On Thursday last week, I went to Gloucestershire and travelled along the M6, M6 toll, M42 and M40. With the exception of the toll most of the hold ups were caused by drivers (cars, vans and lorries) pulling out, travelling too close and not thinking ahead. Vehicles change lanes at the last minute or into a gap just big enough for them to squeeze into. The following car then brakes and the rest in that lane follow suit like a Mexican wave, leading to the last few coming to a standstill and stopping that lane. By this time other vehicles have changed out of the affected lane and caused a similar effect in their. This happens again in the next lane and the whole motorway grinds to a halt within a minute or so due to the brake effect. Too many drive well over the speed limit and some travel too slow. One poor old chap was only doing 45mph at the most and causing mayhem by inducing the overtake effect I have mentioned. If people left a safe space between them and the car in front I doubt if the brakes would be applied as much and the traffic would flow better. I cannot understand tailgating to make someone get out of the way and just wish that we actually had a dedicated Police unit on all major roads that was effective. There are policemen out there but there should be more to stop some of the bad driving that is now commonplace.
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