30/04/2012
Lorry driver ‘spills the beans’ on motorway
Motorways are infamous for congestion, traffic jams and delays. However, travel on the M11 near Epping was recently brought to a standstill – by baked beans.
A lorry driver had been trying to avoid a crashed car when his vehicle jack-knifed, spilling his delivery over the road.
As a result, motorists experienced long delays while the Highways Agency cleared the carriageway of baked beans.
Juliet Kinsman was near the lorry with her four-year-old daughter, named Kitty, when the accident occurred. She said they were very lucky not to have been right behind it.
She added, “There were tins and actual little beans everywhere, across all carriageways – only in Britain – and we all had to drive past on the hard shoulder.
“Amazing how you never know what is around the corner in life. I just was so grateful for the timing and that there wasn't much traffic on the road…amusingly I couldn't resist making Kitty fish fingers and beans for supper."
Although the driver of the crashed vehicle received minor injuries, the lorry driver was fortunately unharmed by the incident.
A lorry driver had been trying to avoid a crashed car when his vehicle jack-knifed, spilling his delivery over the road.As a result, motorists experienced long delays while the Highways Agency cleared the carriageway of baked beans.
Juliet Kinsman was near the lorry with her four-year-old daughter, named Kitty, when the accident occurred. She said they were very lucky not to have been right behind it.
She added, “There were tins and actual little beans everywhere, across all carriageways – only in Britain – and we all had to drive past on the hard shoulder.
“Amazing how you never know what is around the corner in life. I just was so grateful for the timing and that there wasn't much traffic on the road…amusingly I couldn't resist making Kitty fish fingers and beans for supper."
Although the driver of the crashed vehicle received minor injuries, the lorry driver was fortunately unharmed by the incident.
Photo © peppered via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: baked beans, congestion, crashed car, Highways Agency, lorry driver, traffic jams
12/08/2011
The motorway in darkness
Driving at night can be quite dangerous as it is, but the Highways Agency has said that to cut costs the Department of Transport is turning off the lights on sections of some motorways late at night.
For example, the M1 will be plunged into darkness from midnight to 5am between junctions 10 and 13.
The Highways Agency director explained, “Since 2009 we've switched lighting off between the hours of midnight and 5am on 14 carefully-selected stretches of motorways and evidence so far indicates that switching off the lights hasn't had an impact on safety.
“In March this year we also began permanently switching off motorway lights at three sites.
"This is not about wishing to remove all lights from the motorway network. It's about carefully identifying the locations where, under the revised guidelines, we would no longer install lighting.
“The money saved could then be used for other measures on the strategic road network where it would have a more significant safety benefit and potentially save more lives.”
Still, a lot of people are worried that there are many safety issues with turning off the lights on these roads which contain fast-moving traffic.
If you have to go on the motorway when part of its lights have been turned off, just be prudent, and keep driving safely and considerately, and all should be well.
For example, the M1 will be plunged into darkness from midnight to 5am between junctions 10 and 13. The Highways Agency director explained, “Since 2009 we've switched lighting off between the hours of midnight and 5am on 14 carefully-selected stretches of motorways and evidence so far indicates that switching off the lights hasn't had an impact on safety.
“In March this year we also began permanently switching off motorway lights at three sites.
"This is not about wishing to remove all lights from the motorway network. It's about carefully identifying the locations where, under the revised guidelines, we would no longer install lighting.
“The money saved could then be used for other measures on the strategic road network where it would have a more significant safety benefit and potentially save more lives.”
Still, a lot of people are worried that there are many safety issues with turning off the lights on these roads which contain fast-moving traffic.
If you have to go on the motorway when part of its lights have been turned off, just be prudent, and keep driving safely and considerately, and all should be well.
Photo © simongreenuk via Flickr, under Creative Common Licence
Labels: Department of Transport, driving, Highways Agency, junctions, lights, motorway
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]