Anti Rubbernecking Screens

Sponge Bob

In the UK they are quite ruthless with motorists who slow down to look at a crash and therefore cause a crash. Proper Order.

Now they have a measure to deal with motorists who slow down without causing a crash.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20851775

More than 3,000 screens have been bought by the Highways Agency to stop drivers in England rubbernecking when passing motorway accidents.

There is a strong case for a similar initiative here, at least on the busy Motorway network within 20 miles of Dublin City centre where rubberneckers cause awful problems at times.

The DfT's CLEAR - collision, lead, evaluate, act and reopen - initiative was launched last year to help ensure motorways and roads reopen quickly following major accidents.



As part of this scheme, 105 sets of incident screens will be made available for use by the Highways Agency next year.

Each set has 30 screens which are loaded onto purpose-built trailers and can screen up to 75m if used end-to-end. The individual screens are approximately 2.1m by 2m high.

The total cost of the purchase was £2.3m, with each set costing £22,000.

AugustusMinimus

The sad fact is that idiots will still slow down to have a good look at the screens.

corktina

gone are the days when the wrecks would be cleared as soon as possible. It's often the case in the UK that they close the road completely for hours,for forensic examination, maybe these screens are intended to prevent the necessity for closing the road?.

murphaph

corktina wrote: »

gone are the days when the wrecks would be cleared as soon as possible. It's often the case in the UK that they close the road completely for hours,for forensic examination, maybe these screens are intended to prevent the necessity for closing the road?.

Well, I suppose some countries have to do the research to establish the real causes of highway accidents. In Ireland we'll just use their data, or not.

cormie

I know the main purpose of these is to block the view from passing motorists on the same side, but I've often thought it would be a good idea to have higher divisions between opposite sides. Rubbernecking can also greatly affect traffic going the opposite way, I've seen cars slow right down for a nose, lose concentration and see their cars edge out from the lane and I'm sure there's been incidents where actual collisions occur, never mind the huge delays it can cause in rush hour.

Enbee

cormie wrote: »

I know the main purpose of these is to block the view from passing motorists on the same side, but I've often thought it would be a good idea to have higher divisions between opposite sides. Rubbernecking can also greatly affect traffic going the opposite way, I've seen cars slow right down for a nose, lose concentration and see their cars edge out from the lane and I'm sure there's been incidents where actual collisions occur, never mind the huge delays it can cause in rush hour.

This exact thing happened shortly before Christmas on the M25. Idiots slowing down to look at a snarl-up between the M40 and M4 caused a crash that created tailbacks snaking all the way back to the A1.

Raising screens in the central reservation is an attractive idea although I suspect getting them up there would be a dreadful hassle.