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[johnnydog]

Because you have decided to justify your actions, tends to suggest that you know it wasn't the wisest thing to do - very kind and helpful, but still not the wisest act of the day you could have done.
The actions of the camper van driver have highlighted the dangers that other ill-informed drivers who are unaware of the situation ahead of them can pose to acts of heroism without the correct rearward protection.
Most motorway drivers only seem to react to blue lights ahead of them, less so to amber lights (and also matrix), and they wouldn't have had a clue as to what was going on with the hgv.
Best left to the professionals (Highways Agency questionable?  Police - definitely)

[GastronomicKleptomaniac]

I'm woth Gollum on this. I'd rather have done it with a HGV behind me than just a van or 4x4 with flashing lights, for one thing. But not everyone reacts to blue lights. Yes it's potentially dangerous and I wouldn't have been running about in a live carriageway without some sort of protection*

I'd rather do that than read on the news later that some people have been killed being struck while broken down in live lane. Equally I would never expect anyone to do it if they weren't comfortable and preferably fast road trained.

*It's a calculated risk. We were driving back up country so in whatever car and we came across a BDV in live lane of a dual carriageway, we both agreed that stopping with no protection, no facility for signals on that stretch, would be a fool's errand so called it in on 999 with direction and marker post.
Then about 4 or 5 miles further up, same county, another one. "Thank you, we are aware, got RPU going..." "Is that the silver one? This one is a different one and black" "oh. Bugger!".

[Doctor Gollum]

Because you have decided to justify your actions, tends to suggest that you know it wasn't the wisest thing to do - very kind and helpful, but still not the wisest act of the day you could have done.
The actions of the camper van driver have highlighted the dangers that other ill-informed drivers who are unaware of the situation ahead of them can pose to acts of heroism without the correct rearward protection.
Most motorway drivers only seem to react to blue lights ahead of them, less so to amber lights (and also matrix), and they wouldn't have had a clue as to what was going on with the hgv.
Best left to the professionals (Highways Agency questionable?  Police - definitely)

I justified it because it was called into question.

In the exact same situation, I have done it before and would do it again. In other circumstances I would make the decision on merit.

Calculated decision making is something I get to do most days at work. I'll give you two examples of situations where the choices are the worst case or the slightly less worst case and let you ponder how you would respond in each situation.

1. Coming into land, a couple of minutes out and strapped in. Toilet smoke alarm sounds.

Do you a) get up, silence the alarm and investigate the cause; or b) sit there wondering?

2. Strapped in and heading to the runway to take off. As the aircraft turns onto the runway you look down the aisle and see two trolleys break free.

Do you a) sit and watch them bounce their way down the cabin as you take off; or b) get out of your seat and pin them in place with your arm whilst bracing yourself against the bulkhead?

One situation was just poor timing, tother totally avoidable but happened nevertheless. Both are the immediate situation and have further decisions and potential consequences as a result of which choice you make.

I know what I did in each situation and would make the same decision in each case, although the avoidable situation is now less likely to happen to me again.

Having had a moment to reflect, I wonder if you would still drive past without a second thought or would perhaps actually, or at least consider the possibility, do something about it.

[Rangie]

Checked the RRS over completely after getting back from Devon yesterday we did around 900 miles in total & the only item I've had to top up is the screenwash fluid , in all honesty I've never had to put oil in it between services just approaching 116,000 miles so it's doing well, keep looking at Landcruisers  but so far I've avoided the temptation.

[GastronomicKleptomaniac]

Teailing arms on. Subframe on. Diff on. Backplates straightened and painted. Cooling on gas!

[johnnydog]

Because you have decided to justify your actions, tends to suggest that you know it wasn't the wisest thing to do - very kind and helpful, but still not the wisest act of the day you could have done.
The actions of the camper van driver have highlighted the dangers that other ill-informed drivers who are unaware of the situation ahead of them can pose to acts of heroism without the correct rearward protection.
Most motorway drivers only seem to react to blue lights ahead of them, less so to amber lights (and also matrix), and they wouldn't have had a clue as to what was going on with the hgv.
Best left to the professionals (Highways Agency questionable?  Police - definitely)

I justified it because it was called into question.

In the exact same situation, I have done it before and would do it again. In other circumstances I would make the decision on merit.

Calculated decision making is something I get to do most days at work. I'll give you two examples of situations where the choices are the worst case or the slightly less worst case and let you ponder how you would respond in each situation.

1. Coming into land, a couple of minutes out and strapped in. Toilet smoke alarm sounds.

Do you a) get up, silence the alarm and investigate the cause; or b) sit there wondering?

2. Strapped in and heading to the runway to take off. As the aircraft turns onto the runway you look down the aisle and see two trolleys break free.

Do you a) sit and watch them bounce their way down the cabin as you take off; or b) get out of your seat and pin them in place with your arm whilst bracing yourself against the bulkhead?

One situation was just poor timing, tother totally avoidable but happened nevertheless. Both are the immediate situation and have further decisions and potential consequences as a result of which choice you make.

I know what I did in each situation and would make the same decision in each case, although the avoidable situation is now less likely to happen to me again.

