be hit by the following traffic.

They look enourmously expensive to me. Designed by a commitee


why didnt they just pin them to the bridges and various other gangways they already have across the Motorways ?? Attach them to direction signs, or to lamposts in sets of three to deliver the message..

or is that to simple and to cheap , I must look out for new entrants to the rich 500 list. and see if they work for the DFT .

rgds
bill

I reckon if they were pinned to bridges they would soon become fodder for 15 year old boys that like to smash stuff up.
I hate to admit it but I was a little s**t when I was that age, its exactly the kind of thing I would have done.
Its a shame the little buggers havent taken a liking to smashing up scameras

You have a point though, there are plenty of bridges that are out of the way enough to be safe from vandalism

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In the old days they employed the thief taker general to catch highway robbers...these days they simply employ the thief takers to do the robberies

I seem to remember hearing it was quite a popular pastime to try and burn gatsos, although I'm not sure how one would go about such a thing - they're made of metal, aren't they!?

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

There are some quite spectacular photos of a Gatso being incinerated here...
http://www.tuftufclub.com/english/index.htm

Click on the menu item "Photos" then scroll down to this entry:

18-09-2003 Burning borderline


(the url doesn't link straight to the correct page, hence the "find it yourself" instructions).

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p.s. I am still absolutely floored by Paul's death. May 2008 be the greatest ever for SafeSpeed. His spirit lives on.