Parking /Lay-bys on the Motorway Network: Are They Dangerous?

Tech3 · 14-04-2010 1:25pm #1

Looking at a recent thread over on skyscrapercity it has come to my attention has the NRA really looked at the safety aspect of the new parking layby's implemented on the newer sections of motorways built in this country.

To me there seems to be absolutely no protection from a HGV or even a car that may veer off to the left and into the parking area. I know that with zero service areas something like this was and is still needed but could they not put a concrete barrier up to prevent any accident from happening as some of these are located on corners of motorways.

Here is a great photo of one taken by csd lately on the M9 at a corner on the motorway.

And one taken by myself on the Nenagh-Birdhill stretch right at the corner of that motorway. The merging/diverging lanes are ridiciously short for a motorway standard road also.

I was on the TF1 lately in Tenerife and here is a concrete barrier seperating parked cars/houses and a local road from the main highway. This runs for kilometers where the parking layby's run for 100m or so then surely it wouldnt cost the NRA much to install some and prevent fatal accidents in the near future?

Apart from the concrete barrier or even armco barrier perhaps, what else can be done to improve the safety of these parking areas on the motorways?

Zoney · 14-04-2010 1:27pm

I would say that of course they aren't safe. Someone obviously dreamt them up randomly off their own bat and thought they were a good idea. It doesn't look like any sort of serious consideration other than "hey, let's have lay bys" has gone into them.

KevR · 14-04-2010 11:37pm

On the M6 East of Athlone some of the plastic bollards at a couple of the rest areas have been completely demolished by people driving over them!! :eek:

The Word Is Bor · 15-04-2010 12:20am

The real purpose of these lay-byes is for a temporary area for the rozzers to set up their temporary weighbridges for HGV's rather than an actual lay-by.

JohnC. · 15-04-2010 7:12am

It's a shame that there are so many people who don't look where they are going for them to be considered dangerous.

Bards · 15-04-2010 7:17am

On the Waterford Bypass I saw one driver who took the "Keep Left" quiet literaly as he proceeded to drive through the lay-by there at main carriageway speed thinking it was part of the road:rolleyes:

Poster King · 15-04-2010 10:51am

I would consider myself to be a better than average competent and alert driver who adheres to good motorway driving etiquette. I consider these lay-bys to be very dangerous. They are dangerous for people using them and for drivers on the motorway, they are a distraction. Recently on the M4 I was driving towards Dublin at night and all of a sudden out of the pitch dark a cars rear lights came on and a flashing indicator. There is a curve in the road to the right and it appeared for a moment that the car was directly ahead of me so I jammed on my brakes for an instant. Very scary and potentially very dangerous. I had been driving briefly with dipped lights due to an oncoming car and with no cars on the road ahead of me, so the road ahead was no illuminated as well as it would have been had I had full head lights.

The white mini-bollards separating these areas from the motorway have been destroyed on all of these lay-bys that have been in existence for any length of time which proves that vehicles are driving over them

fricatus · 15-04-2010 11:40am

Poster King wrote: »

I would consider myself to be a better than average competent and alert driver who adheres to good motorway driving etiquette. I consider these lay-bys to be very dangerous. They are dangerous for people using them and for drivers on the motorway, they are a distraction. Recently on the M4 I was driving towards Dublin at night and all of a sudden out of the pitch dark a cars rear lights came on and a flashing indicator. There is a curve in the road to the right and it appeared for a moment that the car was directly ahead of me so I jammed on my brakes for an instant. Very scary and potentially very dangerous. I had been driving briefly with dipped lights due to an oncoming car and with no cars on the road ahead of me, so the road ahead was no illuminated as well as it would have been had I had full head lights.

The white mini-bollards separating these areas from the motorway have been destroyed on all of these lay-bys that have been in existence for any length of time which proves that vehicles are driving over them

This hasn't happened to me yet, but I can see how it would scare the sh1te out of you!

This is another example of the Irish half-application of rules and tolerance of grey areas. It's charming for the tourists, but on the motorways it could lead to a potentially fatal situation.

The rule I was always taught about motorways was that there's NO STOPPING except in an emergency, and that a phone call, or a child wanting a pee, does not constitute an emergency. Having these parking areas is a dangerous divergence from the rule. There are no huge long distances between interchanges on Irish motorways, so why not put layby stops just off all the interchanges?

csd · 15-04-2010 12:25pm

As my comments in the M9 thread betray, I think these are very dangerous.

If they're to be kept, at the very least I think there should be a concrete barrier and lighting provided. Oh, and some bins. I think I feel an email to the NRA coming along...

/csd

veryangryman · 15-04-2010 1:40pm

fricatus wrote: »

This

There are no huge long distances between interchanges on Irish motorways, so why not put layby stops just off all the interchanges?

Athlone-Ballinasloe?
Ballinasloe-Loughrea?
Kinnegad-Enfield?

And thats just Galway-Dublin. Those are decent distances, especially when you consider that most people will have just gone past previous closely seperated junctions and not expect such a yawning gap

Its no excuse to pull over on the hard shoulder to talk to Jim about the piles or whatever, but still its the excuse that the numpties will give

corktina · 23-05-2010 1:46pm

i think its slow vehicles pulling out of them that would be the most dangerous aspect. Its WRONG to allow stopping in any form on a motorway..
I bet it gives tourists a great laugh!

A good few Uk peeps I know already laugh at our "turn back, wrong way signs" (although they seem loogical to me...

sdanseo · 23-05-2010 10:59pm

corktina wrote: »

i think its slow vehicles pulling out of them that would be the most dangerous aspect. Its WRONG to allow stopping in any form on a motorway..
I bet it gives tourists a great laugh!

A good few Uk peeps I know already laugh at our "turn back, wrong way signs" (although they seem loogical to me...

