whitevanwoman
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The last thing you would call me is a Townie or a Conformist and I definitely have a Live and let Live attitude as long as your not pi$$ing other people off and being inconsiderate. There are horses galore where I live. Often on the quiet country roads near our village. No problem.
However.
I doubt very much if many of you are as familier with the A66 as I am between Scotch Corner and Penrith and the fact that horses and tiny caravans plodding along at 4mph are allowed on there is completely bonkers.
It is the most dangerous road in Britain. Fact. Would you agree to them on the M25 or M1? They would be much safer.
There have been plenty of accidents and even deaths but nothing is ever done. If people had more respect then the problem would lessen but they havent.
I know that stretch of A66 very well indeed, having lived within 15 miles of it for the past 12 years, and having an elderly mother in Teeside I use it regularly. I agree that it is most undoubtedly one of the most dangerous roads, I don't know for certain it is THE MOST dangerous, I haven't looked it up to check. But to say that nothing is ever done is not true - within the time I've lived here there have been considerable major improvements to various sections of the road, which may not have cured all the problems but which have gone a long way to reducing them, ie dual carriageway in some areas, improvements to joining minor road junctions etc. As sparsely inhabited counties in comparison to other parts of the country, we cannot expect to have the same level of govt spending on our roads as other places - I'm not saying that's how it should be, but how it is. And so we've presumably got to wait in turn for more money to upgrade that road even more.
But in my opinion, the main causes for accidents on that road are speeding, the weather, and slow moving vehicles, whether gypsies, horses, tractors - all of which are common on that stretch at certain times of year. And the motoring public are given fair warning in the form of temporary road signs and overhead electronic signs when approaching J40 of the M6 and when leaving Penrith on the A66 eastwards, whether it is bad weather warnings, or horse and wagons. As it is largely a rural area, one imagines that motorists should not be surprised they come round a bend and almost into the back of a tractor, such is life in this part of the world. If people choose to ignore these warnings, then accidents happen.
For the past 3 winters, Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue Team has had to rescue people out of cars stuck in snow at Stainmore. The bad weather was forecast. There were warnings on the electronic signs. But still people chose to ignore the warnings and took a risk. For some it paid off, for others it didn't and they ended up inconveniencing Rescue Team members and their families and employers, and costing the charity significant amounts in fuel.
My point is that in many cases motorists are aware of the possible hazards on that road, either through local knowledge or through police / Highways warnings, but choose to ignore them. Where then should the blame for the accident lie - with the slow moving vehicle / horse which was the victim or with the careless motorist who ignored the warnings?
Apart from these 2 weeks, it is very rare to see a horse and rider on the A66, nor rarely cyclists, as the road really is too dangerous for them.
Almost (but not quite!) off topic...
One animal that definitely should have been banned from our roads before now is the hedgehog! They have no road-sense whatsoever! As I was coming home tonight one of them had a very near-death experience. Luckily I managed to distinguish it from the lumps of mud and horse-dung on the lane and safely avoid it, but it just scuttled on nonchalantly.
Obviously it hasn't learned any lessons at all from what happened to it's flat-mate last week!![]()
................It is the most dangerous road in Britain. Fact. Would you agree to them on the M25 or M1? They would be much safer.
There have been plenty of accidents and even deaths but nothing is ever done. If people had more respect then the problem would lessen but they havent.
I think a few people have taken my point the wrong way, i have nothing at all against travellers gypsies etc. my point was when we leave home to go off in our vehicles we are travelling therefore " travellers ". Wild camping in England is illegal so why are the people travelling to Appleby allowed to camp illegally when the members of this forum are not ? we could all scream human rights but would anybody listen.
" Dont worry love, they only eat children " .......I hope she got a puncture bigots
Channa
You call her a bigot for not understanding/accepting the travelling community, yet you are bigoted towards her without even knowing her reasons, just as bad imho.
Well I didnt ask her reasons for sure, but if I were a bigot, then I would have a blanket dislike,hatred of a group ethnic racial etc.
On the basis it was one motorhome and I am part of a motorhoming community, hardly a bigot.
However to make it apparent she wasnt stopping as soon as she saw the travellers would suggest perhaps a bigoted attitude?
Channa