Pubs on the motorway??

[Pavilionaire]

Dangerously bad idea, this.

A motorway is not just any road, it is a purpose-built road specifically designed to carry a lot of traffic at high speed, and unlike a lot of roads they have significant traffic 24 hours a day.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Dangerously bad idea, this.

A motorway is not just any road, it is a purpose-built road specifically designed to carry a lot of traffic at high speed, and unlike a lot of roads they have significant traffic 24 hours a day.

Coming off at a motorway exit, you can generally find a pub within a mile. Those who want to drink & drive will find a way. The vast majority of drivers are responsible people who will still have a coffee or a soft drink.

 

[dougdeep]

Dangerously bad idea, this.

A motorway is a purpose-built road specifically designed to carry a lot of traffic at high speed.

Why are the speed limits the same as on dual carriageways then?

 

[Footsoldier]

Dangerously bad idea, this.

A motorway is not just any road, it is a purpose-built road specifically designed to carry a lot of traffic at high speed, and unlike a lot of roads they have significant traffic 24 hours a day.

What road doesn't carry cars at high speed? There's thousands of cars that go out every Sunday looking for pubs so what is the difference?

 

[Pavilionaire]

1. It doesn't matter if the vast majority of drivers are sensible, it only takes one idiot to cause a multi-car pile-up on a motorway.

2. Unlike France, Italy, Austria we have a pub culture. It's not about whether you can already buy booze from a service station, it's the fact that the pub is there, signposted, in your face.

3. The speed of the motorway is significant. A driver who's had a drink rejoining the motorway in the dark with cars zooming along is a potentially very dangerous scenario.

 

[ali jenkins]

I can think of 5 pubs within a 5 min drive of the A23, the same speed as a motorway. Should all those be closed down as well?

Better stop selling beer at the Amex too, that is right next to the A27.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

1. It doesn't matter if the vast majority of drivers are sensible, it only takes one idiot to cause a multi-car pile-up on a motorway.

2. Unlike France, Italy, Austria we have a pub culture. It's not about whether you can already buy booze from a service station, it's the fact that the pub is there, signposted, in your face.

3. The speed of the motorway is significant. A driver who's had a drink rejoining the motorway in the dark with cars zooming along is a potentially very dangerous scenario.

Between Falmer & Lewes it is dual carriageway, which is 70mph. There is a pub on the westbound side. I don't remember hearing about carnage there every week.

 

[Return of the Rev]

What next? An opium den at shoreham airport!

 

[dougdeep]

The A14 is one of the fastest and most dangerous roads in the country but nobody has asked for the pubs there to be closed.

 

[Postman Pat]

As the guy says you can buy a bottle of wine at the M&S on the same site, what is the difference?

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

You can buy booze in service stations already, don't think this is a problem at all. I think as a country we are passed the theory drivers will drink if alcohol is on sale. As others have said, what about all the passengers?!

 

[Pavilionaire]

As the guy says you can buy a bottle of wine at the M&S on the same site, what is the difference?

I'm guessing the bottle of wine at M&S is usually bought to be consumed in the comfort of your home and not at the roadside?

 

[Easy 10]

I think @Pavillionaire has a point, having pubs on motorways is not a good idea IMO.

Yes there are pubs all over the place next to dual carriageways, and it doesn't induce people to pull over and star drinking.

But unlike more local pubs or those on dual carriageways, motorways are carrying lots of drivers who are travelling long distances, who at some point HAVE to pull over for fuel, a comfort break and/or refreshment. The vast majority of drivers will be sensible and not indulge in a few beers during such a stop - but not everyone is sensible, and having this temptation right in front of them when they've pulled in for a break is a recipe for disaster. Especially when you add in the factor of tiredness that is an inevitable factor on long journeys. Some will walk in, see the pub, see the cheap beer and think "well, a couple isn't going to hurt....". Its putting temptation there.