They are logical, but the fact remains that if you're stupid enough to go down an off ramp the wrong way you need your licence burned.

Parking areas are dangerous, no question about it - but not irreperably so. All the NRA need to do is lengthen the slip on-off to 300m or so to give room to accelerate, and pop in an armco barrier or better a concrete precast.

I fear it may only get done after some poor family has been scraped off the road though. That said, I'd still stop in one if I needed a piss badly enough

Jayuu · 23-05-2010 11:33pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Athlone-Ballinasloe?
Ballinasloe-Loughrea?
Kinnegad-Enfield?

And thats just Galway-Dublin. Those are decent distances, especially when you consider that most people will have just gone past previous closely seperated junctions and not expect such a yawning gap

Its no excuse to pull over on the hard shoulder to talk to Jim about the piles or whatever, but still its the excuse that the numpties will give

But if you do need to talk to me about your piles I'll give you my number!

Jim

celticbest · 27-05-2010 12:34pm

tech2 wrote: »

And one taken by myself on the Nenagh-Birdhill stretch right at the corner of that motorway. The merging/diverging lanes are ridiciously short for a motorway standard road also.

On the M1 NB after Junction 3 Lissenhall & before the new services that are being built there is a similar lay-by in place the as the one above from the OP, however it has gates to stop people entering, it was built about two years after the motorway was opened so it has been there for about 5 years and I have never seen it being used for any purpose, does anyone know what this lay-by is for

Del2005 · 28-05-2010 3:23am

Kahless wrote: »

It's a shame that there are so many people who don't look where they are going for them to be considered dangerous.

It's the fact that they are unguarded laybys at the side of a high speed road where anything could happen. All it takes is for a car, or worst a HGV, to have a blow out verve across the road and take out anyone who's stopped for a break on the layby to get them closed.

Unfortunately this being Ireland that's what will have to happen, when nearly everyone can see they should have some form of protection.

Lurching · 28-05-2010 3:57am

In my experience, (during road construction at least) the more concrete barriers there are on the way in to a place like that, the more people will plough straight into the barriers. As a result, the very thing put in place to stop rogue vehicles ends up being hit by twice that number of motorists trying to navigate around them.
Its actually amazing how stupid even the most competent motorists (myself included) can be. You just have to work on a big road job adjoining current live roads to see how few people read signs for instance.

aquascrotum · 28-05-2010 10:41am

I drove Ballinasloe to Dublin last weekend for the first time and couldn't get over these lay-bys being there, for all the reasons outlined on this thread. I thought it was just me being over cautions - this thread has reassured my inner engineering-nerd.

In the space of about 15 miles I had one bloke pulled over for a kip with his legs hanging out the front window, and at the next one I had some dottery oul bint in a 1.0 Micra veering into 120kph traffic from the ridiculous "on-slip".

Disasters waiting to happen imo.

murphaph · 28-05-2010 11:35am

it looks to me like the problem here is (as usual) the drivers and not the road. German (unrestricted sections) Autobahns have very similar laybys (though usually with a toilet at least). They cause no problems here.

I suggest that the lad sleeping with his legs out the window is a lot safer than the same driver driving on in a tired state for want of a simple layby to have a short kip.

carlaboi · 29-05-2010 1:21pm

Hi just wondering can anyone answer this for me.
I drove the M9 to Waterford yesterday and noticed lay bys on the motorway. Why are there lay bys or parking on a motorway?

Sully · 29-05-2010 4:36pm

Its really just rest spots for truckers. You will often find drivers stop and have a sleep before they carry on the rest of their journey.

Iv used them to simply stretch my legs after a long drive. Very handy!

carlaboi · 29-05-2010 5:33pm

Yeh I suppose but I always thought your not suppose to stop on a motorway only in an emergency!

Roanmore · 29-05-2010 6:33pm

Not supposed to stop on the hard shoulder but I think lay by's are different.

Dinkie · 29-05-2010 6:38pm

I travel a lot for work, and find the laybys invaluable.... I often have 20mins sleep in them if I'm really tired, or just even to get out of the the car and grab something from the boot.

I would have thought that laybys are essential on the motorway seeing as its illegal to pull in on the hardshoulder (except in emergencies)

sdanseo · 29-05-2010 7:22pm

Unfortunately they're quite badly protected. If a vehicle spills into the layby going 120km/h and you're asleep, the next person you'll see will be St Peter (allegedly :P )

Wouldn't stop in them happily, wouldn't sleep in them EVER.

Bards · 29-05-2010 7:25pm

can we rename this thread to "Lay-by's on the Motorway Network"

etchyed · 29-05-2010 7:29pm

Or even "Lay-bys on the motorway network"

Sully · 30-05-2010 12:22am

Iv noticed on the Galway to Dublin motorway they have signs saying authorised vehicles only.

Amtmann · 30-05-2010 12:33am

Bards wrote: »

can we rename this thread to "Lay-by's on the Motorway Network"

Threads merged.

DWCommuter · 30-05-2010 11:28am

Where these lay bys built because the roads were originally just to be HQDC and now we've reclassified them?

sdanseo · 30-05-2010 1:49pm

DWCommuter wrote: »

Where these lay bys built because the roads were originally just to be HQDC and now we've reclassified them?

Basically yeah. Bit of a shambles given they knew half of them would open as a motorway, kind of beating their own system to avoid fallout from shelving most of the MSAs.

Bah, eventually we'll get our ten MSAs, it's just about when. I'm hedging my bets on 2178.

aujopimur · 30-05-2010 2:48pm

I reckon the main hazard is the smell of stale piss and the litter in the in the laybys

Parking /Lay-bys on the Motorway Network: Are They Dangerous?

Comments