The hard shoulder is not a short cut

There has been a recent spate of incidents where motorists have resorted to driving on the hard shoulder to avoid delays.

Police have warned motorists they could be dicing with death by driving the wrong way along the motorway to avoid these jams.

Officers say they will clamp down on any drivers performing illegal manoeuvres to escape hold-ups.

Examples of such behaviour could be found after two serious accidents on the M62 where frustrated commuters were stuck on the motorway for several hours. There were huge tailbacks when the motorway was closed for more than nine hours near Leeds in a double fatal smash and on days later it was shut for four hours in both directions following a crash at junction 25. It culminated in reports of motorists using the hard shoulder or doing u-turns to escape the congestion.

Use of the hard shoulder, other than in an emergency, is an offence and prevents the emergency services from gaining swift access to the scene.

Load of bull

Motorists heading home after the Bank Holiday weekend were held up by cows on the motorway.

The animals got loose from the horsebox they were travelling in on the anti-clockwise stretch of the M25 between Junction 5 and 6 after it was involved in an accident.

A Highways Agency spokesman said the motorway was closed in both directions because of fears the two bulls and a cow could have run across the central barrier and caused a serious accident on the other carriageway.

The two bulls were herded into a nearby field but the cow proved harder to catch and eventually a vet had to be called to sedate her on the hard shoulder!

Flashing: dos and dont’s

A few months back a lady spotted the driver behind her flashing his lights and waving at her on the M61 motorway; she thought he was a “nutter”.

But it turned out the car behind was only trying to point out that she had left her purse on the car roof after filling up with petrol.

She eventually pulled onto the hard shoulder of the motorway and was amazed that her purse was still on the roof — after travelling around 5 miles.

She was reported to have said: “I had no idea what the man was trying to tell me. I thought he was a bit of a nutter. I didn’t know what he was doing.

“When he started waving his wallet, I realised what he meant and I pulled over. I was really surprised that my purse was still there. I would like to say thank you to the driver. Money, my driving licence and all my cards were in there.”

This story raises several serious questions:

1) Does loosing cash, valuables and credits cards constitute an emergency?

2) Is risking your life on the most dangerous part of a motorway to fetch a lucky wallet or designer bag really worth it?

3) Should you distract a driver on a motorway even if your reasons are honest?

Put yourself in their places, what really constitutes an emergency…

Let us know what you think.