Ran out of fuel on the motorway some 30 years ago driving back from Exeter in a rental lorry. The fuel gauge showed over a third left :thumbdwn:

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.

Agreed, if today its cos you have run out of fuel, then tommorrow it will be cos you had a puncture and you didnt check them with a magnifying glass every 30 mins of your journey.

Yes, minimise the time that vehicles spend on the hard shoulder and that will definatly save lives but through education, through several means including TrafPol and HATO's.

Yes, anyone that does run out of fuel when the guage is working correctly and there is no mechanical failures is a *(insert expletive of your choice here)* but they need educating not to do it and advice by HA if they are in that situation.

Most cars I pass on the shoulder are parked stupidly, no hazards, no lights, nothing. Parked too close to L1, doors open, all sorts. Have they called the HA on the orange phones?

Emily and her colleuges need to (they have never ever done when I have called them) give basic safety tips over the orange phone so that the driver can go and move their car into a better and safer position (using the starter if no fuel)

By this I mean:

As far to the left as possible, even on the grass verge if safe and suitable

Wheels turned to the left

Hazards, lights and rear fogs on if possible

Position all people behind the car, behind a barrier or on the embankment etc

Always walk facing the traffic so you can see any danger coming.

I have had an engine failure in L3 before, no power, no power steering etc and managed to get to a safe position on the HS in rush hour traffic with no drama or major inconveineince to other road users.

Ran out of fuel on the motorway some 30 years ago driving back from Exeter in a rental lorry. The fuel gauge showed over a third left :thumbdwn:

So you didn't knowingly run out of fuel, you just put your trust in a crap fuel gauge

So you didn't knowingly run out of fuel, you just put your trust in a crap fuel gauge

Correct :P

But what else am I supposed to with a rental lorry that was filled up when I started the journey. Wouldn't mind if I'd been 'pushing it' on the red segment but, as stated, was over a third showing.

Never happened since

I'm going to get flamed or moderated for this post, but this talk of peoples stupidity just brings this to my mind..........

Strut Brace

(running and ducking)

I'm going to get flamed or moderated for this post, but this talk of peoples stupidity just brings this to my mind..........

Strut Brace

(running and ducking)

:rofl:You're braver than me...

I'm going to get flamed or moderated for this post, but this talk of peoples stupidity just brings this to my mind..........

Strut Brace

(running and ducking)

Was I on the motorway? No.

Did I put anyone else at risk? No.

Was I able to carry on driving at no risk to my vehicle? Yes.

I made a mistake due to lack of knowledge, as pointed out by other people in this thread - people who don't know how a fuel gauge works shouldn't be on the road.

HTH.

Was I on the motorway? No.

Did I put anyone else at risk? No.

Was I able to carry on driving at no risk to my vehicle? Yes.

I made a mistake due to lack of knowledge, as pointed out by other people in this thread - people who don't know how a fuel gauge works shouldn't be on the road.

HTH.

You could have been on the motorway, you could have put someone at risk and you could have failed to carry on driving. It's all relative Emily.

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:

(Oops didnt do the quote thing right)

You've got me wrong...

Tail-gating someone is in my book dangerous driving too. You mis-understand my mocking which was intended to refer to the practicalities of policing new laws which are most of the time unenforceable (eg mobile phones etc). I've yet to hear of a case of the police pulling over someone who was tail gating another. I feel this country is awash with laws which fail to bring about the mprovements that were hoped of them. The knee jerk response to a problem seems to be these days "Oh lets have another law" instead of more proactive educational measures.

The other problem is that forgetful, easily distracted and sometimes stupid people are allowed to drive cars and I dont think prosceuting these people make them any less so.

Finally, why do people pull onto the hard shoulder without checking that there is enough room ahead to stop. Im not a HGV driver but if lorries didnt drive so close they could see further up the hard shouldr before pulling onto it.

The knee jerk response to a problem seems to be these days "Oh lets have another law" instead of more proactive educational measures.

Agreed - but as I see it so much is because of the lack of a police presence on the roads :thumbdwn:

I havent bothered to read all the responses, but when I was a truck driver - it was considered a sackable offence to run out of fuel. Quite rightly so too. Only a complete muppet runs out of fuel on the MWAY in my opinion, and if its anything other than completley excusable - then a fixed penalty fine should be issued.

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

...

You'd have to get off the planet - the loonies are everywhere!!

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?

How about.... £30 FPT or their breakdown has to cover it. If they claim a defect, give them a defect notice and have them get a new MOT in 7 days?

J.

If somebody kept doing it then maybe a fixed fine, but keep it small say 15L of fuel + an admin charge. Would be about £30 at the moment. You could include the 5L jerry can of fuel in that price to get them off the road.

Prosecution would cost the tax payers thousands and thousands in wasted money.

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.

Yes well a lot of the HATO seem to have librarian syndrome anyway, so giving them any real power would be a very very bad move in my opinion.

Wow!

I'll start by explaining that i think everyone should run out of fuel at least once before they're allowed to get their license. Would educate the vast majority of drivers what it feels like to loose power from any # of failures...

