To wonder why we need adverts telling us not to drive in Motorway Lane's with a red X above them?

[Butteredparsn1ps]

There's obviously a campaign running on commercial radio as I seem to have heard these adverts over and over during the holidays. I just don't get why. Well, I suppose I do - I guess there wouldn't be a need for adverts if people didn't drive in the closed lanes - but I'm struggling to think of a clearer symbol for don't drive here

Is it me?

specialsubject - I think crazycatgal has made a typo, I think she means you can fail until you pass ie no limit on the number of times you can take the test

@SandyDenny Well spotted! Yes I meant you can keep taking the test until you pass.

I think most people are entitled twats. I've a friend who's a paramedic and several in the police who've been delayed getting to accidents because some twat has used the hard shoulder as they are impatient, sometimes by seconds but that's enough to cause huge brain damage in the case of oxygen starvation... should be a criminal charge you can press if you delay an ambulance getting to a crash because you are a dick.

I remember taking the theory test and being shocked at how easy the multiple choice part was and I would have been 17 when I took it. Terrible questions like:

“if you drive on to a level crossing and the amber warning light comes on, what do you do?

a) reverse back off the crossing
b) continue driving on
c) sit in your car and wait with your hazards on
d) get out of your car and walk away from the crossing”

Ridiculous.

The hazard perception is harder, it will penalise for too early clicks or too many but if you manage to get a practise test then you soon learn.

I can’t beleive anyone could fail it more than once and if so they really shouldn’t be driving!

People are idiots though. I saw someone yesterday driving at 55 mph in the third lane of the m25. So everyone was either undertaking which is not safe nor legal, or squeezing over to overtake in a single lane.

And the people who speed up as you overtake them they sit at 60 mph and I come out to go past, at which point they speed up to 75 mph, which I can’t easily/don’t want to overtake. So I ease off and tuck back in, and they start to slow up eventually ending up back at 60 mph. Why?!?!?

The Managed Motorways system has blurred the lines, allowing people to drive on the hard shoulder at certain times. This has lowered the barrier to people accidentally or accidentally-on-purpose driving on the hard shoulder when it's not allowed.

I could be wrong, but I do wonder if it is because there are some utter twats about.

I was on the M1 and there were signs for about 10 miles to say the motorway was closed after junction x. 1 came off and me and dh counted at least 20 vehicles that carried on. Where did they think they were going? Place is full of entitled twats.

The electronic speed and warning signs may sometimes be wrong but sometimes they just look like they are wrong because they have done their job in managing traffic loads to stop the bunching that used to happen more often. In keeping cars at a slower but steady pace they can clear problems more easily.

As a driver you would have no way of knowing if a sign is right or wrong though so you should not ignore them, even if you suspect it is a fault unless there is some obvious and near reason to adjust your driving (like something falling onto the road).

The other thing is the red X can be there because a lane is closed due to a breakdown or accident. This means effectively emergency services personnel can be on those lanes. It's not the first time I've had a frantic call on the radio from a traffic officer asking us to check the red X is on because cars have almost run into them or caused another accident by ignoring it.

Because some people are thick as pig shit. It's worrying they are allowed on the road, but there you go

I definitely think people should have to resist their test every 5 years. A car is a deadly machine potentially, I don’t thinking checking you can drive at 17 should be enough. Yes it would be expensive but we’d all be safer.

Because lots of people are pin-headed weasels.

Including my DH sadly. Years ago we were driving through Europe and needed to cross a border on a quiet country road. From about 20km away there were signs advising the border was closed. DH insisted the signs were wrong and him and his DF drive that way all the time. When we eventually reached the border it was indeed closed and blocked with a 10ft high barricade of felled trees and barbed wire. DH was most surmised as the last time he had driven that way the border had been open. FIFTEEN YEARS BEFORE!!!!

Actually, the hard shoulder, when it is being used as a lane, scares the daylight out of me. Or at least some folk using it do.

Its an additional lane. Not an undertaking as fast as possible lane.