Posted by Cones, those wonderful things that seem to adorn miles of our motorway network. Who remembers the Cones Hotline?
The Cones Hotline was introduced by John Major in June 1992 to allow members of the public to enquire about roadworks on UK roads and report areas where traffic cones were being used on a road for no apparent reason. The hotline was widely seen as being a waste of government resources, costing thousands of pounds a year to run. In September 1995, having received fewer than twenty thousand calls, it was announced that the hotline would be gradually wound down.
The hotline continued after this date, with a broader remit, and renamed as the ‘Highways Agency Information Line’ or HAIL. The Highways Agency was another of John Major’s creations, having been formed not long before, in 1994.
Cones are used across the globe to mark closed areas of road, and hazards of all sorts. You’ll also often see them on top of cars and phone boxes during university freshers week. The joke never seems to get old.
So, what are the cones really all about? Well, as if you hadn’t guessed, they are both a warning and a non-rigid barrier protecting an area that needs to be kept traffic-free. If you have never picked up a cone, then maybe have a go at some point. Obviously you can buy very light ones for use in domestic circumstances, like protecting the base of a ladder while you work, or maybe to signify a clear space when expecting a delivery, but the ones used on Motorways are significantly bigger and heavier. These cones are 1 metre tall and weigh 8 – 10Kg. Spare a thought for the guys on the back of the cone lorries who handle hundreds of them a day. If you hit one or more of these cones at speed, you’ll quite possibly badly damage your car.
The people who work on our roads, be they roadworks crews, emergency services, or highways agency, deserve to be protected, and both the cones and speed limits are there to help do that. If you have ever broken down on the motorway, you’ll know just how scary it can be to get out of your car alongside 3 lanes of traffic and lorries thundering past a few feet from you.
Cones are a fairly quick and easy way to temporarily guide traffic through roadworks, and for this reason, don’t expect the layout during major works to remain the same from day to day.
It’s unlikely that you will come across motorway cones without there being a speed restriction in place too. This is usually 50mph, although depending on the situation, it can be as low as 30mph. More and more, these restrictions are enforced using Average Speed Cameras.
When driving through roadworks, it’s important to concentrate on your driving, probably more than usual and the reason is obvious. The likelihood is that others are probably not concentrating as much, and as a result are likely to do more erratic things. Sudden braking, sudden lane changes and erratic maneuvres, in general, are common. Add to this the increased chance that motorcycles will be weaving in and out of the lanes of slower-moving traffic, and the more you pay attention, the less chance you’ll have of being involved in a crash.
There are a couple of areas where cones seem to cause particular difficulty. These are near sliproads, and where they guide you into a contraflow.
Where cones are in place near or at a motorway junction, it can be difficult to see where the exit is among the cones. If you are going to be leaving at a junction in a section of roadworks, then pay good attention to the signs ahead of your exit. I find it useful and easier to get into lane one and stay there so that I can clearly see all the signs telling me what is ahead. If in lane two or three, it’s quite possible to miss important information signs as lorries and other traffic can hide them. There are obviously gaps between cones and in bad weather, or on busy roads, it can be quite tricky to spot the actual sliproad entrance. This can also be a much shorter gap than usual, so pay attention.
Where cones are used to guide you into, through or out of a contraflow, it’s important to be aware of several things. The first is that although the cones are laid out to guide you as gently as possible into and out of contraflows, the bends that they create are considerably tighter than most manoeuvres you’ll make on a motorway, and if taken too fast can cause you to lose control. another important thing to note is that if a contraflow guides you across the central reservation as many do, then the road surface will change as you cross it. This can mean a concrete area, possibly with drains crossing it and therefore very uneven and with significantly less grip than the normal tarmac. Always slow down when crossing this and if appropriate, speed up once travelling in a straight line afterwards.
In a contraflow on a motorway, don’t forget that even if the speed limit is 50 mph, the closing speed between yourself and the opposing traffic will be 100 mph, separated by nothing more than a few cones. Now, I understand that on a normal A-road the closing speed can be as much as 120 mph, but on motorways, there will most likely be significantly more traffic with drivers who are concentrating less than they should be. Add to this the strobing effect of passing cones for several miles and the road needs your full attention.
One last thing. If you are unfortunate enough to break down in roadworks, please try and get onto the hard shoulder if it is safe and possible. This might mean coasting very slowly and carefully between cones to a safe area, but, and this is really important, make absolutely certain that there are no road workers or other hazards in your path. If you can’t do this or are uncertain if you should, then pull up slowly in the available lefthand lane and stop. Put your hazard lights on and get out of your vehicle as quickly and safely as possible, and get out of the way of any traffic to a place of safety. Any passengers should obviously get out of the left hand (nearside) of your vehicle so they are not getting out into the flow of traffic. In the extremely unlikely event that you break down in the single lane of a contraflow, leave you car where it is and exit it but remain on the central reservation a decent distance, say 30m ahead of your car not behind it. If someone runs into your broken down car, you do not want to be hit by it and injured or worse. Do not on any account try to run one side of the motorway across live lanes of traffic. Wait for the emergency services.
Watch this great video about driving through roadworks. https://youtu.be/JlJRlUCGK-Q from Hibblejaybob and subscribe for more informative videos.