Road traffic warning

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Thu 3 Sep 2020 15:34
Road traffic warning - Gerry Sanderson

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT BY FARMING AGGRAVING ROAD TRANSPORT

Farming Aggravating Road Transport (F.A.R.T.)

Today are issuing this warning in connection with their operations.

Corn and root crop harvesting will shortly commence in earnest leading to numerous slow moving tractor/ trailer movements between field and farms on roads in rural areas.

Within these movements they will be carrying out their annual competion to see who can amass the largest tail back of private vehicles. Pulling over leads to instant disqualification and avoided at all costs..

Private motorist held up are asked to curb road rage, use of profane language, finger gesturing and exercise patience until such time as a farm destination is reached.

Remember its is them that put food on your table.

Thank you.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 3 Sep 2020 18:28
Road traffic warning - gordonbennet

Thank you.

That's the bit that too many motorists forgot when tractor drivers used to pull over and let the traffic pass, a toot and wave from even a couple to show appreciation would have done wonders, and yes i never fail to thank someone for a courtesy.

This is just one small reason among legion why the gentlemen of the world have all but vanished.

Edited by gordonbennet on 03/09/2020 at 18:29

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 3 Sep 2020 18:38
Road traffic warning - RT

Many modern tractors have floodlights to enable work on the fields at night and sometimes forget to turn them off when getting onto the highway, thus blinding any drivers going towards them - swerving to avoid the lights is how I wrote my Subaru Outback off.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 3 Sep 2020 18:47
Road traffic warning - daveyjp

I was across in East Yorkshire earlier this week. On a narrow road I ended up behind a combine being driven to a new field, in front was a Range River with orange beacon to warn oncoming drivers.

At the first opportunity the combine pulled into a farm yard, radioed the Range Rover who pulled into a passing place and I was on my way.

The cutting head was in a field about half a mile further on.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 3 Sep 2020 19:26
Road traffic warning - Engineer Andy

Donj't forget it is also late holiday season - and with LOTS of people booked up on UK-based holidays in the popular destinations (I couldn't get anything in the area I normally go in Cornwall - and I wasn't prepared to pay silly prices), so be also aware of the roads full of weekend drivers or idiots not knowing where they are going, plus, of course, tens of thousands of caravaners (sorry Brompt), some of whom will drive everyone else up the wall by holding them up (to be fair, they mostly cannot do anything about it).

Made worse by some families not sending their kids back to school and going on holiday instead.

I heard of queues so bad last week go down to the West Country that it was taking an hour to drive 8 miles on many of the motorways and major A roads for long stretches. Glad I (at the moment) didn't get a holiday booked - to be honest, the weather hasn't been (and won't be for the rest of the month) great either.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 3 Sep 2020 22:50
Road traffic warning - sammy1

to be honest, the weather hasn't been (and won't be for the rest of the month) great either.

Well it is meteorological autumn!! The weather people have been driving me mad with their meteor seasons, where did this come from all of a sudden, just what is wrong with the traditional seasons!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 4 Sep 2020 10:28
Road traffic warning - Stackman II

The trouble nowadays is that modern tractors are huge and can happily tow a fully laden trailer at speeds of up to 40mph.

In the olden days when they could only do 15mph max it was easy to overtake them.

Now you are more often than that stuck in a 30mph convoy.

Still, they are feeding us and I always tell visitors that the countryside isn't a park, it's a factory floor.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 4 Sep 2020 11:12
Road traffic warning - Penumbra

Drove from Somerset to Dorking and back on Sunday expecting bank holiday madness. It was brilliant. No holdups on the way there and returning in late evening ours was the only vehicle in sight for a lot of the time on the A303

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 4 Sep 2020 11:38
Road traffic warning - Avant

I went from Dorset to Berkshire and back on Sunday - as you say, very little traffic. The Sunday of a bak holiday weekend is always a good time to travel: the grockles have gone to their destinations already and won't come back till Monday.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 4 Sep 2020 12:02
Road traffic warning - Terry W

Following slow moving farm machinery for say 10 miles at 30 mph feels frustrating.

But the 10 miles will be covered in 20 minutes. In normal conditions where you may expect on similar roads to average 45mph it would take 13-14 minutes.

You really need to get a life if you think that 5-7 minutes out of your day to enable someone to go about their business and feed you is a problem!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 4 Sep 2020 12:38
Road traffic warning - bathtub tom

The Sunday of a bak holiday weekend is always a good time to travel: the grockles have gone to their destinations already and won't come back till Monday.

I always liked travelling on a Saturday afternoon of a bank holiday when I had to; most folk seemed to like an early start and the traffic was usually light. The kids used to count the number of broken down cars on their side of the car in a competitive way, there was never a shortage.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 4 Sep 2020 14:39
Road traffic warning - concrete

We always spent time in the Minervois in France about late Sept. The grape harvest was under way and you simply followed the trail of grape juice from heavily laden trailers winding their way to the various wine presses in the villages of the area. Fairly light traffic in general but no one seemed to mind the inconvenience, just thinking of the result no doubt. Not too bad here in Kent. After the haymaking it goes quiet. Soft fruits are picked and processed on site and taken away in chilled trailer lorries. Most other farms are sheep or dairy so few tractor trailer journeys. Don't mind it myself, but I suspect that the plethora of delivery drivers around these here lanes do!!

Cheers Concrete

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 4 Sep 2020 23:35
Road traffic warning - Smileyman

It's worse when the farmers move about in rush hour (commute) time .. longer queues for instance. Or come face to face with a HGV and have to pass at walking pace because the road is not wide enough for anything else. If I cease WFH this month this is what I can look forwards to enjoying, especially on narrow twisty single carriageway A roads like the A251.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link