to stop in motorway SOS lay-by so DD could wee

@OneTC or the twat of a lorry driver thinking that replying to a WhatsApp message is more important than watching the road, as in the video above.

It's not whether you know the road it's whether the bloke who's just driven an artic 12 hours straight notices your car is somewhere unexpected

How do you not understand that it is better a wet 3 year old than a dead one

I know it was 40 years ago but a motorway cop stopped behind me on the hard shoulder, I explained the urgent nature of a 3 year old needing to pee and he said fine, but he was a dad of a three old himself

Drivers who do that need imprisoning and banned from driving for life.

Just shows the importance of not stopping for non emergencies and risks of doing so even in an emergency.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cy9e1pjyng8o?atlinkkorigin=BBCWalessNews&atbbccteam=editorial&atcampaign=SociallFlow&atptrrname=facebookpage&attlinkid=1754A5EC-67D6-11EF-94CA-BB2B7BB56CA1&attlinktype=webblink&atformat=link&attmedium=social&atcampaignntype=owned

Watch this and then ask yourself if you'd stop next time.

If it was standstill traffic that wasn't going anywhere for ages, maybe.

But I would have given her a tshirt or something to wee into.

See my xd post.

Id rather use my own judgement than wait to find out no one is actually monitoring the situation.

The AA also has stats on how the system doesn't work for 1000s of hours per year.

You're a sitting duck while waiting for someone to notice you're there.

From the AA website:

"How to rejoin the motorway safely
Emergency areas are only short lay-bys and they're not long enough to build up speed before re-joining the motorway.
Before leaving, you must contact the Regional Control Centre using the SOS phone. They’ll dispatch a National Highways Traffic Officer and/or set signs and signals (red 'X') to help you back onto the motorway safely. Do not attempt to leave until you have permission from the control centre or traffic officer."

From the National Highways website:

"Take care when you rejoin the motorway
Get back on the road safely from an emergency area. Do not exit an emergency area without speaking to National Highways first. We can close the lane to help you rejoin the motorway safely. We can also set signs and warn approaching traffic that you're about to exit an emergency area."

The advice says you should call the emergency services so a lane can be closed so you can exit.

Given that the system is known to be faulty for thousands of hours per year, it may be better to use your own judgement and not wait for 'help' t o arrive which may never happen.

Have you read about the number of times (hours) that people watching the cameras or supposed to be monitoring traffic never actually do?

It's a complete disgrace.

This is no different to joining from an SOS bay where you WAIT till Lane 1 is clear and there is a space to join

Your whole post is incorrect, unless you need to call highways every time you enter on a junction?

@SleepyRich I was driving in the inside lane on a smart motorway and realised there was a stopped car ahead of me. There was nothing on the gantrys to warn me. I was shocked how little time there was between seeing the car and having to move across to the other lane. I can totally see how these accidents happen.

It's only going to cause a problem stopping in an SOS bay/smart motorway if traffic is flowing normally due to lack of space to gain speed to re-join.

I'm guessing there are some inexperienced drivers on here.

It's worth noting that no one has a 'right of way' on ANY slip road joining a motorway.

And when the motorway is busy, you often have to stop and join from a very low speed (as in an SOS bay.)

Yes, you can try to get up to 60mph to filter into Lane 1 to join the motorway. That's the ideal.

But often, if it's very busy ,you can run out of road (slip road)- the slip road ends and there is a white line at the end of it.

You have to stop and join when you can from a stationary position.

You cannot carry on driving beyond where the slip road runs out, if there is oncoming traffic in Lane 1 and no one moves to Lane 2/3 to let you out.

I have seen many near-accidents where people come off slip roads onto the motorway thinking they have 'right of way'. I've had to brake or swerve to avoid these drivers.

This is no different to joining from an SOS bay where you WAIT till Lane 1 is clear and there is a space to join.

