At the moment if you breakdown on the motorway because your car is out of fuel nothing bad happens to you... if you area a member of a recovery company you get some fuel brought to you (at a price) or you have to walking to the nearest fuel station - bare in mind that walking along the motorway accept to an SOS phone is an offence, as is abondoning your car.

Do you think people should be prosecuted for it? I would say that 25% of breakdowns I deal with are people out of fuel. Like some chap today who was in the middle of the M1 roadworks contraflow :thumbdwn:

So... quick poll. It is a multiply choice one - first question have you ever run a car our of fuel on the motorway - second question - do you think police should prosecute?

A lot of people say that their fuel gauge is broken, either an excuse or not I guess it is possbile.

The reason I ask is that Traffic Officers are likely to be given some more 'powers' soon - and they would more thank likely to be writing out the tickets that would lead to prosecution.

I think that there are too many circumstances to lead to running out of fuel to make this an offence especially in days of high fuel prices and people trying to get fuel from cheaper stations on their travels.

I think that police have enough to worry about these days before they have to start proving that a car has run out of fuel and any arguments they are likly to get from their customers!

Steve

I have only ever run out of fuel in a self drive hire van while moving house (didnt want to put too much fuel in and be wasted) but was only ever going to be driven on local roads.

give them a fixed fine like driving with a phone.

sorry i know petrol prices are high etc but it is a 1000% avoidable

It's not a crime IMO, so no.

Oh Emily

Not managed to get anyone arrested today?

:rofl:

Kathy

Douse them in their own petrol and burn them....

Oh, hang on....

It should be a criminal offence on a motorway.

Next you'll be asking for the police to prosecute people for not cleaning their cars and it make the road look untidy.

I would much rather the police concetrated on more dangerous aspects of peoples' behavior on the road eg blown bulbs, middle lane hogs etc

I almost ran out of petrol once, one of the seals went on my fuel filter so it was dumping fuel out whilst I was driving :(

It should be a criminal offence on a motorway.

I thought it already was :confused:

EE, I know you haven't been in the job long but do the Highways Agency have accurate figures for running out of petrol? Is this becoming more common?

But surely someone chugging to a halt in the outside lane solely due to their own stupidity is dangerous?

I agree that mechanical failure usually can't be avoided, but....

( stop trying to antagonise me..:P)

It's not a crime IMO, so no.

I think it is an offence to run out of fuel on the motorway, but as far as I know people are very unlikely to be prosecuted.

What if someone was to run out of fuel in live lane and then cause a serious accident?

We had a bloke the other day who was out of fuel, HATO pulled up behind him and saw beer cans on the back seat. We called the police who did a breath test - jammy sod was 31 mg rather than the 35 mg to nick for drink driving.

We watched him on camera and a friend turned up with a can of fuel - he then, which a cigerette on one hand and fuel can in the other, topped up his car and then left. Surely it must be an offence to be this stupid and in charge of a motor vehicle?

Oh Emily

Not managed to get anyone arrested today?

:rofl:

Kathy

No arrests today sadly, but I did have my first suspect heart attack when I answered and emergency roadside phone - which was way cooler, although I had to leave the room and change my pants when the call was over and we could confirm ambo were on scene :eek:

Yes, they should be able to issue a ticket atleast - its completely avoidable and you create a real hazard by running out of fuel.

I thought it was already an offence :confused:

Next you'll be asking for the police to prosecute people for not cleaning their cars and it make the road look untidy.

If you read my original post properly you would see that it is HATOs that might be getting powers to issue tickets for this sort of thing, so we wouldn't be 'bothering the police' and they could carry on with their paper work.

As you have pointed out there are ligitimate reasons why someone might have fuelling issues, but as far as I am concerned - being to tight to stick £10 in at a fuel station is really not an excuse.

It's not a crime IMO, so no.

:iagree:

The only CRIME is the price the service stations charge for fuel

EE, I know you haven't been in the job long but do the Highways Agency have accurate figures for running out of petrol? Is this becoming more common?

Motorists prepare for Bank Holiday jams

By David Millward, Transport Correspondent

Last Updated: 6:09am BST 05/05/2007

Bank holiday motorists were urged to fill up their tanks before setting off to avoid adding to the gridlock on the roads this weekend.

The Highways Agency said more than half the incidents they deal with involve drivers running out of fuel.

Roadworks will not be suspended over the holiday weekend, said the agency, which urged motorists to check their website for details of the planned schemes.

The RAC has predicted the worst May Bank Holiday jams in several years due to the forecast of fine weather at least today and tomorrow. Traffic hot spots will include routes to the West Country and to coastal resorts, the M25, the M1 in South Yorks and Notts and the M6 at Birmingham.

Train operators are also bracing themselves: Eurostar predicts it will carry 100,000 passengers over the weekend.

British Airways says bookings have been particularly heavy on flights to Nice, Paris, Geneva, Edinburgh and Rome.

The Association of British Travel Agents said just under two million Britons would be leaving the country over the Bank Holiday weekend.

