Massive increase in accidents at M1 Roadworks

Cnics

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Hi guys.

I thought i'd just put this idea out to people and see if anyone else has any views or comments, particularly those living in the area.

I live 5 minutes from Junction 30 on the M1, and my Girlfriend currently lives a few miles from Junction24. So we both make the trip quite often between the 2 junctions.

However, as locals and those who travel through the area will know all too well, the M1 widening going off between junction 25 and 28 in both directions is causing chaos to the traffic conditions with a 50mph speed limit for some 20 miles of motorway or more.

The point of this thread however is to address the issue of the number of accidents i've spotted in the area over the last couple of months. Over a period of 10 days i travelled up or down the area no less than 5 times and on 5 out of 5 occasions there was an accident on the roads causing chaos. One completely closed the road between junction 26 and 25 south. One closed the road at 27 with queues back to 29A (the new junction). One caused tailbacks as far as the M18 and another appeared to do similar (though it was southbound as i travelled north.

Since then my much better half has had to come off the M1 early on 2 occasions and been delayed on 2 more by accidents.

WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THIS STRETCH OF ROAD?



Rob
 

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I think that the M5 has a similar record
 

johno2004

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I travel through these roadworks at least 3 times a week and i think the reason for the accidents is lack of consenstration because people driving at a constant 50mph for so long becomes boring and tedius and therefore people take there mind the job in hand and bobs your uncle drive in the back of some one or wonder off into a barrier.

I have seen this happen on at least two ocasions and nearly done it myself.

I know the speed limit is to protect the workforce and drivers alike but for the majority of the roadworks the 70 limit would be ok as most of the work is on the hard sholder which is barriered off and lanes are only slightly narrower than normal.
 

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I travel through these roadworks at least 3 times a week and i think the reason for the accidents is lack of consenstration because people driving at a constant 50mph for so long becomes boring and tedius and therefore people take there mind the job in hand and bobs your uncle drive in the back of some one or wonder off into a barrier.

I have seen this happen on at least two ocasions and nearly done it myself.

I know the speed limit is to protect the workforce and drivers alike but for the majority of the roadworks the 70 limit would be ok as most of the work is on the hard sholder which is barriered off and lanes are only slightly narrower than normal.

You do have a good point there on the boring speed
 

PeterCLK

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I remember the 3 day week in the 70's.
We were all restricted to 40 mph (I think)
Driving up the motorway was positively dangerous as the traffic all "bunched" and no one dare overtake. Could not get out of the way of the heavies.

Drove up the M6 J32 - 34 today and my wife commented how dangerous these long stretches of 50 feel - again get "bunching" and narrow lanes.
 

Alex M Grieve

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I think the speed does play a big part in it. The other factor is the narrower lanes.

Agreed. I think another factor is that experienced drivers gauge distances such as the width of their vehicle, and space on either side, subconsciously.

At the slower speeds, you become conscious of the adjacent vehicles and start making conscious corrections to your position in the lane - and it is never as subtle as the subconscious control you usually have.

It is a bit like a drunk man driving - the corrections are more clumsy and, if you don't crash, you might easily be breathalysed for "erratic driving".

It think that is a factor in vehicles colliding with each other or the central reservation, in spite of the fact that there is sufficient room.
 

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We were caught up in a 14 car pile up this time last year in the M1 widening. Claire stopped the car without hitting the car in front (brake assist is great) and the Corsa that couldn't stop behind us was kind enough to slide down the central reservation rather than turn my E into a compact version.
Since then I've travelled the 20+ miles of 50mph and narrow lanes regularly and not seen than many accidents. The lanes are very narrow and I am never than keen on being close to an artic in lane 2 when I'm in lane 3 as he only has to drift a couple of feet and I would have no where to go.
 

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That is another good comment, the lorrys that use both the inside and middle together does make it a bit daunting passing or driving along side in the 3rd lane.

I think it would be much safer if the lorrys were confined to inside lane only.

On the other hand i would like to see the roadworks taken down to two much wider lanes which woud also give the workers more room on the hard shoulder hense safer.After all the national limit on dual carriage ways is 70 so no reason why roadworks could not be 70
 

derby dave

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on sunday we witnessed a swiss plate porche 4x4 driving with no regard to the 50mph limit under-taking and driving like a t**t i presume they can get away with it on foreign plates
 

JEZ.S320L

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on sunday we witnessed a swiss plate porche 4x4 driving with no regard to the 50mph limit under-taking and driving like a t**t i presume they can get away with it on foreign plates

Yep - in exactly the same way that Eastern European 'drivers' get away with it.

p.s. GB-plated vehicles get away with it here, too.!
 

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On the other hand i would like to see the roadworks taken down to two much wider lanes which woud also give the workers more room on the hard shoulder hense safer.After all the national limit on dual carriage ways is 70 so no reason why roadworks could not be 70
A lot of road works on the motorways now have 3 narrow lanes rather than 2 wider ones. I think this is because they have so much traffic to contend with and the delays from forcing 3 lanes into 2 makes massive tailbacks and associated accidents. Having 3 slower moving lanes keeps the traffic flowing (as long as there isn't any accidents...)
 

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That is another good comment, the lorrys that use both the inside and middle together does make it a bit daunting passing or driving along side in the 3rd lane.
I think it would be much safer if the lorrys were confined to inside lane only.

I doubt that it would be,as one of the lorry drivers,I can tell you that most of us know exactly how wide and how long our vehicles are and have no trouble staying within the lane markings.
We also know how to maintain a steady 50 mph,something which is beyond far too many car and van drivers.
Perhaps,as as an experiment,cars should be restricted to the nearside lane,so those of us who are only there to earn a living can make some progress.
There are few more frustrating things than two car drivers,neither doing much over 45 mph,travelling through the entire 13 miles side by side,slowing even more on the hills because they haven't the wits to realise that the car needs more power to climb them.
No doubt,they then drive home and regale their families with tales of lorries which took miles to overtake each other.

