They see you coming

How many carry red road flares?

I do. Along with a clean Hi-viz vest

I carry one in my car but not my wife’s. They are a requirement on some sites I visit, and sensible in yards with traffic moving around.

I believe warning triangles are mandatory in many countries, you can be fined for not carrying one. My new VW has a special cutout in the rear door (hatchback) to hold one.

Personally I always thought they were a bit pointless as they seem so small and flimsy most drivers would probably run over them and not notice unless they were only doing 5 mph.

These are being phased out on the continent and will soon be illegal in Spain. The new compulsory warning is a magnetic flashing beacon to stick on the roof. It comes in two options, one of which has a GPS relay system in it. Far too many people were getting killed putting out the triangles ( two were required by law)!

Jeez, people were getting killed putting out warning triangles to stop them getting killed, you truly couldn't make some of this stuff up.

Tony

How about placing a full-size blow-up doll ( any gender) on the hard shoulder. Then , when you hear it go 'BANG'

you know it's time to dive over the barrier to safety.

Fortunately I've never had to use mine, but the thought of walking back along a Spanish Autovia makes me shudder. The stats are there, and the numbers killed on bank holidays on the continent are beyond belief. The local TV news reports show all the 'morts' gore and all. I have noticed a calming down over the years, but there are still the maniacs around as my dashcam would prove.

Reading this thread I've just remembered I forgot to put my second triangle in the car!!! God help me if the Guardia Traffico catch me!

That's another thing, I've never bought a car with two triangles in, and if you hire a car DO NOT take it away unless it has triangles and enough Hi Vis vests for each passenger in the car! The fines are horrific and have to be paid 'on the spot'!

**LINK**

This explains the detail. Useful to know in advance of travel.

That's why I think the 100m distance is far too much.

The flashing beacon is one of those making the solution worse: a triangle will still work adequately if slightly damaged, and has no batteries to leak or run down. Its benefits are a worthwhile improvement over the minor disadvantages.

Minor disadvantages??? What planet are you on. I've driven on thousands of miles of fast European roads and I wouldn't want to risk even trying to get the triangles (2 remember) out of the back of the car and walk the recommended distance to place them. HGV's travel at 100kph at least over here (I followed many cruising at 120kph last week), one of those going by you will create a serious amount of suction. 130kmh is common on many autoroutes and a lot of drivers exceed this! I don't think I would want to risk it on the M25 either. The injury and death rates speak for themselves.

Way back in the old days, triangles were very useful on the mountain passes (no tunnels etc in those days). If you saw a triangle approaching a hairpin bend, you knew there would be something on the exit side.

The GPS technology with the beacon is something to be welcomed. The rescue service, certainly in Spain, is fantastic with fast cars and helicopters all at the disposal of the Traffico and any technology to speed things up and save lives gets my support.

Did I mention the 16 years I did as a recovery driver, working in those exact conditions?

Being on the hard shoulder is very dangerous. Not being visible makes that much worse. Spending 20 seconds putting a warning triangle behind the car is a risk, but is one worth taking because it reduces other worse ones. If you're really worried, leave the bloody thing behind, IF you can get the car movable quickly.

I've seen first hand how people treat their cars and the equipment in them: battery operated safety equipment is a good idea to someone who has only worked from a warm dry desk. Spare wheels are rarely inflated, locking wheel nut keys are missing, jacks are bent(yes, you did read that correctly), the nice warm blanket is soaked in god knows what and their torch needs to be thrown away because the battery inside has not only leaked but swollen enough that it's now a hard press fit. Discovering all of that is bad enough in a car park on a nice spring afternoon, doing so at 17:30 in January on the M25 in the pissing rain is enough to convince you that confiscating the car and the driver's licence could be a good idea.

I broke down in a 5.5 mtr long 3.5 mtr high motorhome on the roundabout above one of the busy M5 or M6 junctions( not sure which.!) Put out two warning triangles about 30 & 60 ft away from what was a large visible vehicle.