Having had a moment to reflect, I wonder if you would still drive past without a second thought or would perhaps actually, or at least consider the possibility, do something about it.

I believe everyone in a working environment has to make instant decisions relative to incidents and situations especially where the general public are involved, and dispite H&S training, many do what their instincts tell them relative to the incident in question - the brain adapts into H&S mode automatically without that person stopping to think 'Is it safe for me to continue my actions' or 'What may the possible outcome be relative to the risks involved?' -  they do what they feel is safe at that moment in time. Workplace experience plays a big factor in each individual situation whilst at work.
Experience in dealing with motorway incidents is not something to be taken lightly - you only have to ask any Motorway Traffic Officer (Police that is, not the HA ), and stranded vehicles pose more of a danger than the majority of every motorists perceive. Many motorway drivers don't think that they will ever need to stop in a live lane of a motorway other than in a build up of traffic, which results in instances of heavy braking when they suddenly realise that a vehicle ahead of them has come to a unexplicable stop in the carriageway.
So to assist a stricken motorist in a live lane even with the kind assistance of a HGV driver, is something that could and certainly has in the past ended up with a scene that resembles a war zone.
When you have been scraping the blood and guts up off the tarmac, and sitting their loved one down to tell them their husband / wife / son / daughter or whatever has been killed in a live lane of a motorway, you may then understand where I'm coming from.....

[STEMO]

Very, very boring 
Al got out of his car to help a fellow motorist in trouble. All of the risk assessment bollòcks ideas are exactly what's wrong with this world.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Very, very boring 
Al got out of his car to help a fellow motorist in trouble. All of the risk assessment bollòcks ideas are exactly what's wrong with this world.

If there was a 'like button' function on this forum, I would have pressed it for this post. 

[Doctor Gollum]

@Johhnydog

At no point did I suggest trying to cross a moving motorway without some sort of plan.. That could be considered retarded at the best of times.

I stopped on the hard shoulder. The stationary vehicle was straddling lanes 1 and 2. Last time I checked, lane 1 was adjacent to the hard shoulder. Walking up to a stationary vehicle in near stationary traffic is no more or less dangerous than walking across a car park. ie a calculated risk.

And you're making a presumption about not thinking as you approach a situation. Our training is pretty clear about being aware of what ifs and possibility of occurrence and consequence all the way from 'I wonder' to 'probable death'. Instructions are just that. Policies are foundations of procedures. Procedures are guidelines of what to do in ideal situations. Act guided by the framework of policies and their procedures but use your experience and initiative in equal measure to adapt to the situation in front of you. The only fundamental caveat is that you accept responsibility for your decision and action in any given situation to the point of standing up in court to defend that course of action.

Incidentally, driving you should always be aware of your surroundings and ready for what if and if you're not, then that's entirely on you.

And yes I have seen first hand the immediate consequences of a high speed RTC with a stationary vehicle:

A Nissan Micra had suffered a blow out joining the northbound A11 near Haverhill and spun into and back off the central reservation in the dark. Ended up parked across lane 2. A Mondeo carrying 6/7 from Stansted ploughed straight into the side of it. Killing an unsecured toddler and crippling another child. Dad saw it and tried to brake and swerve but ended up hitting the wreckage at around 50mph in his Granada. It very nearly killed him. A fourth car, a Vectra estate side swiped both the wreckage and the central reservation.

All four vehicles were in the same unit when I went to collect Dad's things. The state of the the cars will never leave me and that was over 20 years ago. That went to the High Court and the garage that fitted an inner tube to the Micra just before it was sold to the person that suffered the blow out was found to be as responsible as the driver of the Mondeo in respect to the death of the toddler.

These things aren't something that's done for any reason other that it's the right thing to do if if you can reasonably do so. In some countries, Germany for one, it's a legal obligation.

Incidentally, I am genuinely curious as to how you would have approached those two scenarios I gave...

[Doctor Gollum]

Very, very boring 
Al got out of his car to help a fellow motorist in trouble. All of the risk assessment bollòcks ideas are exactly what's wrong with this world.

If there was a 'like button' function on this forum, I would have pressed it for this post. 

Likewise

[Doctor Gollum]

Very, very boring 
Al got out of his car to help a fellow motorist in trouble. All of the risk assessment bollòcks ideas are exactly what's wrong with this world.

Zackly

[Doctor Gollum]

Teailing arms on. Subframe on. Diff on. Backplates straightened and painted. Cooling on gas!

The heat getting to you?

Good weekends work 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Sold the Boxster. 
Would like to have kept it, but have too many cars and not enough energy to look after them properly.

[Viral_Jim]

Not my car, but the FIL had a nasty surprise from BMW when he took his 520d in for a recall last week. Broken spring and a service due - £600. The stealer also suggested only replacing one spring, which didn't sit well with me

So this morning was full service and a pair of rear springs. In doing the job I've discovered that several Bavarian villages are missing their idiots. I hope whichever oppswits decided that the strut tops should be accessed through the speaker grilles in the rear parcel shelf get knob rot.