Hirsute wrote:

Two black SUV drivers who saw the No Entry signs at Dunquin saying 'Route for Pedestrians & Sheep only' & decided it didn't apply to them, one burnt out their clutch trying to reverse up before getting rescued by tractor

Bloody sheep, why should they have their own expensive road, bet those flocks don't even have to pass a droving test...

Chapeau to the tractor driver there though; that looks like a tow-er de force.

And what is Adrian Leisk, Head of Road Safety at Devon & Cornwall Police,
doing about errant cyclists?

(…silence reigned…)

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> More than 50 Devon road users were caught speeding during just one hour.
> Cops took to the streets of Paignton following complaints by residents of
> speeding motorists – and caught plenty breaking the limit.

[…]

> https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/devon-road-users-caught-paignton-8506116

--
Spike

Edinburgh bus repeatedly rammed by motorist in bizarre video

Well, the bus wasn't wearing hi-viz or a helmet, nor was it using the bus lane that the car, all on its own, had paid millions to build.
=================================Bizarre footage shows the moment a driver rams repeatedly into the rear of a stationary bus in Edinburgh.

The video, first reported by Edinburgh Live, shows the blue Dacia Sandero Stepway repeatedly driving into the double decker – even reversing to take a run-up. Passengers can be seen jolting from the impacts as the car is driven into the rear of the bus 14 times in the space of a minute.

Passing motorists and pedestrians can only watch on in confusion as the man continues driving backwards and forwards, continually crashing into the larger vehicle.

The clip has been circulated on social media since, garnering similarly confused reactions from social media. The incident itself is believed to have occurred on Tuesday May 23 on Portobello Road, in the Meadowbank area of Edinburgh.

Writing on social media, one person commented: "What on earth, why?" Another joked: "At least put a bit of effort into it, going to take a lot more than that to push a decker."

One local said: "The sooner cars are banned from the city centre the better.." While a further resident added: "What the actual heck. Never seen anything so mental."

Another joked: "Very public spirited in trying to push start the bus with a flat battery."

A Lothian Buses spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident involving one of our vehicles and are assisting Police Scotland with their enquiries.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "A 58-year-old man was arrested and charged following a road traffic incident which happened around 9.10 pm on Wednesday, 24 May, 2023 in the Jocks Lodge area of Edinburgh. The incident involved a bus and a blue Dacia car. He was traced at the time. A report will be sent to PF."

https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article30103826.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/2_edibus.jpg

A man from Kingsbridge has received two speeding fines - in a matter of two minutes. George Peck is now warning other drivers to "keep their speed in check" when travelling down the A379 into Plymouth.

Mr Peck, 70, had two summons delivered to his house for a speeding offence which he does not dispute, but says he feels having two for what he deems is the same offence is a "waste of the courts time". While travelling down the road in his Audi 25, Mr Peck said that he had not realised that the speed limit had been changed from 40mph to 30mph down the hill on the A379 towards Billacombe roundabout.

The first of Mr Peck's summons was for breaking the speed limit at 2.42pm on August 6, 2022, and the second was for the same offence two minutes later at 2.44pm. The first clocked Mr Peck driving at 36mph while the second caught him travelling 37mph.

Police revealed this is due to the average camera locations using two systems in the same stretch of road which are linked together but still deemed separate locations - thus one journey along the road can see drivers 'caught' twice.

A police spokesperson from the Devon and Cornwall Police's Road Safety Team said that as there is a roundabout between the systems and you can and will get recorded and reported for speeding on both average speed systems, if you exceed the speed limit from Elburton to the roundabout and then again from the roundabout down to the supermarket roundabout. "Two systems means two speeding offences," they said.

Mr Peck explained the first summons describes the offence being caught by a static camera while the second describes it as maintaining an average speed between the Billacombe roundabout and the Saltram roundabout that exceeded 30mph.

Retracing his steps, Mr Peck notes there is only a single 30mph reminder between these roundabouts which is positioned some way beyond the first by which time the average speed camera will have already recorded a majority speed.

Mr Peck, who is retired and has been driving over 50 years, was offered a speed awareness course for the first of the two summons as it was his first speeding offence but for the second, just minutes later, he was given three points and a fixed penalty of £100 due to it then being a repeated offence..

Mr Peck explained: "I couldn't believe they wouldn't agree that it was one offence, two minutes apart, surely they would understand that that was the same offence, just two minutes later. I understood that having exceeded the speed limit once I was due for a summons but I couldn't believe I was due for two. It seemed to me the system was wrong if that was happening. If somebody gets caught by one, they're almost certainly going to get caught by the other."

Mr Peck continued: "I thought this must be happening to other people as well. I thought well these cameras are automatic so I can't be the only person this has happened to because if you misread the speed limit, which I did, I wasn't deliberately going faster than I should have done, I just thought it was a 40mph limit. I'm not going to change two minutes later unless there's a sign to say 30mph."

Mr Peck explained that the road safety team made the point that they were technically two different roads - Elburton Road and Billacombe Road - hence the two offences, but Mr Peck disputes this as in both his summons letters, the road is just written as the A379 with the two roads being separated only by a small roundabout. Mr Peck suggests that they should either have multiple static speed camera or one set of average speed cameras on the road rather than both as "that will just cause problems".

