[Driver15]

Travelling south on the M6 on New Years day, (light traffic) spotted a car in the distance ahead which we were approaching in rapid time while we was travelling at approx 70mph... As we got closer I saw It was a silver Leaf.

Road conditions where light rain but plenty of spray but decent visibility all round but this changed mile after mile..

The car was in lane 1 doing approx 30mph, we passed at 70mph and went past like it was stood still. (car had 2 people in my passenger said..)

This sparked off a conversation in the car, If the car had limited range or was in some sort of limp mode.....

• At what speed (if the car had some kind of issue) would you decide to pull over onto the hard shoulder and stop to get recovered??
  
• If you decided it was "safe" to keep the car moving to the next junction, would you drive up the hard shoulder with the hazards on to prevent creating a tailback and possible collision due to speed behind you ?
  
• Run in lane 1 with hazards on ?
  
• If the driver was in fact trying to "preserve" battery due to limited range left would you continue at say 50mph / 56mph until the car runs flat or just stop onto the hard shoulder ? (or any of the above)
  
• Or it could of just been a really poor driver.

Will never know the real reason, but running at around 30mph in live traffic was maybe not the best decision made by the driver regardless of reasons and i was in 2 minds to inform the police for the safety of others travelling behind but decided as the traffic ahead, approx 8 miles was down to 50mph there was no need.

So, back to the main question...
At what "slow" speed would you bail out onto the hard shoulder ?

Anyone been in this position ?

 

[richtrash]

I think you would be in trouble if spotted driving on the hard shoulder, I think you get a fixed penalty for it.

 

[Driver15]

I think you would be in trouble if spotted driving on the hard shoulder, I think you get a fixed penalty for it.

yes, maybe so. - was thinking at slow speed.

 

[Dozer]

The police will be much happier if you were on the hard shoulder moving slow that stopped waiting for recovery.. less of an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Simon Forrest]

If the car wont sustain 50mph in normal conditions,i would be onto the hard shoulder and pootling (hazards on) at what ever speed i needed to be off at or to make the next exit off.
Trucks are travelling at 56mph,so as they were coming up on me,i would be hitting the hazards for a couple of bursts too.
Poor planning though by the sounds of it.
Ideally,the car NEEDS to be going quicker than 56,so 60 at least to be happy.Being rear ended by a truck,could be "the end"

 

[Robthebank]

I would hate to sit on the hard shoulder in site of the services. I would drop to 50 in lane one any slower and I would be on the shoulder with hazards on, if knew I could get to the charger. If I was never going to get their I would just stop at the first phone and get out. I have ran out in sight of a rapid at Eden but the car park was closed and I couldn't get to it. Two hours on the hard shoulder stationary or 2 miles at 35 mph what's safer?

 

[srichards]

i saw a leaf crawling down the A456 at about 35 mph last Wednesday. Never seen anyone manage to drive so slowly through there. it was mostly 70 and 40 and they were doing less than 30 in the 40s then just about managed to reach 40 in the DC rural bits.

 

[donald]

This would definitely class as a breakdown and well within rights to divert to the hard shoulder.

You can sort-of drive safely even at 40mph and trucks dodge you. As it happens at 30 you are supposed to have an amber flashing light on the motorway (IIRC) but there is no 'minimum speed'.

However, modern traffic and the will to live would tend to encourage me to take to the hard shoulder and potter at 20mph if the speed fell below 40mpg on the main carriageway. I can't believe coppers, however bizarrely idiotic they are at times, would have a problem with 'taxi-ing' to the nearest safe harbour.

 

[Simon Forrest]

i saw a leaf crawling down the A456 at about 35 mph last Wednesday. Never seen anyone manage to drive so slowly through there. it was mostly 70 and 40 and they were doing less than 30 in the 40s then just about managed to reach 40 in the DC rural bits.

Probably Grandma Miggins,with a boot full of cat food lol

 

[Simon Forrest]

It happened to me in my old Transit van when the big ends went,i was down to about 40mph,headed for the shoulder(Hazards on) and kept the knocking to a minimum.it got me home

 

[JWilde]

Happened to me once in one of our Teknas, % display just vanished at 15% to ---, hazards on and 30mph to the services. People seemed to be kind to me when passing. The error never happened again. Was weird. % was actually at about 8 on the rapid.

 

[Tim Ostler]

Just pray that you have not found yourself on a so-called "Smart" motorway..

 

[richtrash]

If the car wont sustain 50mph in normal conditions,i would be onto the hard shoulder and pootling (hazards on) at what ever speed i needed to be off at or to make the next exit off.
Trucks are travelling at 56mph,so as they were coming up on me,i would be hitting the hazards for a couple of bursts too.
Poor planning though by the sounds of it.
Ideally,the car NEEDS to be going quicker than 56,so 60 at least to be happy.Being rear ended by a truck,could be "the end"

Some trucks can legally do 60mph we have one.

 

[Simon Forrest]

Just pray that you have not found yourself on a so-called "Smart" motorway..

We have "smart motorways" here,there are huge pull off areas every couple of miles in between exits and services,so there would/should be plenty of warning from the car that you are low,it should give enough time to get you to a safe area with Hazards flashing,at worst and you have to stop on a live bit,get over to the left hand lane if you can,turn on the Hazards and climb over the barrier,smart motorways are well camera`d up 24/7,so help would be with you pretty quick.

It`s only as bad a an accident or total failure in any car,EV`s are all just the same really.

 

[donald]

I think the point with hard shoulder running is that you'd be obliged to pull over into a refuge rather than potter along at 20mph, whereas in a way not having those refuges means you are in the situation where you are better to roll down the hard shoulder to a charge point, which could be the preference in some situations.

 

[Simon Forrest]

Some trucks can legally do 60mph we have one.

An unrestricted 7.5tonner sure,but they are very rare these days,most stuff is restricted to 56,certainly anything over 7.5t.

 

[Edd Beesley]

When I screwed up on a quiet M6 I did several miles at 45mph watching the rear view mirror like a hawk - as soon as the tortoise appeared I moved into the hard shoulder and ran with hazards, your speed drops to about 30mph then. All in vain, I had to wait for recovery.

 

[Waterfall16]

I had an injector fail on the A1 just BL (before Leaf)and stopped on grassy bit. Police came and escorted us off slowly to safer place. Were happy to do it.

 

[ScotstounPele]

It would depend on daylight, volume and speed of traffic. What is safe in the dead of night might not be safe in rush hour.

40-50mph is a minimum in most motorway conditions.

I'd toddle along the hard shoulder at 10mph with my hazards on if doing so improved my chances of reaching a charger, rather than ring for a flatbed.

 

[ScottC]

An unrestricted 7.5tonner sure,but they are very rare these days,most stuff is restricted to 56,certainly anything over 7.5t.

It's a weird misconception this..... Speed limit for HGV on a motorway is 60, and has been for decades. The 55 idea was to save fuel, and it works. Quite how the majority have come to believe the limit is 55/56 - I have no idea!