Hard shoulder warning after two Kent crashes
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by Nisha Chopra
The AA is warning drivers about the dangers of parking
on motorway hard shoulders.
It comes after two crashes on Kent's highways were as a result
of vehicles pulled over on the roadside.
A man was killed on Monday night
after he stopped his car on the M20 hard shoulder and was hit by a
truck between junctions 8 and 9. The lorry driver, from Belgium,
was arrested.
Then yesterday a man was flown to
hospital with serious injuries after crashing into the back of
a lorry parked on the M2 hard shoulder.
It is understood most accidents happen on the hard shoulder
as many drivers forget it is illegal to park there unless they have
been in an incident.
Andrew Howard, the AA's head of road safety, said: "It's
probably one of the most dangerous places you can go."
With Kent the entry point for most foreign lorries, Mr
Howard added: "The last thing you want is to be hit by 44 tonnes of
lorry, so the more lorries there are the more dangerous the
hard shoulder is.
"Never stop when it isn't an emergency - a child screaming
isn't one.
"Put out hazard warning flashes, pull in as far left as possible
and all pile out of the car on the bank before using a
telephone."
However, Mr Howard accepted hard shoulder safety has improved
due to awareness campaigns and white lines that make a noise
when driven on them.
Tuesday, February 21 2012
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