The Hard Shoulder.

[MrRook]

I often stop to take a leak on the hard shoulder. What else am I supposed to do - wet myself?

You'll do a lot more than just wet yourself if you get hit by something like what hit the car in the first post.

 

[Derekmr]

Lol! I don't care what it 'is', and I'm allergic to service station toilets.

Don’t care about you, what about others, maybe an ambulance or someone has an accident avoiding you?

 

[ElvisIsBeer]

I often stop to take a leak on the hard shoulder. What else am I supposed to do - wet myself?

Plan your trip and use motorway services like a civilised human being.

 

[Gunge]

Blah blah... do you lot walk around with ethereal circles of light floating above your heads or summat? Civilised human beings are the minority in motorway service stations - that's why I avoid them.... gawd knows what lurks in the toilets. And planning a motorway trip is laughable; what should have been a two-hour motorbike blast to the seaside on Saturday gone, turned out to be closer to four hours cos of delays due to roadworks or summat. Maybe I should just buy a catheter + bag huh?

 

[Derekmr]

Blah blah... do you lot walk around with ethereal circles of light floating above your heads or summat? Civilised human beings are the minority in motorway service stations - that's why I avoid them.... gawd knows what lurks in the toilets. And planning a motorway trip is laughable; what should have been a two-hour motorbike blast to the seaside on Saturday gone, turned out to be closer to four hours cos of delays due to roadworks or summat. Maybe I should just buy a catheter + bag huh?

Funny how everyone else manages

 

[Chippy_Tea]

@Derekmr - i don't know if you saw the "don't feed Gunge" sign posted earlier but assume you didn't, if you haven't already realised Gunge loves a good wind up bear it in mind if he posts again.

 

[James Jennett-Wheeler]

I broke down recently and was told to stay in the car by my break down service... I ignored them... :p

P.s. also the highway officers were stupid... I thank the logical police man who insisted they took the sensible option and brought us to service station rather than a glorified 'hard shoulder' breakdown area thing on the slip road to it lol!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I broke down recently and was told to stay in the car by my break down service... I ignored them..

Are you willing to name and shame because they should be reported for asking their customers to stay in the car.

 

[James Jennett-Wheeler]

They were alright really, I think just a misinformed telephone adviser. Just the breakdown service that came with our bank. They took us all the way home (from Middlesborough to West Midlands) so exactly unhappy with it...

 

[yeastinfection]

The automated message when you call in to a breakdown company explains that you should exit the vehicle on passenger if safe to do so and wait away from the vehicle.
Lots of people ignore this and sit inside. Weather dependent I guess.

Is there away I block what gunge posts ,?

 

[Thumper]

As a regular cyclist can I point out that (statistically) more people were killed by cars* before breakfast this morning than were killed by cyclists in a year.

Hardly surprising given the relative weight and velocity of a bike compared to a car. I'd be far more interested in knowing how many times cyclists collide with pedestrians over an average year, as opposed to car drivers.

I do try not to indulge in that favourite habit of the British motorist and demonise cyclists, but living in London I am constantly amazed at the number of cyclists who seem to think that traffic lights don't apply to them. Combine that with the fact that pedestrians tend not to look for bikes when stepping out into the road, and I'm willing to bet the number is quite high.

 

[Gunge]

The automated message when you call in to a breakdown company explains that you should exit the vehicle on passenger if safe to do so and wait away from the vehicle.
Lots of people ignore this and sit inside. Weather dependent I guess.

Is there away I block what gunge posts ,?

If I break down on the motorbike I don't have the luxury of being able to stay inside. But if an artic is bearing down on me whilst I take a squirt, I can always dive over the fence outta the way. My crash helmet and impenetrable leatherware will come in handy in such an event. As for blocking posts, Chippy's yer man.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Is there away I block what gunge posts ,?

Yes click the profile icon top right of the screen then on people you ignore.