The point about lots of pubs being within a short distance of a motorway exit doesn't really wash for me either. You'd have to have some kind of a problem if you were that keen to exit a motorway on our journey and start trawling around a strange town for a pub. On the whole, drivers want to crack on down the motorway to their destination.

But putting a pub right under their noses in a service station will inevitably IMO lead to some drivers having a drink when they shouldn't, just for the fact that its right there where they've stopped anyway. Its too easy.

 

[atfc village]

Motorway service pubs £6 a pint? To keep inline with all the other rip offs in service stations.

 

[beorhthelm]

...On the whole, drivers want to crack on down the motorway to their destination.

and not have a beer at the service station 'spoonies? "temptation" is a pretty poor reason to stop something.

 

[Notters]

1. It doesn't matter if the vast majority of drivers are sensible, it only takes one idiot to cause a multi-car pile-up on a motorway.

2. Unlike France, Italy, Austria we have a pub culture. It's not about whether you can already buy booze from a service station, it's the fact that the pub is there, signposted, in your face.

3. The speed of the motorway is significant. A driver who's had a drink rejoining the motorway in the dark with cars zooming along is a potentially very dangerous scenario.

Dangerously bad idea, this.

A motorway is not just any road, it is a purpose-built road specifically designed to carry a lot of traffic at high speed, and unlike a lot of roads they have significant traffic 24 hours a day.

The reason motorways and dual carriageways are SAFER than other roads is that you don't get head on collisions, the relative speeds (i.e. the velocities) are lower than normal roads.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Yes, but if a drunk driver pulls out of a pub car park on a normal road and causes an accident then typically two or maybe three cars might be involved. If someone pissed pulls out onto a motorway and misjudges it you could be looking at 8-10 vehicles involved, maybe more.

 

[dougdeep]

Yes, but if a drunk driver pulls out of a pub car park on a normal road and causes an accident then typically two or maybe three cars might be involved. If someone pissed pulls out onto a motorway and misjudges it you could be looking at 8-10 vehicles involved, maybe more.

There are dual carriageways that are motorways in all but name.

 

[Easy 10]

and not have a beer at the service station 'spoonies? "temptation" is a pretty poor reason to stop something.

I'm not sayng they'd stop specifically for a couple of pints at a service station.

But you will have plenty of drivers who stop for a piss, stretch their legs, a packet of Fruit Gums, and then suddenly "oooh look, theres a pub here as well....might as well have a swifty before I go".

I wouldn't normally touch a Burger King to save my life, and certainly wouldn't bother going out of my way by pulling in to a service station specifically just for a Whopper, unless I needed something else there. Like petrol. Or a piss. But get me halfway down the M1 still a few hours from home, I'm in a service station, and I might just have a cheeky cheeseburger to fill a gap, because its RIGHT THERE as I walk past it after having a slash or whatever. And it'll be a fact that some drivers will end up having a pint or two in these Spoonies that they otherwise would never have had - simply because its right there, next to WH Smiths and the bogs.

Its suddenly giving drivers a choice and a decision that they never had to make before in a service station. And some will make the wrong one.

 

[Footsoldier]

I'm not sayng they'd stop specifically for a couple of pints at a service station.

But you will have plenty of drivers who stop for a piss, stretch their legs, a packet of Fruit Gums, and then suddenly "oooh look, theres a pub here as well....might as well have a swifty before I go".

I wouldn't normally touch a Burger King to save my life, and certainly wouldn't bother going out of my way by pulling in to a service station specifically just for a Whopper, unless I needed something else there. Like petrol. Or a piss. But get me halfway down the M1 still a few hours from home, I'm in a service station, and I might just have a cheeky cheeseburger to fill a gap, because its RIGHT THERE as I walk past it after having a slash or whatever. And it'll be a fact that some drivers will end up having a pint or two in these Spoonies that they otherwise would never have had - simply because its right there, next to WH Smiths and the bogs.

Its suddenly giving drivers a choice and a decision that they never had to make before in a service station. And some will make the wrong one.

Best thing to do then is ban drink driving completely then we'd not have these issues.