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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Drivers skipping traffic jams by using the hard shoulder.

70 replies

ILoveMyMonkey · 12/10/2018 19:45

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!!!

OP posts:
SteamTrainsRealAleandOpenFires · 12/10/2018 22:19

So OP are you willing to do what I suggested then?

Original poster
ILoveMyMonkey · 12/10/2018 22:22

@SteamTrainsRealAleandOpenFires maybe not the plastering over the net too chicken that they might tell me off but definitely up for the spikes ha ha 😂

OP posts:
Beingginger · 12/10/2018 22:37

There’s a Facebook page called idiot uk drivers exposed that you can send dash cam footage to. Some of the driving they post is shocking.

delilahbucket · 12/10/2018 22:41

They are running a big risk. We saw someone do this and undertake an unmarked police car in Sheffield last month. Needless to say it was not a happy ending for them. These people will get their comeuppance in some form. I have to believe that in order to stay sane Confused

ThomasRichard · 12/10/2018 22:53

I have nothing to contribute re. dashcam footage but I had a lovely nap on the M1 today. Traffic going nowhere for a couple of hours has its benefits!

FittonTower · 12/10/2018 22:59

Some police forces take dash cam, i was at a junction a few months back, lights turned green but i stayed put as an ambulance was coming and the car behind sped round me into the path of the ambulance. Police were exceptionally grateful for my dash cam. Fricking idiots damaged an ambulance on their way to an emergency and sped off thinking they'd got away with just a damaged tail light.....

Bahhhhhumbug · 13/10/2018 00:20

Just as annoying is some fecker further up always let's them back in..... if nobody let them back in they'd think twice about doing it knowing they'll end up stuck in the 'impatient twats' queue whilst we good citizens sail past them flicking the Vs waving.

SteamTrainsRealAleandOpenFires · 13/10/2018 00:22

SteamTrainsRealAleandOpenFires maybe not the plastering over the net too chicken that they might tell me off but definitely up for the spikes ha ha 😂

IF I was you, I would just splash it all over the net, then let then Harts police, take the flack. You offered evidence & they turned down.

CoalTit · 13/10/2018 04:29

The policy of not taking video evidence from the public obviously isn't universal, and if my experience with police is anything to go by it may have been invented on the spot by the person you spoke to. If you splashed it around the internet you would be doing something towards saving the lives of the people who get killed every year by arrogant drivers using the hard shoulder.

DunesOfSand · 13/10/2018 05:24

Can you take a couple of screen shots from the footage, black out the number plates, and post on Facebook asking if anyone else has footage, as Herts police need 2 sets to prosecute.

Nightwatch999 · 13/10/2018 05:36

Report them to the Police, i have lost count at how many incidents i have attended where access was blocked on the hard shoulder because of the selfish drivers you mentioned!

Effendi · 13/10/2018 05:49

I was stuck in the traffic jam from hell last week. The highway was actually closed and it took me almost five hours to do a journey that usually takes just over one.

Loads of cars using the hard shoulder to queue jump to the next exit.
One did a 3 point turn in the queue and drove back down the hard shoulder, the wrong way to previous exit.

I have it on dashcam but the police here are useless.

claraschu · 13/10/2018 06:01

My husband did this 40 years ago. He was stuck in traffic for an hour, and about to miss his first wedding (it didn't last long in any case).

Original poster
ILoveMyMonkey · 13/10/2018 07:45

Thanks everyone, I've submitted the footage I have to the police and who knows, maybe the operator was wrong and they might actually chase the fuckers up.

@Bahhhhhumbug, I completely agree with you, I don't know why people let them back in. Lorries and other cars were trying to block some of them from progressing down the hard shoulder but they just used the grass verge to get round them Shock.

@claraschu I hope you don't think that a wedding (even if it is someone's own wedding) is a good enough excuse to use the hard shoulder as a driving lane?

OP posts:
PattiStanger · 13/10/2018 08:04

Did the operator misunderstand you? Surely your footage is independent, why would you need more than one record of the same offence. That doesn't make sense to me. In my area the police regularly ask for dashcam footage of incidents, I hope they don't have a policy of needing multiple versions.

Is there any way to find out does anyone know?

Thisreallyisafarce · 13/10/2018 08:05

I was in that jam. This pissed me off too. Especially as there were several stranded cars on the hard shoulder. Must have been pretty terrifying for them, watching a lorry bearing down on them at 60mph. I think people should lose their licences for this, and totally agree that the police should accept footage of a crime being committed from any witness.

claraschu · 13/10/2018 08:34

It was just a story of something that happened.

PinkBuffalo · 13/10/2018 12:21

Patti I can't speak for Herts, but in our force if someone calls in reporting bad driving, if they have dash cam showing vrm and the offence, we do look into it, and prosecutions have taken place (the person submitting the dash cam evidence does have to complete a short statement and be prepared to go to court if necessary)
The video is the independent evidence.
But I don't know if other forces deal with it differently.

Coldilox · 13/10/2018 12:36

Try again. The operator may have got it wrong.

SpoonBlender · 13/10/2018 12:46

I do about 600 miles a week, and loathe these fuckwits. I've been aiming to get a dashcam for ages. What do you use?

serbska · 13/10/2018 13:03

I thought the m ways were covered with CCTV quite regularly so you’d have thought they could have corroborated your report with their own cctv and prosecuted

serbska · 13/10/2018 13:03

I hardly drive now but if I was still driving 3+ hours a day like I used to I would for sure have a dash cam

AhoyDelBoy · 13/10/2018 13:09

Some, if not most, drivers are arseholes. TBF you sound like a bit of a busybody though. Calling the police with your footage and all Hmm

Angie169 · 13/10/2018 13:33

serbska I agree with you most Mways have cctv as do a large number of commercial lorrys and all buses so I think it would always be worth submitting dashcam footage .

I would love someone to invent a retractable rod that you could stick out about 6 foot from your cars wing / head light so that when you get the CF that has shot down the the lane along side you and waited till they are at the junction / road works to edge in you could extend the pole , to almost touch the rear of the car in front which would have springs on it with flags on ( a bit like deely-boppers ) with FUCK OFF you CHEEKY FUCKER on them .

AhoyDelBoy
I presume you think that someone that could risking the life of the person that could be involved in a accident or blocking the emergency services from getting to a accident or particularly in standing traffic people may have there car doors open is ok then and should not be reported to the police in case they are are seen as a busybody. Confused
I hope you are never in the position of needing the emergency services when someone has blocked the road / hard shoulder