On Saturday I had to travel eastbound on the section of the the M42 which allows use of the hard shoulder as a 'proper' carriageway lane. A first time for me.
Traffic was very slow on the 'main' carriageway, so I stayed on the HS and drifted past it all at a little under the 40mph limit. On the approach to a junction I noticed overhead signs saying, "use hard shoulder for junction only" - or words to that effect. Realising that I would have to barge my way into almost stationary traffic to my right I decided to exit the M42 at the junction and rely on my borrowed SatNav to make up another (non-motorway) route home.
So up the slip road to the junction roundabout, then noticed that it was possible to re-join the M42...... 'Go on', I thought - and tootled down the slip road to join the hard shoulder again. Continue to bypass stationary traffic and repeat procedure at the next junction. Traffic thinned out after this junction, so normal service was resumed.
This left me feeling morally guilty of a driving offence - but what is the legal position on doing this? I've seen drivers using a right hand lane to bypass queueing traffic at a roundabout by doing a '360' on the roundabout. Is this a similar sort of thing? If it's strictly an offence, then what is it - careless? inconsiderate? dangerous? un-British?
In my defence, the decision to exit the first time was to get off the motorway and find another route - what followed was a bit less laudable, I guess.....
Edited by OldSock on 13/11/2007 at 09:29
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Shhhhhhh...don't want everybody to join in do we?
Off and over is my standard procedure for a quick(er) journey on a clogged motorway - works well on sections on the M25. Hard shoulder use on the M42 makes this motorway even better for doing this!
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That's the problem I think, Wilco. It might be construed as 'inconsiderate' because clearly if everyone did it there'd be chaos!
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Un-British, but no worse than that.
Back in the late '60s when the police still had traffic patrols on all main roads, I was travelling up the A1 at a great rate of knots, flat out in a Morris 1100 so not that great, and saw a police car ahead. I slowed to 70 and stayed about 100 yds behind it. He went off at the next slip road but came back on behind me - fortunately I hadn't speeded up so he eventually lost interest.
I'll also admit to going 270 degrees all the way round a roundabout when turning left on occasions.
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back in the good ole 70"s me and a mate took over a roundabout till we were both dizzy
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Wow, how do you make going all the way round a roundabout only 270 degrees? Sounds like a neat party piece. ;-)
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OldSock, you are not alone in this practice and I for one applaud you for your common sense. The idea of using the hard shoulder at peak times on the M42 was supposed to ease traffic congestion so when the overhead gantry tells you to use the hard shoulder you are perfectly entitled to do so. Up until you see the matrix that says 'hard shoulder for this exit only' then by my reckoning all is good.
Why sit there like an idiot in stationary traffic in lanes 1, 2 & 3 when there is an extra lane that is almost devoid of traffic? I also think that the use of the hard shoulder on the M42 hasn't been that effective in cutting down on the jams, they still occur on regular occasion. The biggest problem that I have noticed is travelling southbound on a weekday morning the traffic bottlenecks around junctions 8 to 6 and you always end up in a massive jam.
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Wow how do you make going all the way round a roundabout only 270 degrees? Sounds like a neat party piece. ;-)
Alright, technically you go 45 degrees left, 360 degrees all the way round and then 45 degrees left to exit - but the net effect is 270 degrees.
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"They" will have you on film and you may get a letter inviting you to contribute to a certain fund!
Were the signs saying you could use it or were they unlit?
Edited by ijws15 on 13/11/2007 at 13:06
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"They" will have you on film and you may get a letter inviting you to contribute to a certain fund! Were the signs saying you could use it or were they unlit?
The overhead gantry signs did indeed say the hard shoulder was in operation, accompanied by a '40' limit sign. I could well argue that I did indeed 'use' the junction, as later stated on the sign. What's the definition of 'use' in this case :-)
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360 degrees all the way round and then 45 degrees left to exit - but the net effect is 270 degrees.
What is this, quantum mechanics?
Left turn: 90 degrees.
All the way round the roundabout first: 360 degrees.
Aggregate: 450 degrees.
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What is this, quantum mechanics?
I think Ruperts Trooper is using the same maths skills that the Manchester woman was using who thought minus8 degrees was higher than minus6 degrees. Reference the hidden thread which referred to an article in the Register
www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/08/scratchcard_anarc.../
Getting back to this thread, I don't see how OldSock could be succesfully prosecuted for any breach of any Rules. he could say in defence that he left at the junction in error and then rejoined, or that he left at that junction in order not to cause an obstrcution which he would have done had he waited for a gap to join the main lanes from the hard shoulder, and he was just doing his best to help maintain steady flow of traffic.
I am not aware of any Rule or Law that says he cannot do what he did. Perhaps the legal eagles on this site can throw some light on this.
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I also struggled with this - but I guess he means rotating the car though 180 degrees (as if it was on a turntable) rather than travelling 360 degrees round the roundabout!
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I'll also admit to going 270 degrees all the way round a roundabout when turning left on occasions.
I don't like it when I see people doing this, and a quick survey of others indicated that it is a generally disliked technique. I can't possibly repeat the comments which were made on this forum, although I quite agree with them.
On a double-mini that I have to go over quite frequently, there are three approach lanes - left=left or straight on, middle = straight on, right=right turn. Some PFDers go in the right lane, and right around. This winds people up immensely. One of these people had a friend and I behind him on the approach to the roundabout. Unfortunately (would you believe it!!) we had the misfortune to stall actually *on* the roundabout, blocking his way back on entirely, but in a position to let other traffic by! Well! Regrettably, it took a little while to re-start, too.
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I confess to using all of the above tactics, generally several times a week. To be honest, I don't care what other road users think - the only person that is important on the road is me. If I don't get manage to get home quickly (in less than 90 minutes), it puts me in a foul mood.
So I'm all for bringing in road charging if it gets other people off the road and means we can drive on the road in the manner to which they are supposed to be driven.
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It's from using a compass - 270 degrees clockwise from straight on is left - to me 360 degrees is once round the roundabout and then straight on from your original direction.
But back to the thread ......
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I can see this angle thing from both sides but surely it depends on what shape the roundabout is? Imagine if it was oval and you are starting on one of the long sides. That way you would have to go all of the way round the roundabout, back past where you started and once again heading in the direction from which you first started, before turning left off the roundabout halfway up the oval.
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- works well on sections on the M25. Hard shoulder use on the M42 makes this motorway even better for doing this!
In some parts of the country the jobsworths on the cameras will take your reg number for hard shoulder use and you will get a nip in the post.
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In some parts of the country the jobsworths on the cameras will take your reg number for hard shoulder use and you will get a nip in the post.
The M42 hard shoulder running is legitimate - it's controlled by overhead gantries set in the control room at peak times. The OP wasn't suggesting using the hard shoulder in "normal" circumstances.
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ON - don't mean I use the H/S on the M25!! But you can use the dedicated exit lanes e.g. at A3 junction, go up and over the top. But don't tell everyone or they'll all be doing it....
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Wilco {P} Sorry - Not familiar with M25, thankfully ,
Edited by Webmaster on 13/11/2007 at 19:12
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Please sir, me sir, he was in France when he did a left after 270 degrees.
[/hand up]
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