instead of just sitting there with blue lights flashing or a womble standing waving,why dont they push the car to a refuge or just out of the bloody way,every day in the roadworks there is something and on the A500 yesterday,2 miles of jam waiting to get past when there was a refuge 30 metres away downhill,all they had to do was let the handbrake off and steer.
trapfour:
instead of just sitting there with blue lights flashing or a womble standing waving,why dont they push the car to a refuge or just out of the bloody way,every day in the roadworks there is something and on the A500 yesterday,2 miles of jam waiting to get past when there was a refuge 30 metres away downhill,all they had to do was let the handbrake off and steer.
Don’t be so silly - that would involve thinking & using common sense,
We live in a world now where that is no longer allowed, they have to follow a laid down procedure and are too scared to deviate from it 
Toddy2:
trapfour:
instead of just sitting there with blue lights flashing or a womble standing waving,why dont they push the car to a refuge or just out of the bloody way,every day in the roadworks there is something and on the A500 yesterday,2 miles of jam waiting to get past when there was a refuge 30 metres away downhill,all they had to do was let the handbrake off and steer.Don’t be so silly - that would involve thinking & using common sense,
We live in a world now where that is no longer allowed, they have to follow a laid down procedure and are too scared to deviate from it
They should do what the NZ police do on Motorway patrol , the patrol cars have ■■■■ off bull bars and they push car out the way
blue estate:
Toddy2:
trapfour:
instead of just sitting there with blue lights flashing or a womble standing waving,why dont they push the car to a refuge or just out of the bloody way,every day in the roadworks there is something and on the A500 yesterday,2 miles of jam waiting to get past when there was a refuge 30 metres away downhill,all they had to do was let the handbrake off and steer.Don’t be so silly - that would involve thinking & using common sense,
We live in a world now where that is no longer allowed, they have to follow a laid down procedure and are too scared to deviate from itThey should do what the NZ police do on Motorway patrol , the patrol cars have [zb] off bull bars and they push car out the way
I have seen that in the states
Just exactly how are you going to roll a car downhill that has an electric handbrake/parking brake with automatic transmission and has no battery power because the alternator failed and then flattened the battery - bringing the car to a standstill . 
Despite the driver seeing a warning sign illuminated on the dash warning panel and still trying to make for home ?
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I note how the Op stopped and offered to assist in pushing the car for them to clear it from harms way, so everyone else didnt have to queue or be delayed in getting somewhere for tea and biscuits -- **Not** . ■■■■■■ happens - live with it or change jobs . . . To the Op – I assume you have read this thread also :
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=140954
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Did you pass that one too and feel the need to offer your services or comment
At least the TRISS vans in Scotland carry a tow pole, I saw them pulling a broken down car from a roundabout in Inverness last week.
The British wombles have tow straps too , but when there is miles of metal guard rail and no bays in roadworks , where exactly are they supposed to tow it to
Hence the Free Recovery ' signs saying "await free recovery" --- and guess what -- its Free 
Not all breakdowns are straight forward , as they might seem when passing at 30mph + and making a 1 second assessment 
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Fear not , once all these roadworks are completed in a couple of years or so , and all lanes are occupied with No hardshoulder facility to retreat to, one should just about have got used to queuing in long streams of traffic all around the Country.
Thats the way forward apparently,
answers on a postcard. 
I can’t understand how so many vehicles breakdown just before or just after a layby. Vehicles rarely just stop, it’s more likely people see the stop warning light come on and take it literally. I’ve seen a lot of people running out of fuel recently, what’s the excuse?
Out of curiosity how do you know the vehicle was not involved in something more serious than just a breakdown or if it was safe to be move.
I’ve attended many breakdowns live lane where its an automatic stuck in drive, so I can’t move it. I have to wait for recovery with the correct kit to slide it up onto a flatbed. 
BossHogg:
I’ve attended many breakdowns live lane where its an automatic stuck in drive, so I can’t move it. I have to wait for recovery with the correct kit to slide it up onto a flatbed.
Give it some wellie. Once you got it moving it’ll slide no worries…
I spent over an hour between lymm and Knutsford services a few weeks ago because of breakdown in lane 1 literally 10yards after the end of Knutsford exit slip.
Why the fat womble stood there with his belly almost lane 2 felt it appropriate to close lane1 instead of dragging it back into the exit slip road and shortening the slip road accordingly I just don’t get it. The amount of wasted man hours because of this type of incident is rediculous
Unfortunately, in these risk averse times we’re living in, we will get bounced from above if we cause damage to a vehicle. It is safer if we leave it in situ and call recovery.
BossHogg:
I’ve attended many breakdowns live lane where its an automatic stuck in drive, so I can’t move it. I have to wait for recovery with the correct kit to slide it up onto a flatbed.
Correct kit? When I worked recovery that consisted of two 99 pence baking trays to slip under the drive wheels, or back wheels in the case of a stuck auto handbrake! 
Recovery who dealt with mine had something that looked like mini skateboards, the car was jacked up and the “skateboards” strapped under the wheels.
Ah, the good old days when motorway plod used to have Range Rovers with chains in the back - just drag 'em onto the shelf, quick whizz round with a broom and lets get 'em rolling.
Any excuse nowadays to close a road - A31 closed for 7 hours recently for a caravan jack knife with no injuries.
Massive hoo hah about that and the “authorities” have admitted failings on their part and “lessons have been learnt”.
We carry carriageway clearance kit, if it can be moved or cleared - we do. However, our cars are fitted with electronic load cell meters, if we go over the safe working limit, we have to stop and call in recovery.
I just love all these electronic driving aids…
how did we survive so long without them ■■
Our load cell actually helps us, we were restricted to clearing 3 ton, with the load cell, it works on force not weight, so we can clear a lot larger vehicles, I’ve seen one of our cars clear a fully loaded heavy out of lane one to the hard shoulder.
BossHogg:
Our load cell actually helps us, we were restricted to clearing 3 ton, with the load cell, it works on force not weight, so we can clear a lot larger vehicles, I’ve seen one of our cars clear a fully loaded heavy out of lane one to the hard shoulder.
Ive seen it myself in Highways Agency early days, I think it was a Range Rover, pulling a loaded artic tanker from lane 2 of the M60 on an uphill part…
it surprised me how easy it looked.