I feel dirty now!

[Julian]

That was a weired experience.  I had to go to a petrol station today, first time in very many years.  Not for me you understand, it was for a friend who'd run out of petrol.

Over 20 quid didn't fill a Jerry can ... scary!

I had a thought while filling the car on the hard shoulder with HGVs thundering by at 60 mph a few feet away ... is it illegal for a private individual to attend to a breakdown on a motorway?  Got a feeling at the back of my mind it might be.

[Tony]

I wasn't sure either...

According to http://www.webcars.co.uk/article.asp?id=121

"It is illegal for a passer-by to stop and help someone on a motorway."

[Julian]

Ah, I might be OK then as I was called to assist.

It makes a bit of a mockery of all the regulations and technology.  This stretch of the motorway is covered by surveillance cameras and I passed a "motorway Patrol" sitting in a pull off just a mile away from her.

If the system worked as intended they have spotted her on the cameras and got the patrol to her within a couple of minutes.

[Jamesrl]

I experienced something similar a couple of years ago when I borrowed a petrol powered water pump, the owner said just refill the tank when your finished.

When finished I grabbed a 5ltr pertol can and off to the local garage, as usual more expensive than the big chains, it came close to calling an ambulance when he told me how much.

I remember thinking at the time , how the feck do poeple afford to run motors nowadays?

[Julian]

I've just done a little googling and there appears to be no definitive answer I can find.  Even a driving instructors forum posted completely differing views.

A government site just said get out of the car and use the emergency phones ... nothing else.

What if I had a can of bio in the back and ran out, could I top up and drive off?

It would appear that you can tow a car with a tow rope, off a motorway if it's broken down on the motorway, but you cannot use a motorway to tow a car that broke down elsewhere.

When I had head problems with the Disco, I carried a cubie of water in the back.  I stopped on the M25 to top it up and the motorway patrol turned up.  We had a nice chat on the hard shoulder after I filled it up and I went on my way.  Even letting them know I knew it was liable to happen due to the head problem, they didn't have an issue with it.

Be nice to know a definitive answer.

[Jamesrl]

I was always under tbe impression that it is illegal to stop on a motorway unless you have broken down,  even to assist another driver.

You can only use a towrope, on any road, to tow a vehicle to the first safe place and no further.

[willbuild]

Its illegal to run out of fuel in some counties as is middle lane hogging. (don't get me started)

[kamaangir]

Its illegal to run out of fuel in some counties as is middle lane hogging. (don't get me started)

You don't drive on the M25 or the M1 then?

[greasemonkey]

You wanna try running a feckin petrol car.
Dirty? I feel like tipping a gallon over my head and striking a match.

[willbuild]

Its illegal to run out of fuel in some counties as is middle lane hogging. (don't get me started)

You don't drive on the M25 or the M1 then?

I stick to the middle lane on the M25 sometimes for over an hour to do half a mile

[Jonzeyboy43]

There are as far as I am aware two possible offences connected to this post: stopping on the hard shoulder and using the hard shoulder. The hard shoulder is only there for emergency use not if you need a pee or a sleep. I think you will find helping a break down could be considered as you stopping on the hard shoulder, but you would need to be a hard arse to stick someone on for it. However the motor way is a very scary place to stop even if you are trying to help. I would not stop with out a high viz and even then I would put my motor 20-30 metres behind the stopped vehicle and stick my haz lights on and I would not hang about refilling either.

[Julian]

There are as far as I am aware two possible offences connected to this post: stopping on the hard shoulder and using the hard shoulder. The hard shoulder is only there for emergency use not if you need a pee or a sleep. I think you will find helping a break down could be considered as you stopping on the hard shoulder, but you would need to be a hard arse to stick someone on for it. However the motor way is a very scary place to stop even if you are trying to help. I would not stop with out a high viz and even then I would put my motor 20-30 metres behind the stopped vehicle and stick my haz lights on and I would not hang about refilling either.

Thanks for that.  It sounds as if your posts is based on knowledge rather than hearsay ... a member of the police perhaps?

[willbuild]

I have lived on the continent for 30 years and carry a high vis bib, warning triangle and spare bulbs in my van (and jaffa cakes) always.  Which is a legal requierment in most of europe.
 

[Julian]

There's another member of the forum who should be feeling far dirtier than me ... I was just buying fuel for someone else.

Wonder if he'll own up or should we start a wiki leaks board so we can dish the dirt?

[Tony]

I feel slightly dirty because I bought 5l of diesel to put in the Largo I've got for sale, because I don't want to scare off potential buyers...