did you know??

Question

That it is now illegal for UK Drivers to STOP on the hard shoulder of the motorway to rest?

There are always plenty of warning signs telling us to TAKE A BREAK as tierdness kills, but it ACTUALLY means we should pull into the next service station, NOT the hard shoulder. My mate got a fine last week of £80 for stopping on the hard shoulder. All she was doing was trying to wake herself up for her last hour of driving. A police car pulled up behind her and gave her a fine for stopping there!!!

How many of you think this is actually ridiculous? If your tierd and falling asleep at the wheel SURELY it makes more sence to pull over straight away, rather than RISK it and others saftey to make it to the next service station.

What are everyone elses thoughts?

Ok i got it wrong, i thought it was okay. But my mate was actually on her way to see her mum whom had been rushed into hospital. She lives quite a distance from her mum, so she had just got up and made a move to be with her.

I understand why its dangerous to do so but she tells me she had stopped two stations before to refresh herself and her tierdness just got the better of her on her last stretch.

Do any of you think that they could make MORE laybys where you CAN pull in off the motorway for people who DO get tierd between stations???

Answer 1

Sorry but I agree with the police on this one. It has ALWAYS been illegal to stop on the hard shoulder for anything other than an emergency, otherwise you prevent emergency services from getting to the real emergencies. I hate seeing blokes pull over on the hard shoulder too just to have a wee!

You should know you're tired and will possibly fall asleep a lot sooner than it would actually happen. As soon as you start to feel tired, you should do everything possible to keep you alert whilst driving to the next exit or service station (ie wind the windows down to let air in, turn you music up loud, start singing out loud etc)! It sounds to me like your friend should have exited the motorway sooner instead of taking the chance of continuing to drive for so much longer that she actually had to pull over!
I know you sympathise with your friend but surely as drivers you should know the highway code already AND, what if it was your crashed or broken down vehicle the emergency services couldn't get to because she was blocking the hard shoulder? Would you have felt differently then?

Answer 2

Resting on the side of the road is very dangerous and that's why it's generally illegal. I've never been to the UK, but in the US, the last place I'd want to rest is the shoulder of a highway. Drivers aren't always paying attention and it would be very easy to be hit from behind,especially at night or during inclement weather. How often do you see large trucks(lorry) resting on the shoulder except to check their load or broken down? And, if you were off on the shoulder, could you imagine a large truck not seeing you there or just drifting off the road for a moment and you happen to be there?

Try resting at a rest station,especially if you are female traveling alone. Lock your doors and park conspicuously (well lit or marked). I've driven a lot for business in the past year and a half (70,000 miles ) and no matter how tired I've been, I've always waited until the next rest station.

Answer 3

It has always been illegal to stop on the hard shoulder except in an emergency. BUT it is DANGEROUS as people are regularly killed on the hard shoulder by lorries who wander too far to the left and smash into them which is why the adverts always say get out of the car and onto the grass as far away from the carriageway as possible.

There are other ways of stopping apart from the service stations, they are called junctions and you can always pull off at them if you are too tired to continue. Getting to the service station or junction is safer than pulling over at the first signs of falling asleep

Answer 4

You say that it is 'now' illegal to stop and rest on a hard shoulder. It's always been illegal, the hard shoulder is for emergencies only, not for stopping and having a rest. If you're tired, pull-off the motorway, or get into a service area, don't go stopping on a hard shoulder where an errant HGV may run over and flatten you.

Answer 5

It has always been an offence to stop on the hard shoulder unless for an emergency , I have recovered many cars that have pulled into the hard shoulder then being hit by heavy vehicles passing in poor visibility to close to the shoulder, and have seen a lot of injured people even people killed , the hard shoulder is not a safe place, you even get some people stopping for a picnic. take my word for it pull of the motorway to rest and be safe

Answer 6

Bernie B, why did you comment in a muppet like way when the information wasn't relevent to you?
Anyway, it's always been prohhibited to stop there apart from an emergency, imagine the hard shoulder full of people asleep in their cars? Perhaps the journey could have been planned a little better.

Answer 7

It has always been illegal to stop there, the hard shoulder is for emergencies only. if there was an accident ahead she could have blocked the hard shoulder for emergeny vheilcles trying to reach it. also it's a very dangerous placet to be - people stopped in the hard shoulder die every yeah because cars are coming past at 60 - 90 (we'll be honest shall we!) MPH very close, and it only tajes a small mistake to hit a stationary car. there are enough proper rest stops that your friend didn't need to stop on the shoulder.

Answer 8

the hard shoulder of a motorway is a very dangerous place to be as you are in very close proximity to cars that are travelling at a high speed, a passing motorist just needs to lose concentration for a fraction of a second, possibly by looking at your car and can cause a major accident, it is much safer and is legal to travel to the next services or exit and pull off the motorway.

Answer 9

The dangers of stopping on the hard shoulder is tremendous. Your friend should have been more aware of her condition a lot earlier, planned her journey better and had more rest breaks in pre planned places..........

The hard shoulder is for emergencies only NOT for rest breaks

It has always been illegal to stop on the hard shoulder other than in emergencies.....

Answer 10

I don't know what a "hard shoulder" is, but... In america you can stop anywhere you need to . Once I stopped on the wrong side of a three lane highway in the middle of rush hour(still not illegal) because I couldn't get over, because I had a flat tired. The police never actually came, I just called a towe truck and they took care of it.
Sounds like rigid law to me. if someone is sleepy they should be able to pull overanywhere anytime to catch zzzzs or wake up a little.