As a paramedic I've never been to an incident re someone pulling out of an SOS bay. What is absolutely a normal daily occurrence on the small stretch of M1 is lorries(and other vehicles but mostly lorries) barrelling into the back of broken down vehicles on the live inside lane as it takes so long for the people monitoring the cameras to recognise the obstruction, close the lane, vehicles to notice the lane closure and move out the lane. When I've had briefings about working on the motorways during incidents they warn us it can take upto 20mins for this procedure to occur.

What tends to happen is most people do see the obstruction and move out, but if you've got a limited view from a large vehicle in front of you - think of the trains of lorries you see - all you notice is the vehicle in front of you indicating to pull out - you presume they're going to overtake a slightly slower moving vehicle - as they pull out you're suddenly faced with a stationary vehicle in your path with no opportunity to stop in time. You can argue all you want about stopping distances and whos fault this is, but it's well recognised this happens daily - to the point where not to change the system back is absolute negligence and contributing to these accidents.

On a smart motorway I treat the inside lane as a hard shoulder still and won't ever drive in it. If you're ever unfortunate enough to break down in this lane flee your car regardless of the weather - absolutely expect your car to be hit hard. Driving in that lane is far more dangerous than someone stopping for a pee in an sos bay because they need a pee in slow moving traffic.

It's only going to cause a problem stopping in an SOS bay/smart motorway if traffic is flowing normally due to lack of space to gain speed to re-join.

In the slow moving traffic you describe I would have done the same thing and stopped as opposed to letting her pee her seat!! Obviously ideally/perfect world there's stops planned to anticipate/prevent this from happening but these things happen.

Technically this could fall under improper use however which is punishable by 3 points and £100 fine, but I'd be really really surprised if this occurs. It tends to be used if an incident has occurred. Even if they saw what you did - all that's going to come of it "she was screaming, we worried it was a medical emergency we stopped - we realised she was desperate for the toilet and in pain...."

Absolutely! DS just put his willy in the neck of an empty coke bottle!

I don’t think some posters get the distinctions here:
(1) lay-by - get them on A and B roads, not motorways. Ok to pull into.
(2) hard shoulder - get them on motorways. Use only in an emergency. Ok to rejoin the carriageway but try to increase speed on the hard shoulder before doing so
(3) emergency refuge on smart motorway. Use only in an emergency. Assistance required to exit and rejoin carriageway.

OP was using (3). Given the requirements to get assistance to exit, I would have thought they are monitored.

OneForTheRoadThen · Yesterday 18:02
MrsSkylerWhite · Yesterday 12:40
Next time, would she agree to pull ups as a one off for the journey?
**
She's 9! She doesn't need a pull-up, she just needs not to neck loads of water before the journey and OP needs to plan toilet stops into the journey.

Ordinarily, I’d agree but I think motorway driving is different. We’re between homes atm and drive nearly 400 miles every couple of weeks. You can never predict accidents/jams. At 60, I’d have given anything for a pull up on a couple of occasions 😁

Of course it is easier for boys.
That is one of the most ridiculous things I've read for a long time

Why easier for a DS? Boys can’t aim while sitting down you know. They also can’t stand up in a car and aim as there’s no room,l and taking off a seatbelt is far too dangerous.

You probably will get a fine as there are CCTV cameras at these stops. It’s how they know that’s a real emergency. You should have just let DD wet herself. You could have all been killed

We carry a large plastic jug in the car for my DS6 for emergencies. Maybe consider something similar to this lined with kitchen roll or something. Crude and not great but safer than stopping in a place like that.

Having just recently renewed my Drivers Qualification Card, ad I am a PCV Licence holder, I'm aghast at your ignorance of safe driving procedures. I have watched more than several videos showing the outcome of motorway accidents. You are so vulnerable when in these safety bays or the hard shoulder. These should be used for emergencies only. Plan ahead to avoid this type of situation. That's what I did when my daughters were young.

Stalker

Nobody was so dismissive of you when you posted about your husband being unwilling to shag you. You got nothing but support and advice.

Why come on to a forum to yawn?

It’s not terrible because “it’s the rules”, it’s terrible because the risk of death or serious injury to the child and her mother was very high. Fortunately, they were unharmed. What’s done is done but shouldn’t be done again.