Drivers skipping traffic jams by using the hard shoulder.

[ILoveMyMonkey]

So the M1 had major problems this afternoon culminating in some pretty shitty traffic on all roads round my area. I crawled along a dual carriageway for almost hour, a journey which would normally take just 10 minutes, but hey ho that's life. Except 25 drivers, yes 25, decided they were too good to sit in a traffic jam so sped (some at pretty high speeds) along the hard shoulder to skip the traffic. Apart from being annoying (because what the hell makes them so special that they can't sit in the jam like the rest of us) not to mention illegal, do they not realise just how extremely dangerous it is?

And just as annoying, if not more, is I have dashcam footage of all 25 drivers. Number plates included, so thought great they'll get there comeuppance when I email the footage to the police, except the police can't accept the footage unless it's from an on duty police officers dash cam footage or if l have another independent witness with dash cam footage. So basically people can do whatever the hell they like, regardless of how dangerous and there is nothing to be done! What a load of bull!

Aibu to think that some drivers are arseholes and that police protocol needs updating so law breaking twats can be prosecuted and get what they deserve!

And if you were one of those drivers ... you're an idiot!!!

That's crazy! I wonder what force you come under as I work for the police and we have definitely prosecuted hard shoulder offences using people's dash cam!

I saw great dashcam footage on youtube a while ago
A car going down the hard shoulder then an undercover police car putting on the blues and going after them💖
It is so dangerous- generally there is a traffic jam because there has been an accident which is on the hard shoulder😑idiots

I web chatted Herts police and yeah the operator said to move forward with a conviction it would need to come from an on duty police officers dash cam or I need an independent witness with dash cam footage. Really annoying because it's not like I faked the videos 🙄

A car going down the hard shoulder then an undercover police car putting on the blues and going after them💖. I would have cheered if I had seen that today.

But your dash cam is independent evidence!
We've had emergency services held up here because idiots were on the hard shoulder and the ambulance couldn't get through.
That's not great from Herts police. Well done for reporting it though! Especially when you camera gets vrms that's mega important.
You did the right thing definitely.

Some people think the rules of the road just don’t apply to them. Their need to get to their destination is far more important than anyone else’s.
Some people turn into total arseholes the moment they get behind the wheel!!
Shocked that the police can’t use your footage.

I would say it is still worth handing it in as hopefully someone else will too.
These selfish fuckwits really do piss me off.

I would say it is still worth handing it in as hopefully someone else will too.
These selfish fuckwits really do piss me off. That's true, maybe someone else caught them too, maybe I'll send the footage just in case then

Urgh. I get so cross about this kind of behaviour. So cross in fact that I was delighted when DP was pulled over by the police for trying to avoid a massive tailback on the M25 by going the wrong way up a fucking slip road, against the flow of traffic. It was the middle of the night, we were travelling home from Heathrow, and the DC and I were asleep, only to be woken by a policeman tapping on the car window. A similar number of drivers had been trying the same trick, only to be trapped at the top. All the police had to do was walk on down the line of dickhead drivers as there was nowhere for them to go. I was almost disappointed that they let DP off with a caution when they saw the kids sleeping in the back -he would have deserved everything they could have thrown at him because of the DCs sleeping in the back.
Rules are there for a reason!

My son's dashcam footage got someone fined for a traffic violation. As far as he is aware his was the only footage, he and his GF witnessed it. In S.Oxon

Send it in OP

@AdultHumanFemale omg I would have gone crazy at my husband for that - bet he wished he'd stayed in the queue!

@Nocado, that's interesting, I will.

I LOVE my dash cam for this. I got it after a near miss at high speed that was nothing to do with me. I hope they are mandatory in a few years so offenders have to submit their idiotic antics or face a massive fine.
I caught a red light jump. Cross road with me at the front, the cars crash going east-west (if I’m facing north). The jumper was insisting on an ambulance and clutching their test. One police officer was running through first aid, I said I just wanted to leave my details because I had it all on camera. Up jumps red light jumper saying their fine and just wanted to get off now. I was so cross for the other driver who was really shaken.

@Flashingbeacon god I hope they charged the jumper - seriously what's wrong with these fuckers?! Noone can be in that much of a hurry.

A few weeks ago I had similar. Sat in traffic for ages and two big flash cars decided to dash up the hard shoulder at speed. Neither noticed the police car a few positions ahead of us and we whooped and cheered for England when its lights came on in the dark of the night and it zoomed out to pull them over. Karma!

There’s an area near us where there’s a dual carriageway intersected by two minor roads and controlled by traffic lights. Priority is given to the major road, so if you’re on one of the minor roads, the wait is a little longer.

We were coming up to the traffic lights on the minor road one day as they turned red. Obviously a red light meant nothing to the BMW driver in front, who sped up and shot through, turning right onto the major road. Unfortunately for him, there was a po,ice car on the major road, who immediately did a u turn and shots after him blues and twos going. More karma!

Just realised that’s totally outing because I tell that story to anyone that’ll listen.

@Flashingbeacon eek, maybe noone will spot it - there's not much traffic on this thread.

I’m sure I don’t post anything that bad
And they probably only read as far as dash cam and remembered my riveting story’s and left the thread

That was meant to be not

Ha ha 😂 you can be if you like

It’s the entitlement of the drivers that winds me up.

Near my house there are some lights that take you 5 mins to move about 700 metres. Reason why? the feckers that drive down the bus lane and cut in which means the people queuing only move forward a car or two at a time rather than the block of 5 or more cars at a time the lights are timed for

OP just splash the video all over the net with an added comment:- "That Harts police can't be bothered to do anything about these twaty CFs".

I think that adjustable (up & down) spike strips should be employed on hard shoulders. evil

@SteamTrainsRealAleandOpenFires ha ha 😂 I like your thinking - evil = good 👍

I travel on the M1 every day for work and see this all the time. It INFURIATES me.

@MrsRachel85 blimey that's shocking! You'd think they'd catch them on camera on the actual M1. Such a joke.