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Some fantastic and also horrifying footage of the newly opened M1 from 1959. https://youtu.be/khZQ4xqQJCM https://youtu.be/khZQ4xqQJCM Watch until the end for

by danw1979 4y ago

Some fantastic and also horrifying footage of the newly opened M1 from 1959. https://youtu.be/khZQ4xqQJCM https://youtu.be/khZQ4xqQJCM Watch until the end for the AA man’s brilliant anecdote… There was also a brilliant documentary series a few years back about the building of the motorways - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007xr62 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007xr62 The conditions in which the trans-Pennine M62 were built were quite something.

londons_explore 4y ago
> Watch until the end for the AA man’s brilliant anecdote… > At one point, I threw petrol[gasoline] across the motorway and lit it to try and warn them [of the accident ahead in the fog]. > But still, people still drove through it, and you could hear in the fog, bangs of more people crashing. > [Comentator]. But nonetheless, a carnival atmosphere prevailed. These were happier times... When even as people crash, burn, and die, people have a happy outlook on life. What happened?
- recuter 4y ago
  Hard Times Create Strong Men, Strong Men Create Good Times, Good Times Create Weak Men, Weak Men Create Hard Times.
  - pestatije 4y ago
    Generational dynamics...same concept as "the first generation makes it the second generation spends it and the third generation blows it"
  - andrepd 4y ago
    A tired cliché with no relation to reality.
    - recuter 4y ago
      Sure, none whatsoever.
- blibble 4y ago
  seems not very different to today every time I see a red X over a lane on a motorway gantry (meaning: lane closed) there's people driving in it at full speed which is why "smart" motorways are so dangerous
  - dazc 4y ago
    Smart motorways/Dumb drivers There is also a temporary speed limit that 99% of drivers simply can not obey and that is 40 MPH, it's as if there is some external force at play?
    - iso1631 4y ago
      Sometimes there are speed limits - with red circles. Most obey that IME Then there's the advisory limits, without the red circuits, which tend to be ignored
      - scott_w 4y ago
        Because they’re enforced by cameras ;-) I do find it amusing watching people slam their brakes on for school safety zones… at 8pm.
  - ectopod 4y ago
    An automatic driving ban for passing under (being generous) the second red cross on a lane would weed out the arseholes. Just enforcing the existing law would help. The cameras and anpr are in place so it should be cheap to implement. But whenever such a thing is suggested motorists claim it's a conspiracy to empty their pockets.
    - dazc 4y ago
      A recent development is that the red x is now enforced with a penalty notice, alas not so severe as necessary to eliminate the behaviour entirely.
    - scott_w 4y ago
      This reminds me of a tweet last year of a driver claiming a cyclist with a camera caught his dad using his phone while driving, leading to him being barred from driving and losing his job. When someone highlighted that the 6 point penalty meant this was at least his 2nd road traffic offence, he replied “yes but that’s not the point.” I honestly believe some people are incapable of learning and banning them for their offences is really the only answer to make the roads safe.
- kubb 4y ago
  People are still happy when new motorways open, but they're used to them and expect them to be around, so it's not quite as much of a carnival atmosphere anymore as with the first one.
scrlk 4y ago
> Watch until the end for the AA man’s brilliant anecdote… Re: fog on early motorways - there's an interesting article on roads.org about the development of modern British road signs. A section of that article talks about the early signs that were used to warn of fog: https://www.roads.org.uk/articles/mixed-signals/yellow-perils https://www.roads.org.uk/articles/mixed-signals/yellow-peril...
- danw1979 4y ago
  A great photo of the early M1 in that article showing the soft shoulder and no barrier in the central reservation.
beardyw 4y ago
I remember as a child being told we were going down the newly opened M1 "which is completely straight". I sat up (unconstrained by seatbelt) behind my dad expecting to be able to see London in the far distance, 80 miles away. Turned out it was not my idea of straight.

londons_explore 4y ago

> Watch until the end for the AA man’s brilliant anecdote… > At one point, I threw petrol[gasoline] across the motorway and lit it to try and warn them [of the accident ahead in the fog]. > But still, people still drove through it, and you could hear in the fog, bangs of more people crashing. > [Comentator]. But nonetheless, a carnival atmosphere prevailed. These were happier times... When even as people crash, burn, and die, people have a happy outlook on life. What happened?

recuter 4y ago
Hard Times Create Strong Men, Strong Men Create Good Times, Good Times Create Weak Men, Weak Men Create Hard Times.
- pestatije 4y ago
  Generational dynamics...same concept as "the first generation makes it the second generation spends it and the third generation blows it"
- andrepd 4y ago
  A tired cliché with no relation to reality.
  - recuter 4y ago
    Sure, none whatsoever.
blibble 4y ago
seems not very different to today every time I see a red X over a lane on a motorway gantry (meaning: lane closed) there's people driving in it at full speed which is why "smart" motorways are so dangerous
- dazc 4y ago
  Smart motorways/Dumb drivers There is also a temporary speed limit that 99% of drivers simply can not obey and that is 40 MPH, it's as if there is some external force at play?
  - iso1631 4y ago
    Sometimes there are speed limits - with red circles. Most obey that IME Then there's the advisory limits, without the red circuits, which tend to be ignored
    - scott_w 4y ago
      Because they’re enforced by cameras ;-) I do find it amusing watching people slam their brakes on for school safety zones… at 8pm.
- ectopod 4y ago
  An automatic driving ban for passing under (being generous) the second red cross on a lane would weed out the arseholes. Just enforcing the existing law would help. The cameras and anpr are in place so it should be cheap to implement. But whenever such a thing is suggested motorists claim it's a conspiracy to empty their pockets.
  - dazc 4y ago
    A recent development is that the red x is now enforced with a penalty notice, alas not so severe as necessary to eliminate the behaviour entirely.
  - scott_w 4y ago
    This reminds me of a tweet last year of a driver claiming a cyclist with a camera caught his dad using his phone while driving, leading to him being barred from driving and losing his job. When someone highlighted that the 6 point penalty meant this was at least his 2nd road traffic offence, he replied “yes but that’s not the point.” I honestly believe some people are incapable of learning and banning them for their offences is really the only answer to make the roads safe.
kubb 4y ago
People are still happy when new motorways open, but they're used to them and expect them to be around, so it's not quite as much of a carnival atmosphere anymore as with the first one.

scrlk 4y ago

> Watch until the end for the AA man’s brilliant anecdote… Re: fog on early motorways - there's an interesting article on roads.org about the development of modern British road signs. A section of that article talks about the early signs that were used to warn of fog: https://www.roads.org.uk/articles/mixed-signals/yellow-perils https://www.roads.org.uk/articles/mixed-signals/yellow-peril...

danw1979 4y ago
A great photo of the early M1 in that article showing the soft shoulder and no barrier in the central reservation.

beardyw 4y ago

I remember as a child being told we were going down the newly opened M1 "which is completely straight". I sat up (unconstrained by seatbelt) behind my dad expecting to be able to see London in the far distance, 80 miles away. Turned out it was not my idea of straight.