 

[Wouter]

If I break down on the motorbike I don't have the luxury of being able to stay inside. But if an artic is bearing down on me whilst I take a squirt, I can always dive over the fence outta the way. My crash helmet and impenetrable leatherware will come in handy in such an event. As for blocking posts, Chippy's yer man.

Why can't you just soil yourself? Race car drivers and bicycle racers do it all the time.

 

[Spoon]

I'd be far more interested in knowing how many times cyclists collide with pedestrians over an average year, as opposed to car drivers.

Fair point, although I'd counter by pointing out that the average motorist treats the amber as 'floor it before it goes red' and I actually got sworn at the other day for crossing (green man flashing) as it was holding up MrAudi who thought the flashing amber meant he should go.

And obviously speed limits only apply to motorists within 50yds of one of those yellow boxes.

Glass houses and all that.

 

[Wouter]

Hardly surprising given the relative weight and velocity of a bike compared to a car. I'd be far more interested in knowing how many times cyclists collide with pedestrians over an average year, as opposed to car drivers.

I do try not to indulge in that favourite habit of the British motorist and demonise cyclists, but living in London I am constantly amazed at the number of cyclists who seem to think that traffic lights don't apply to them. Combine that with the fact that pedestrians tend not to look for bikes when stepping out into the road, and I'm willing to bet the number is quite high.

And the amount of pedestrians who bump into others on the streets is even higher .

Breaking the rules is highly dependent on the situations. Running a traffic light with a car is simply a major offense while with a bicycle it is not. Simply because the chance of the latter inducing serious harm to someone else is infinitely smaller.

I drive a car, motorcycle and bicycle often.
And honestly I am mostly astonished by how automobile drivers behave. Sure bikers do generally more stupid things, but still this is mostly their life they are playing with (I say mostly as in the chance is much lower). However I meet so drivers of cars who so extremely reckeless with someone elses life. And I find this completely insane. How dare you make the choice to take this risk for someone else. Where do these people get the idea that its up to them to take a 10% risk of someone else dying.

 

[MyQul]

You certainly wouldn't want to be run over by myquls machine...I heard it's made of cast iron salvaged from a victorian diving bell he found whilst mud larking on the banks of the Thames...

You definately wouldnt want to get hit by me as you'd get hit by my feet first which are roughly at nadgers height

 

[Cwrw666]

I think a lot of undertaking is caused by the frustration of middle lane hogging which i find one of the most infuriating habits we see on our motorways the police are supposed to be clamping down on it but with so few police on the roads and so many inconsiderate drivers its not going to stop any time soon.

Yes but so often you're in the middle lane because you're doing about 10mph faster than the slow lane. There's gaps between them however but you stick in the middle lane because as far as you're concerned you're about to overtake that next insider.

Then some **** in the fast lane which is otherwise totally empty wizzes across all 3 lanes behind you, passes you on the inside and then wizzes back out into the fast lane. And apparently it's your own driving that is all wrong...

 

[Thumper]

Glass houses and all that.

I hope you don't think I'm throwing stones. I'm not trying to turn this into a competition, let alone pretend motorists are less likely to be idiots. Merely pointing out that comparing the number of people killed by cyclists is not a good indication of how many people cyclists hit.

 

[Thumper]

Running a traffic light with a car is simply a major offense while with a bicycle it is not.

This is exactly the attitude I'm talking about. As far as the law is concerned it is literally the same offence. And while in a car the consequences are more likely to be fatal, hitting someone on a bike can still seriously injure people. Imagine a cyclist hitting some little old lady tottering across the pedestrian crossing?

Again, I'm not trying to turn this into a competition or pretend cyclists are "worse" than motorists, or even trying to defend motorists by some tortured and circuitous route. Dangerous driving is indefensible, as we all seem to agree. But I don't see how you can say that people have no right to take chances with other people's safety (and I agree that they don't), and fail to apply that same logic to cyclists. You have no more right to break my leg than you do to kill me.