In my region I wouldn't say it was as high as 50%, but it is one of the biggest causes of breaking down.

I would say fixed penalty..

on Sunday i saw quite a few of the overhead signs on the M5/M6 had a warning to check the fuel level

Emily-You say you saw a guy on cam filling a car and having a ciggy in his hand? Could of been a diesel car, no real problem with a lighted fag IN the fuel let alone next to it. Otherwise, if petrol, then granted-very very stupid.

In todays very congested roads many people are stuck in motorway jams for hours/miles on end and service stations can be few in some areas.... if any law/powers are introduced then they need to have provision for common sense for such circumstances.

Yes, running out of fuel in lane3 of a busy motorway isnt ideal, nor is getting a puncture/blow out or breaking down due to a engine/auxilliary failure..... where would we stop?

It isnt the fact that someone has run out of fuel in L3 thats the issue, its the drivers inability to react early enough to move over to the shoulder and get out the way safely. Education is, IMO the way to go here.

Steve

Prosecuting people seems very harsh. Has someone upset you today??

I can see the theory in a fixed penalty, but even that seems a little over the top for just running out of fuel

OMG get me out of this country as its full of loonies

Ok going with the flow - lets prosecute everybody who drives too close to the car in front because its dangerous. And while we're at it do the same to anyone who smokes in their car or talks to passengers or has the radio on because they cant be fully concentrating on driving and that's dangerous too. And ofcourse anyone who runs into a stationary car on the Mway should be severely punished because they should always be able to stop within the visible distance in front of them - shouldnt they ? To do otherwise is dangerous.

There is a little gauge on my car that tells me what is left the fuel tank If you run out of fuel because you cannot understand this simplest of readouts then you deserve what's coming to you, usually a 14 mile walk to the nearest fuel stop.

I also agree about the comments on getting tough with blown bulbs and lane hogs.

I don't think the police should be doling out tickets for it as they have enough on their plate without dealing with petty offences such as this.

If the HATO mob are given the powers to issue tickets for it where does it stop? next they will have calibrated speedos and blue lights on the roof.

Leave things as they are.

Prosecuting people seems very harsh. Has someone upset you today??

I can see the theory in a fixed penalty, but even that seems a little over the top for just running out of fuel

No one has 'upset' me today - but I have to speak to a lot of people who have run their cars out of fuel - and excluding a problem with the fuelling system or a broken fuel gauge it is totally avoidable. I just think that there needs to be some sort of penalty for being a total dunderhead and risking running your car out of fuel. When I say prosecution I mean like a fixed penalty. A fixed pentaly is still a prosecution of sorts - just one done that means you don't have to attend court.

How unprepared and stupid do you have to be to leave your house, drive onto a motorway and then run your car out of fuel?

I'd have though a fixed penalty fine was the way to go unless something fails on the car fuel lines e.g. the fuel line splits due to debris on the road.

I'd have though every car on the road in the UK has a fuel gauge and most have warning lights too when the fuel gets really low so there is really no excuse.

OMG get me out of this country as its full of loonies

Ok going with the flow - lets prosecute everybody who drives too close to the car in front because its dangerous. And while we're at it do the same to anyone who smokes in their car or talks to passengers or has the radio on because they cant be fully concentrating on driving and that's dangerous too. And ofcourse anyone who runs into a stationary car on the Mway should be severely punished because they should always be able to stop within the visible distance in front of them - shouldnt they ? To do otherwise is dangerous.

I think you need to be aware that people die on the hard shoulder a lot.

Lorry taking a tacho break on M40, and another lorry goes into the back of it - one man dead just the other day because of this while I was on shift. One lady killed on the M4 while outside of her vehicle - not to sure of the circumstances. This is in under 3 months of working for the HA. The point I am making is the hard shoulder cannot be used as free parking. For every vehicle that is struck on the hard shoulder it takes an average of 11 mins from the time it took them to stop there to them being hit.

I think that there does need to be some sort of penalty for being so totally dim.

And by mockingly saying that people should be prosecuted for getting to close to the vehicle in front - are you really suggesting that this is a great idea and something that should be done regularly and a really good idea?? Hope I never have you driving behind me :thumbdwn:

I think you need to be aware that people die on the hard shoulder a lot.

Yesterday: BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Woman hit by motorway lorry dies

luckily I was on the opposite side, saw the lorry, car, emergency services :(

Not saying she ran out of petrol but I agree with Emily that you shouldn't be on the hard shoulder if you can easily avoid it.

I don't think the police should be used like this to issue petty fines for stupid behaviour. It's definitely not worthy of points or criminalisation. This would just add more fuel to the fire that the police are a debt collection agency for the government. lets face it the Cops put up with enough moaning and groaning as it is.

If you run out of petrol on the motorway, the car should be towed away as soon as possible by an appropriate recovery vehicle, and the owner should pay for the cost of the recovery. They'd soon think again about filling up prior to venturing onto the Mway.