Take care on muddy roads, drivers warned (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)
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Take care on muddy roads, drivers warned
9:24am Tuesday 30th October 2012 in News By Ian Craig
DRIVERS are warned to take care over the next few weeks following reports of an increase in mud on the county’s roads.
The mud has been caused by tractors bringing in the maize harvest, with damp conditions in fields making the situation worse.
Gloucestershire County Council’s highways department warned drivers to take extra care as the mud can be very slippy and issued the following advice:
• Keep an eye on road surfaces and slow down if necessary.
• Leave extra space for braking.
• Allow for other road users avoiding mud or other obstacles in the road.
• Make sure your washer bottle is full.
GCC cabinet member for communities Cllr Will Windsor-Clive said: “Mud on the roads can make driving conditions more difficult.
“If drivers come across mud on the road, they should change their driving in the same way they would for ice or very wet roads.
“This problem is likely to be short-lived as the harvest season is nearly over.”
Clearing mud off the roads and putting warning signs up is the responsibility of farmers.
If a road is particularly muddy, GCC will work with the police to identify the responsible farmer and ensure the road is cleaned as soon as possible.
The conditions are expected to last until mid-November.
Comments(10)
Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum
says...
9:54am Tue 30 Oct 12
It is the legal responsibility of the farmer to ensure that every precaution is taken to avoid any mud being carried off the field. Accepting that in cultivating and harvesting operations some mud will inevitably end up on the road, according to the Highways Act it is imperative to make arrangements to remove it immediately
It simply isn¹t good enough to stick a couple of childlike homemade "mud on road" signs on the verge,
My message to offending farmers is clear …... please think of other road users and abide by the law of the land before someone is seriously hurt.
JGH
says...
5:05pm Tue 30 Oct 12
So therefore can we expect that farmers
(a)will be driving around with lights on at dawn and dusk,
(b)pulling in to let other vehicles passed,
(c)displaying the same registration number on both tractor and trailer, and
(d) also see them foregoing all the subsidies which other industries would love to have?
Robert Jeanes
says...
6:30pm Tue 30 Oct 12
Now that is a gem ....... naturally, from one of the currently ubiquitous and patronising "Take Care" brigade.
Anyone on a motor cycle, or a bike for that matter bike might well have a claim here .....
Councillors should not be advising road users how to go about their business.
Crispin Mount
says...
7:26pm Tue 30 Oct 12
You couldn't make it up.
Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum
says...
5:38am Wed 31 Oct 12
But they should be advising the ignorant, selfish farmers to be more considerate.
Union Man
says...
2:23pm Wed 31 Oct 12
Lib Dem policy is stay of the road.
Labour Policy is agree with who ever you are talking to.
Isn't politics great
R Cotswold
says...
6:46pm Wed 31 Oct 12
In good light one can usually avoid them, but covered in mud and in 'twilght' and beyond it proves difficult! Trying to avoid them; plus cyclists also swerving around them , not to mention those inconsiderate horsy folk sitting on one horse and leading another or two as well it's becoming quite fraught to venture forth!
Olly Cromwell
says...
8:57pm Wed 31 Oct 12
Daytona2
says...
5:52pm Sun 4 Nov 12
None.
There's nothing worse than having people who have been placed in positions of power to enforce the laws failing to do so.
Bob Henson says...
9:49am Tue 30 Oct 12