Ceredigion council backs Cambrian line freight idea

[anme]

Three big problems on the A44, drivers going to fast for the road usually there behind the wheel of a van that May or maybe not transporting goods, drivers that go to slow for the road and don't pull over causing tail backs behind them and when van driver gets behind he just can't help trying to overtake where he shouldn't and middle aged bikers in groups trying to weave in and out of everybody else. I suppose there present elsewhere but the 44 is a road you have to be switched on all the way. I know people who go via Machynlleth rather than use it to get from Newtown to Aberystwyth.

I would be very surprised if the people going to fast for the A44 were "usually there (sic) behind the wheel of a van". And how do slow drivers cause accidents? Surely the people who cause accidents are those who try to overtake where they shouldn't? You say that these van drivers "can't help it", but I reckon they are not such psychopaths that they couldn't if they tried.

 

[Gareth Marston]

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-29957068


8 November 2014 Last updated at 17:27 Share this pageEmailPrint
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Lorry crash shuts A44 Aberystwyth and Ponterwyd road

The road was shut from the A4159 at Lovesgrove roundabout, Capel Bangor
The A44 in Ceredigion has been reopened after being closed to allow the recovery of a lorry which left the carriageway.

The incident happened on the road between Aberystwyth and Ponterwyd on Friday.

The A44 was closed until Saturday between the A4159 at Lovesgrove roundabout, Capel Bangor, and the A4120 at Ponterwyd.

 

[the-gog]

I would be very surprised if the people going to fast for the A44 were "usually there (sic) behind the wheel of a van". And how do slow drivers cause accidents? Surely the people who cause accidents are those who try to overtake where they shouldn't? You say that these van drivers "can't help it", but I reckon they are not such psychopaths that they couldn't if they tried.

"I would be very surprised if the people going to fast for the A44" should be "I would be very surprised if the people going too fast for the A44".

Re the A44, no matter how dangerous it is, it won't magically make rail transport any cheaper in comparison. The "best" that could happen is that road transport gets so slow, difficult, and expensive on the A44 and A487 that rail transport isn't then considered to be a more costly and slower option.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

And how do slow drivers cause accidents? Surely the people who cause accidents are those who try to overtake where they shouldn't?.

Because slow drivers cause other motorists stuck behind to take unnecessary risks. Don't take my word for it, ask a policeman. They'll give you the same reply. I remember a court case over 25 years ago when police pulled over an elderly gent on the A458 east of Mallwyd (I think) because he was driving so slowly, he was creating large tailbacks. He was prosecuted for driving without due care & attention.

Anybody driving significantly slower than the speed limit when the car's mechanical condition, road condition, and traffic conditions are plenty sufficient to drive to the speed limit is nothing but an ignorant and selfish idiot. Just because Mr Slow Driver is happy to dawdle at 35mph on a good 60mph A road isn't in a hurry to get somewhere doesn't mean that everyone they're holding up isn't. As I discovered when I was stuck behind such an a-r-s-e-h-o-l-e when desperately trying to get to hospital in Shrewsbury for my late mother's last breath. I failed, purely because of Bert and Ada ("don't go too fast dear, my head might explode") were dawdling at the front of a long line of traffic. If somebody doesn't have sufficient driving skill not to hold up traffic, then they should NOT be allowed to drive.

I think the IAM forums are over there >>

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Slightly off topic - but not just the A44 , but say the road from Hereford to Brecon - one feels a sinking of the spirits when you come across a caravan being hauled by an underpowered car .......

 

[the-gog]

Slightly off topic - but not just the A44 , but say the road from Hereford to Brecon - one feels a sinking of the spirits when you come across a caravan being hauled by an underpowered car .......

What was it one of the caravan lobby said a few years ago? Something along the lines of "caravans don't cause tailbacks". Oh my life. One haulage firm boss wants to ban caravans from the road during the daytime, as they cause his lorries to be delayed, so he claims. If we had a decent transport infrastructure, we'd have far more dual carriageways about the place.

Going back to my mini-rant about slow drivers, anybody choosing to drive at 30-40 in a NSL section of road and is causing tailbacks might well not be in a hurry, but they have no comprehension that drivers stuck behind them might have a multitude of reasons to need to drive closer to the limit. It comes to something when you see an ambulance with blues & twos on trundling in the middle of a 40mph stream of traffic on a twisty S/C A-road because the idiot at the front is incapable/unwilling of driving faster, nor move over. And the 11th sin these days is "thou shalt not overtake". I've lost count of the the times I've had fists waved at me or hooted/flashed at by, yes, OAP drivers because I've had the temerity to overtake them, safely. I've clocked up several near-fatal near-misses caused by idiot drivers. In each case they were OAPs. No other age group has put my life at risk by their driving.

This is the reality of road traffic in rural Wales. Bad roads, a whole load of bad drivers who have no concept of anything outside a 20ft radius of their car. This is what logistics companies have to deal with, and yes, it does push up the bottom line. It would be nice if supermarkets could join forces to run a single pocket train dropping off containers en-route to Aber. A pick-up piggy back serving other Cambrian line towns will subsidise continuing the service to Aber. To get it to work, pressure will need to be put on supermarkets to commit to use the service. No use building facilities if nobody's committing to use it. QV Donnington.

 

[Rhydgaled]

If we had a decent transport infrastructure, we'd have far more dual carriageways about the place.

If we had 'far more dual carriageways about the place', we'd also have alot more cars on the roads and it would be even harder for public transport to compete. That would in turn make it very much harder to acheive the necessary greenhouse gas reductions. I suppose you could build dual-carriageways but make one of the two lanes in each direction a bus lane. That might help but dual carriageways normally equal bypasses (by necessity, after all how would you dual a road through a built-up area?), which again works against public transport. Just one reason why the collapse of the sale of the Murco Milford Haven (Robeston) refinary has me very worried indeed.

We need to stop this dualing and bypassing of the road network and consontrate on maintaining the existing transport networks and improving public transport.