I waited off the road, by the barrier wearing a Hi vis jacket between the nearer triangle and the van.

The further triangle went down within about 3 minutes, and in the 40 minutes I waited for the recovery man, the second triangle was hit 4 times, and one driver went through both triangles and nearly hit the back of the van. He then got out of his car and started to lay into me about how stupid I was to park my van there to just to look out at the traffic passing below on the motorway. I passed his number on to the police non emergency number, wonder if he ever got a call ?

For 35 years I've used a firm who only do MOTs. I am completely confident in their assessments because they have no relationship with any repair company. The only time I had cause to raise my eyebrows was when a young lad they's nod had for long pointed out that my (GRP) Renault Espace door was rusting through from the inside. It wasn't, the GRP was delaminating.

I like others take my cars to our local village garage as does my son in law and daughter, when its finished if I cant collect it its delivered to my house and the bill is on my seat and I pay it the next day, also like others any work is not done until I've been spoken to.

As a slight aside my daughter and our 2 1/2 year old grandson came last Saturday to take grandma out, ten minutes after they left I received a phone call from my daughter to come and find her as whilst waiting at the village junction to the main road she had been rear ended, the young lad who hit her was in a state as he'd found out our grandson was in the car, anyway no injuries just an exchange of details, my daughter drove the car back to our house as we could now not get the rear door open as it was badly out of shape, I had to get my friend to give me a hand to dismantle my wifes mobility scooter and get it out via the rear doors, yesterday the car went off for repair and an hour later the bodyshop rang my daughter to ask how did she open the rear door as they couldnt see how to open it the car is a Ford Ecosport.

Martin P

While training at an engineering technical centre outside Alexandria in the early 1980s I learned the Egyptian approach to breakdowns.

1/ Breakdown. Pull over to side of road.

2/ Warning to approaching motorists. Scout around for the biggest boulder you can lift and place it around 10m behind the car and far enough into the road to make approaching cars swerve away from you.

3/ Change tyre or whatever.

4/ Remember how heavy the boulder was and mutter in arabic, "mallesh". (In English, "Ah **** it." )

5/ Leave the warning boulder where you'd placed it and drive off.

Driving at night on unlit roads and facing dazzling headlights made you good at detecting shadows on the road and steering around them. When you failed to see the boulder and wiped out a front tyre it was truly amazing how quickly 4 engineers could change a wheel in the dark.

Edited By Colin Whittaker on 10/09/2021 05:28:46

Edited By Colin Whittaker on 10/09/2021 05:29:29

Edited By Colin Whittaker on 10/09/2021 05:30:10

Edited By JasonB on 10/09/2021 06:59:13

Driving in France very regularly its a requirement to carry a set of spare bulbs - maybe in other countries as well but I don't drive in those...

A new headlight bulb for my car is approx £120 - I'm not carrying a spare as a just in case measure..... I know, i'm a rebel....

I traded a pick up truck in on another newer one. After waiting around for an hour for the deal to be closed I hunted up the salesman to find what was wrong. He told Me They had to call in Their oldest mechanic as the young Boys could not operate a "three on the tree."

Edited By mark costello 1 on 10/09/2021 19:20:15

Last time we were in France, my uncle noticed the 'required' spare bulbs, hi-viz vests, safety triangle and first aid kit in the car. As 70 year-old Frenchman, that was the first time he'd ever seen them. His reaction would have been good for a TV laughter track. Then there was the debacle about the alcohol testers....

I insist on the triangle and at least one hi-viz, for the same reasons that I ensure the spare wheel, jack, locking wheel nut key, wheel brace and fire extinguisher are up to the job - personal experience. Dad supplies the first aid kit, having been a qualified first aider since getting his first full-time job at an oil-refinery. A bulb kit is a few quid, and keeps most of the required bulbs and a few fuses in a small padded container. As you say, carrying a replacement HID bulb isn't practical, but replacing the other bulbs is.

Spare bulbs are no longer mandatory in France, and it would be a bit impractical with some modern LED lamp clusters, to change them at the roadside.