Regards,
Nick.
 

Blobcat

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I doubt that it would be,as one of the lorry drivers,I can tell you that most of us know exactly how wide and how long our vehicles are and have no trouble staying within the lane markings.
We also know how to maintain a steady 50 mph,something which is beyond far too many car and van drivers.
Not in my experience, a lot of lorries stay on the 56mph limiter as they take the view that the average speed cameras have enough tolerance built in so they don't have to slow down. They then keep switching between lanes 1 & 2 to overtake cars maintaining 50mph and also tailgating cars in lane 2 because they don't wish to slow down. Doing a legal 50mph with a HGV pushing with no opportunity to pull into lane 1 is not a fun experience. The HGW may well be able to see into the distance so can brake in an emergency, it doesn't however give them the right to sit on the bumper of the vehicle in front.
Perhaps,as as an experiment,cars should be restricted to the nearside lane,so those of us who are only there to earn a living can make some progress.
It is not just lorry drives that earn their living by driving, I doubt many people use that stretch of the M1 for a fun drive!
There are few more frustrating things than two car drivers,neither doing much over 45 mph,travelling through the entire 13 miles side by side,slowing even more on the hills because they haven't the wits to realise that the car needs more power to climb them.
No doubt,they then drive home and regale their families with tales of lorries which took miles to overtake each other.

Regards,
Nick.
Not many cars do the 56 & 56.5 mph overtaking maneuver over a number of miles. Cars are also much easier to overtake as they are easier to see around and so very much shorter.
 

Dosco

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When they started to widen the MI between Luton and Hemel Hempstead they imposed a 40mph limit in the narrow lanes after about 18 months and numerous accidents as well as horrendous tail backs both north and south they upped the limit to 50mph - a reduction in holdups due to accidents was the outcome.

Many truck drivers seem to pull out without any consideration to other road users. I have seen so many near misses as well as witnessing a couple of accidents as a result of such action I always give them a VERY wide berth.

The no overtaking experiment on the A14 dual carriageway just west of Kettering is one of the best ideas I have seen, however some truck drivers seem to think it does not apply to them and that includes UK plated trucks.
 

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Not many cars do the 56 & 56.5 mph overtaking maneuver over a number of miles. Cars are also much easier to overtake as they are easier to see around and so very much shorter.

Its great when they do this on dual carriage ways then they have just moved over as the dual carriage way becomes a single carriage way again.
 

ncooper

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Not in my experience, a lot of lorries stay on the 56mph limiter as they take the view that the average speed cameras have enough tolerance built in so they don't have to slow down. They then keep switching between lanes 1 & 2 to overtake cars maintaining 50mph and also tailgating cars in lane 2 because they don't wish to slow down. Doing a legal 50mph with a HGV pushing with no opportunity to pull into lane 1 is not a fun experience. The HGW may well be able to see into the distance so can brake in an emergency, it doesn't however give them the right to sit on the bumper of the vehicle in front.

Fair point and I speak only on behalf of the lorry drivers who take their work seriously and don't drive like prats.
I am the first to accept that there are duff drivers in lorries as well as other vehicles.
I see very few lorries "on the limiter" in those roadworks.

I will make the point again,as covered in another thread,that lorries are fitted with calibrated speedometers,checked every two years and recalibrated every six.
The result is that when a lorry speedometer indicates 50 mph,it is is doing 50,not around 45-48 as many cars are.I think this is why lorries are often seen to overtake.

As to car drivers,only last Monday night,I passed through these roadworks around 11pm.
Traffic was light,nevertheless there were two cars which never left the centre lane and never achieved 50 mph,slowing down at each small hill,throughout the entire stretch.
I didn't feel the need to push them on but the antics of the other car and van drivers trying to get round them kept me entertained throughout.

Regards,
Nick
 

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Whilst the vast majority (and I'm sure you're one) of lorry drivers are very good the severity of any accident involving a HGV is almost always greater.
 
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Cnics

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Unfortunately the transportation costs are incredibly high as it is. Nobody enjoys seeing how much they can spend on a tank of fuel. But 1mpg to a heavily laden truck may be 10% or more. Using your foot to control your speed instead of your vehicles electronic based limiter can really increase your consumption. Try telling your tight arsed boss that you sat at 54mph using your foot (increasing fuel consumption vastly) so as not to cause a dozen cars to have to slow down and increase their journey time by several seconds.

There are good and bad drivers of every type of vehicle and poor reactions and driving standards of any vehicle can cause unbearable consequences.

If a car doing a TRUE 50 in the middle lane can't pull over to lane 1 and allow a lorry doing a TRUE 56 past (on a 70mph stretch of motorway) and the consumption of the lorry goes up by 10% - 15% because of it, who pays? The driver? the haulage company? Unlikely. Say it's a lorry delivering to your local supermarket, your price of shopping will go up. Incredibly small amounts, but the cost has to be made back somewhere.
 

Iain the gadget

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I think that a vital point is missing here. The outer lanes whether they are speed restricted by roadworks or not are for overtaking not 'parking' in.
I believe that more effort should be put into educating drivers into pulling back in after completing an overtake. Too many times I get the arse with drivers who just sit in the middle or outside lanes and when they do pull over to let you pass look at you as if you are doing something wrong!
Also, on dual carriageways lorries should be severley restricted from overtaking other slow moving vehicles unless they have sufficient power and speed to get past them. Again, I have been held up many,many times because a lorry has pulled out on me to overtake a slow mover and we have spent what seems an age for him to complete his overtake by which time a long queue has developed behind me!
I'm sure I'm not alone on this one. :mad:
 


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