In Michigan, the signs at roadworks use to say “Hit a worker, mandatory 14 years prison.”
Don’t if it’s changed now or not.
This gets questioned every year and posted on here.
Some places in the states issue dubble points and fines when speeding through roadworks and if your passing a recovery truck or any emergency vehicle on the shoulder you have 2 options move over or slow down if you don’t , again heavy penalties are imposed.
But then the courts don’t Namby pamby
When I did recovery work some 15 years ago it was constant that the industry lost 1 recovery operative each month .
The were the figures for those in associations etc , I think there were quite a few more if the private and independent operators were counted .
My predecessor died after 3 years as a direct result of being crushed against the side of the truck . I was struck several times by passing vehicle mirrors and once had my jacket sliced open across the back by a passing bus .
The image of a double decker bus on the bed of a recovery truck that was at a breakdown was widely circulated. The bus had struck the broken down car and fired it off the truck , over the cab of the truck and down the hard shoulder . The operator lost both his legs .
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grumpyken52:
The image of a double decker bus on the bed of a recovery truck that was at a breakdown was widely circulated. The bus had struck the broken down car and fired it off the truck , over the cab of the truck and down the hard shoulder . The operator lost both his legs .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
And he went straight back to working the same job on his new false legs. He was featured in an episode of one of those ‘follow the coppers’ documentaries for morons, & customers were talking about him for months afterwards.
In the main, we’ve got the false heroes & the fake slebs all horribly mixed up with who we should be celebrating.
In 2004’ish (IIRC) a roadside recovery was staged on the M1 S/B in Leicestershire. The recovery OP had no knowledge that on a bridge 100yds or so back stood several representatives from the HSE, HA, 3x Police forces & the recovery industry.
It was meant to be the beginnings of laying down a best practice guide for motorway recovery, but I suspect it was more to do with the forthcoming ‘smart motorways’.
I was on that bridge. I cannot tell you exactly what happened but whoever instigated it buried the report.
I’m amazed that one doesn’t hear about people who’ve been prosecuted for the “Hit and Run” such pedestrians impacted by passing vehicles represents…
We’ve got all the laws in place regarding Cyclists though.
I always thought the “Pedistrian had right of way at all times”, meaning we’re not supposed to casually hit them, just because they happen to be “idiots standing in the wrong place”, as they so often do… 
When I got pulled into a layby the A14 for an ADR checķ the younger copper , new to traffic, stepped out into lane one with his back to oncoming traffic . He almost threw a strop when I grabbed him back onto the pavement . The older copper told him to calm down as I had probably just saved his life and remember it as a lesson .
Didn’t stop them giving me a prohibition though !
It does seem as though it acts as a magnet to some drivers if they see something at the side of the road . It is a trait with many drivers that they pull to whichever side they are looking too when travelling straight ahead .
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I will always move over but leave just enough in the inside lane to prevent Mr Muppet attempting an undertake, however I would have a lot more sympathy for this if when the people who are working at the roadside don’t then proceed to drive like complete dicks when they are travelling to and from sites in their vans with ‘Highways Maintenance’ stickers on.
Am a recovery patrol and tech. I totally agree with you.
I think a busy main road is where your more likely to get into a accident than the motorway I have noticed
Mazzer2:
I would have a lot more sympathy for this if when the people who are working at the roadside don’t then proceed to drive like complete dicks when they are travelling to and from sites in their vans with ‘Highways Maintenance’ stickers on.
Second this and add that the traffic management people might want to actually look before simply throwing a cone out near passing traffic.
Perhaps a good place to start is with educating people and I mean the people most at risk when roadworks are taking place. I have noticed over the years that when roadworks are taking place on a day to day basis the workers finish the task for the day and leave the site having completed whatever they were doing. The one thing they tend to forget is to remove the signs that are indicating now non-existent lane closures and temporary traffic lights.
On one of the local roads with a 60 mph limit for cars they are renovating the metalwork on the under bridges and the signs have been up for two weeks 24 hours a day. Like other places it is a common practice and no doubt many motorists tend to ignore the signs.
One other point, in my opinion, it is better to put the traffic lights 100 yards before the bend rather than 100 yards after it.
The same applies when flood water is present and the signs stay for days after the water has drained away. Again they tend to get ignored by drivers with potentially disastrous consequences.
Those 20mph signs after chippings have been laid, that people still obey long after the white lines have gone down.
might be worth having a word with Alistair Stewart, hes still on telly so has some clout. id think youd find him on linkedin or thru his agent. he might even be doing after dinner speeches where you could have a word out in the carpark . i say him [over any of the top gear mob] because i sense hes got behind the scenes connections ,the way he got done got off lightly drink driving indicates that
Covered adequately in the highway code
Rule 281
Warning signs or flashing lights. If you see or hear emergency or incident support vehicles in the distance, be aware there may be an incident ahead (see Rule 219). Police officers and traffic officers may be required to work in the carriageway, for example dealing with debris, collisions or conducting rolling road blocks. Police officers will use rear-facing flashing red and blue lights and traffic officers will use rear-facing flashing red and amber lights in these situations. Watch out for such signals, slow down and be prepared to stop. You MUST follow any directions given by police officers or traffic officers as to whether you can safely pass the incident or blockage.
Failure to adhere to this will result in the possible charges mentioned earlier.
Muckaway:
Those 20mph signs after chippings have been laid, that people still obey long after the white lines have gone down.
Yeh, but people are doing the 20mph because they don’t want a chipped windscreen!
If the sign said “no damage to your car guaranteed, but do 20 to save a life” - we’d see people going through on the bloody limiter, no doubt!
We broke down the other night on the M20 and whilst sitting on the armco barrier a couple of hundred yards up from the truck noticed just about every foreign plated motor moved over to lane 2 as they went past us, some only moved half a vehicles worth but move over they did, UK plated trucks maybe a handful moved over in our exciting 2 hour break.