Dual Carriageways
Posted: Mon 14 July, 2008 Filed under: Driving, Thoughts 4 Comments »I know, I’m writing a lot about driving standards at the moment – it’s mainly because I seem to be doing one hell of a lot of driving at the moment on some of the poxier roads in the region, namely the A14, A127, M11 and M25.
The great majority of those roads are dual-carriageway. Obviously the M25 isn’t, and a small section of the M11 isn’t – but the great majority is dual-carriageway.
And the more I drive on them, the more I’m convinced that if there were one new law/rule that would improve traffic flow and reduce road congestion (and, not coincidentally, driver frustration) it would be to insist that truck drivers can’t overtake on dual carriageways.
I’ve lost count of the number of times over the last few weeks where the entire road has been held up because two or three fuckwit bastard truck drivers have been playing leapfrog down the M11. All it does is lead to jammed up traffic – not stationary, but jammed up and queueing behind the trucks for miles, which just then leads to people being stupid and making stupid manoeuvres any time they see a gap. God knows, it’s tempted me on occasion to drive past the shit-for-brains twats on the hard shoulder. I never have – but dear Lord, it’s been a temptation.
So yes, to sort out a lot of driver frustration and traffic hassle, that’s the law that should be made. No overtaking for truck drivers. And if they don’t like it, well, they shouldn’t have driven like arseholes in the first place.
I presume, rather than just “dual carriageway”, you mean “two-lane dual carriageway” – because the M11 and M25 technically both classify as “dual carriageway” even if they have 2, 3, 4 or more lanes in each direction.
But, you have a point. Near to Tamworth, on the M42, they’ve been trialling a scheme on and off for the last couple of years which prohibits HGVs overtaking between the hours of 7am and 7pm. Not sure what the findings of the trial are, but it certainly sounds like common sense.
Well, I was meaning “dual carriageway” as in “dual carriageway, not motorway”.
But I get what you mean, so yes, two-lane dual carriageway is what I’m whittling on about.
I think it’s caused by cruise control on the lorries. One lorry is travelling at approximately 1mph faster than another lorry and they can’t be assed to switch the cruise control off.
Lorry drivers can be twats! Why don’t we look at the French system and shove the majority of heavy haulage off the roads until night time ….. Thorntons do it, I watched them open up and deliver, lock up and drive off many times when I was walking to work really early in the morning. The French manage it so there’s no reason we can’t.
Either that or go green and force the fuckers onto rail for longer journeys.