Post by JNugentPost by b***@boltar.worldOn the radio yet again this morning - an accident at Clacket Lane
services. Is there something particularly bad about the way the exits
roads to this
service station have been designed? I've driven that part of the M25 more times
than is probably good for me but I haven't noticed anything unusual that
would give rise to so many accidents but clearly something is confusing some
motorists. Does anyone have any ideas?
I've asked the same question in the past, having noticed the same
thing. I remember one spectacuklar even in late 2004 when the M25 was
closed both ways between Sevenoaks and Godstone (A21 - A22) because two
(UK-registered) HGVs - going in the same direction - had collided with
each other one night and gone off the side of the carriageway, needing
to be recovered painstakingly over three days.
Needless to say, the whole region was in chaos. Even the northern side
of M25 was affected with diversions round the other way.
The cause is, at a minimum, reckless and inconsiderate driving by HGV
drivers (trying to get more out of the road than it can give in terms
of speed and capacity).
Some say it is because the area is the first really busy stretch of
motorway that foreign truck drivers encounter when coming along
M20/M26. But not all the worst incidents have happened when the road
was busy (as noted above, truck accidents often happen at dead of
night). And not all the accidents have involved foreign drivers.
The answer - there IS one - is to restrict HGVs to the nearside lane
only, 24/7/365.
It does seem that certain stretches of road attract a high proportion of
accidents or breakdowns.
In the last few months, that old favourite, the Dartford tunnel, seems
to be having a lot of breakdowns and lorries getting jammed. [A few
months ago, wasn't there fire which meant that it had to be closed for
nearly a week?]
On the M25, another favourite spot is the roadworks between J16 and 18,
past Rickmansworth.
On the M1, nearly every day there is one kind of incident or other in
the roadworks at the bottom end.
In roadworks, I've never really understood why there should be a greater
risk of accidents. In 50 years of driving, I've never seen one happen
there. [In fact, I've hardly ever seen a 'live' accident - except those
involving myself!]
And why do lorries choose to wait for roadworks before they break down?
--
Ian