Holidaymakers driving to tourist destinations on high-speed dual carriageways should stay out of lay-bys that are not separated from the main road by a kerbed island - unless it is an emergency, says The AA Motoring Trust.
Nearly two-thirds of fatal accidents involving stopped vehicles on a dual carriageway happen in a lay-by, a new AA Trust study Too close for comfort reports. More than half the vehicles hit are heavy goods vehicles.
Old unprotected lay-bys, many with just a white line separating them from traffic speeding past at more than 70 mph, leave parked or passing vehicles particularly vulnerable the width of an old-style lay-by is a foot less than a motorway hard shoulder and often without the rumble strip to warn drivers that they are wandering off the main road.
The Too close for comfort study, co-funded by the Highways Agency , surveyed lay-bys along two major non-motorway holiday routes. Along 43 miles of the A303, both east and westbound carriageways, unprotected lay-bys outnumber protected ones by more than two to one (18 v 8). Along 81 miles of the A34, both north and southbound carriageways, unprotected lay-bys outnumber protected ones by nearly four to one (47 v 13).
In the past year, at least six people have died in lay-by crashes in the West Country, Thames Valley, East Midlands and Scotland, most recently three this week and one last week1.
Drivers wrongly regard them as safe havens despite their closeness to traffic and observation of one lay-by along the A34 found people asleep in vehicles just inches away from speeding traffic.
The AA Motoring Trust would like to see action taken to improve lay-by safety by physically separating them from passing high-speed traffic. Drivers also need to be made more aware of the risks2.
Drivers see unprotected lay-bys as safe havens and, compared to the measly one-metre strip alongside the dual carriageways, they are safer places to pull over in an emergency, such as a breakdown, says Andrew Howard, head of road safety for The AA Motoring Trust.
However, motorists need to treat unprotected lay-bys like motorway hard shoulders and get out on to the verge and well away from passing traffic.
To help drivers reduce the risk of a serious accident on a dual carriageway, the Highways Agency and The AA Motoring Trust offer the following tips:
1) Drivers should make time for a break on long journeys, stopping every two hours;
2) Stopping on hardstrips alongside dual carriageways is discouraged;
3) If you do need to stop on verges or hardstrips, pull as far over to the left as you can, leave your vehicle on the passenger side, and keep as far away from the main road as possible;
4) It is preferable that, when choosing to make a planned stop, you use service areas;
5) If you need to use a lay-by, take the opportunity to use large lay-bys with a kerbed island between the main road and parked vehicles; these are safer than simple lay-bys. However, all lay-bys represent a relatively safe area compared to stopping on verges.
6) The Highways Agency has already started work on new design advice for lay-bys.
Too close for comfort, available at www.aatrust.com,highlights the need for road authorities to speed up the programme of upgrading all lay-bys to protected standards. Those on the approach to junctions are particularly dangerous as drivers mistake them for slip roads or an inside lane, particularly at night, move inside and hit stationary vehicles, at speed. Other potential improvements are listed in the Notes to Editors3.
In the short term, reflective signs and rumble strips along the length of a lay-by would alert drivers if they begin to wander accidentally into one at speed. Signs that indicate rest areas off the dual carriageway would help protect holiday and long-distance travellers.
Signs and rumble strips offer a quick, temporary and inexpensive deterrent to driver error. Recently, a colleague was on a coach when the driver mistook an unprotected lay-by for the inside lane and it took shouts from the passengers to alert the driver, says Howard.
Other drivers havent been so lucky and have driven at speed into the back of stationary lorries or found the lay-by suddenly come to an end with their path back on to the main carriageway blocked by traffic.
NOTES TO EDITORS: 1 Prominent accidents in high-speed dual carriageway lay-bys in the past year include:
July 2006 - three men were killed on the A9 near Inverness when a car hit a stationary lorry.
July 2006 - a woman was killed on the A46 near Birstall when her car hit an articulated lorry parked in a lay-by.
March 2006 - a man was killed at a lay-by on the A361 near Tiverton following a crash between two vehicles.
February 2006 - a driver was critically injured after driving into the back of a chemical tanker parked in a lay-by near Winchester.
December 2005 - a man was killed after his van crashed into a lorry trailer parked in a lay-by on the A33 near Reading.
2 In the 1930s, lay-bys became a welcome haven for motorists on longer journeys. Even in the 1950s, dual carriageways on through-routes carried as few as 3000 vehicles per day. With light traffic flows, lorries that were smaller and lower speeds, a simple lay-by was seen as a safe pull-in.
Along the stretches of dual carriageway surveyed for the Too close for comfort report, the A34 now carries 60,000 vehicles per day and the A303 carries 40,000.
Observation of vehicles parked in lay-bys found:
* 53 per cent were heavy goods vehicles, 36 per cent cars, 10 per cent light goods vehicles and 1 per cent public service vehicles;
* Cars and other light vehicles stopped for an average of 10 minutes, while heavy vehicles stopped for an average of 21 minutes;
* 85 per cent of HGV drivers stopped in lay-bys for a rest or a toilet stop.
3 The Too close for comfort study highlights a number of potential improvements:
* Bringing unprotected lay-bys on busy high-speed dual carriageways up to the national standard, especially:
- by widening, so vehicles park further from the main carriageway,
- by segregating parked vehicles from the main carriageway by a kerbed island,
- by siting lay-bys every 2.5km to give drivers a reasonable opportunity to pull over if they encounter problems,
* Lay-bys should not be sited on right-hand bends;
* Lay-bys should not be located junctions if this means that the sign for the approaching junction appear before the sign for the lay-by;
* Signs and road markings on high-speed roads adhere to national standards for reflectivity;
* HGVs have suitable stopping places and drivers should be encouraged to stop in protected lay-bys or service or parking areas away from the carriageway;
* Road authorities should seek agreements with garages and roadside restaurants to provide public toilets;
* On very busy dual carriageways with a high proportion of HGVs, up to twice as many lay-bys should be considered.
Research for the Too close for comfort report was carried out by TRL Ltd. The full research is available on The AA Motoring Trusts website www.aatrust.com.