I've personally done this with a rental with a bad fuel gage, some much older vehicles that had no fuel gage fitted(old American pick-ups,very early VW beatles/bugs...), & when determining the true size of the fuel filling capacity in any new car I buy(not on diesel though!)& of course with dry gas ready to go... Oh many older vehicles not fitted with a fuel gage had a switch to throw 4 the second/spare fuel tank.

Prosecution for all the offenses mentioned in this thread: Tailgating, unsafe parking, driving under distraction, cell phone usage without the proper hands free device,overly filthy vehicles, bulb outages & other related MOT failing offences... Should be handled with the focus being placed rectifying the situation in the most timely fashion possible. As well as avoiding repeat offenses!

The issue is HOW!

Waste taxpayers money creating a police state?{We all know the only traffic offense enforced is Speed related fines}-Easy Money!

Get big brother on our backs more than already by requiring SOS black box systems that would tattle-tale on us?

Allow fellow citizens to use lethal force when they determine to their conscience that an infraction has been committed?

Well unfortunately I don't see any real remedy to the problem!!!!!

Have to agree for lack of any better suggestions that education is the only real solution, like the Drunk driving scare tactics used in films to drivers starting out. With all the gory blood & guts from the motorists getting nailed as they open their doors after a breakdown on the Motorway!!!!!!!

I have run out of fuel on the motorway.

I borrowed a company pool car to do a drop at another office, and on the return leg run out of fuel despite the fuel gauge still reading 1/4 tank. I was on the M11 travelling north at the time, after the AA relieved my credit card of some money I was on my way again. I didnt know the guage was faulty, indeed the fleet manager said there should be enough fuel to get there and back.

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

but that's like excusing speeding cos you were trying to get home in time to watch the footy :confused: so long as it is some kind of offence to run out of fuel on the motorway, and it's not due to some other failure/malfunction then I reckon something similar to a parking fine would do - no real need to involve the cops or issue points etc

You can simulate "running out of fuel" in most driving school cars; just have the instructor declutch!

Oh and I think the Dayglo Wombles have too many powers as it is; no way should they be given more.

EE; what you're getting is a form of selective memory. It's like how, when you change the make of car you drive, there are suddenly a lot more of the new make on the road than there were last week. There aren't; it's just that you notice them more.

Real life situation - I can drive to my office very easily when the low fuel light is on. However with 1/4 tank left I nearly ran out of fuel once due to massive traffic jam situation (due to accident). Sure this doesnt happen all the time but in that case what can you do?

That said when my fuel is definitely 'low' I'd get into that left-hand lane..

Even if people did get stuck on it would only be a £30 non endorsable ticket and like all other powers would be discretionary. If HATO's where designated the power then they would have to caution etc correctly and record any responses verbatim including conducting contemp interview if appropriate regardng any possible defences so that there is evidence to prosecute should the offender not pay the ticket or elect to go to court.

Probably a bad way to go. Many people would hate police more and the usual jokes about "havent you got real criminals to catch" would no doubt come out!

Sounds like common financial sense to me, another very simple way of persecuting mr average & its not appealable because you either did or didnt do it. yet another easy way to raise tax. It would be even easier for plod to stop arseing around & get out to nick people for defective lights. Then if they felt really bold they could start on driving standards but that takes a lot of time, is often open to dispute & would entail lengthy court cases so obviously not cost effective to enforce. So lets continue finding easy ways to tax the motorists & allow them to continue to drive like *****. Sorry sounding synical but Ive just done 1700 trouble free happy miles in france over the weekend & now its back to this kin country with poor drivers, lane hogs & partially lit cars & a government thats so broke it has to extract money any way it can !!

i think its more about teaching new drivers about motorways. i never had a motorway lesson in my life.but i went out and found advice on motorway best practice and i feel i have a better head on my shoulders for driving on the motorway than quite a number of newer drivers (and some older ones!)

how many people tailgate, hog the middle lane, fail to do even basic checks on their cars before entering a motorway??

i tihnk instead of fining people, if you do something like that on a motorway you should be forced to do a motorway test of some description. be it simply a bit of literature or a full course. imoa there are far too many people on the motorways who dont have a clue!

me personally when im going on the motorway i check:

fuel

tyres

washers

oil level

i also make sure ive got a charger for the mobile phone and a decent coat and a torch. ive had a few breakdowns some years back when i had to drive old and crappy cars. but ive never had a failure due to something silly like headlight bulb failure, or running out of fuel. its just basic common sense.

but i wouldnt want any fines or anything else given out, just another tax for the road user!

I would say a fixed penalty with no points, but each case must be looked at for extenuating circumstance, broken or not functioning correctly fuel guage, stuck in a jam for an extensive length of time etc. I have never run out of fuel but have sort of looked at the computer and its said 100 miles left and my journey on the m'way as been say 85 so i have played fuel light bingo to avoid service station prices. (If the computer as altered along the route drastically I will splash and dash tho )

I would say fine the people who could have avoided stopping on the motorway.

Mechanical failures can hapen at anytime but having a fine should be an incentive for people to make sure they have enough fuel for their journey.