He added: "I just think it's a great pity when we're suppose to, and want to, support the police and their efforts, they can't show a little bit of common sense when dealing with what is a relatively minor offence. I can't believe it does anything except rub people's backs up the wrong way."

A spokesperson for the Devon and Cornwall Police's Road Safety Team added: "Average speed systems are an excellent road safety tool, with around 96 percent compliance. That means a reduced level of speed, lower speed gives more time to react, more time to react means less collisions and if there are collisions the reduced speed means less energy going into the collision which means less injuries as a consequence.

"The Devon and Cornwall Police Road Safety Team has recently more than doubled the number of speed detection officers, with additional vans and motorbikes to reach more difficult to enforce areas. They have also doubled the number of staff on the Operation Snap Team processing members of the public’s dash cam submissions. The police roads policing team has also doubled the number of No Excuse specialist traffic officers and increased the number of roads policing officers.

"The Police have also strengthened Community Speed Watch (CSW), with Speed Detection Officers now working with CSW volunteers in locations where there continues to be higher non compliance with the speed limit.

"All of this is working towards the Police’s ambition of making Devon and Cornwall an uncomfortable place for drivers who commit offences contrary to the Fatal Five or other road traffic offences that put other road users at risk. The police should not apologise for the prosecution of drivers who exceed the speed limit."

Devon and Cornwall Police also added any road user who receives a fine is given information in relation to the alleged offence. A spokesperson said: “All road users who receive a fine are given all the information that they need in relation to the alleged offence, including routes to find further information and if necessary, how to appeal.

“Offences against the Road Traffic Act could still result in a court hearing if the road user chooses to appeal. Therefore Devon and Cornwall Police are not able to comment on individual cases as to not to interfere with any possible future hearings or appeal.”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/man-receives-two-speeding-tickets-7631249

PRSboy | 1387 posts | 9 months ago
9 likes

Not a news story, but on-topic... In conversation a while ago, a friend told me they were annoyed because they'd been 'done' by a speed camera van parked about 50 yards from our house. Which is on a 30 limit village road, just along from a school entrance.

I didn't quite know what to say, so I ran with "Good!".

They seemed genuinely confused as to why I thought that...

A Lancashire woman who visited Bath over the summer has spoken out against its "hostile and confusing" Clean Air Zone.

Lyndsey Simpson travelled to the city with her husband and six teenagers, whom they were taking to a summer camp in Somerset. Living near Bolton, Mrs Simpson understood the clean air zone concept but thought the same regulations applied to all of them.

She later discovered that the family van - a nine-seater Volkswagen Transporter - was eligible for a £9 daily charge within the Bath zone. Only when a fine of £120 landed on her doormat did she realise her mistake.

Lyndsey said: "I was not ready for the hostile and confusing nature of the Bath Clean Air Zone. The signs are so unfriendly, yet there's nothing to alert you to the fact that Bolton's rules might differ.

"Back home, our van is not eligible for charges, but in Bath, it is - isn't that a bit weird? The ironic thing is, we didn't even need to go into Bath but I thought I would be eco-friendly and leave my car there, with a friend."

Mrs Simpson and her husband were both helping out at the summer camp near Yeovil but travelled down separately due to the amount of luggage they required and their different responsibilities at the camp. They were moving on to Cornwall afterwards, for a family holiday, and decided to leave Lyndsey's car with a friend in Bath.

"She lives on Old Fosse Road and we tried to skirt the centre to get there because of the traffic. The next thing, we got a fine in the post for £120. It was reduced to £60 if you paid it quickly, plus the £9 you owed for travelling through the zone," Lyndsey explained.

The Lancashire woman said that receiving the fine had put her off returning to Bath. "The whole thing makes me a little bit sad. I want to visit somewhere I’m welcome," she said.

Lyndsey is not the only recent visitor to take this stance. A Welsh man who came to Bath on holiday also said he will not return to the city after being fined over £200. Paul Woollard, a carpenter from Swansea, stayed at a cottage in Nimlet last April.

He said that he was completely "oblivious" to the zone, as no information about it was provided at his holiday cottage and he had not been to Bath for several years. He drives a Vauxhall Vivaro van, which was eligible for the £9 daily charge.

Mr Woollard and his family entered the Clean Air Zone three times during their stay in Nimlet - twice on London Road and once on Warminster Road. The carpenter said that, on each occasion, he had not seen the signs marking the edge of the zone.

"It appears that we entered the zone on Sunday the 17th, Monday the 18th and Thursday the 21st, of April. I was pretty annoyed because, if I had known, I would have paid the £9 there and then.

In fact, I would have paid the £9 fee for every day we were there, just so we didn't have to worry about whether we were in the zone or not. I think the signs are not obvious enough. They should have it written on the road surface - the way they do in London," he said.

Bath Live contacted Bath and North East Somerset Council for comment regarding Lyndsey Simpson's experience. Sarah Warren, deputy leader and cabinet member for Climate and Sustainable Travel, said: “The plans for the Clean Air Zone were developed over several years and were subject to two public consultations and scrutiny both at a local and national level.

"As a result, the signage is in line with Department for Transport requirements and clearly states it is a Class C CAZ as motorists approach the zone. The purpose of the CAZ is to reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide in the city for the benefit of public health, including that of visitors to the city.

"Clean Air Zones across the UK range from Class A-D and Bristol will be launching their Class D CAZ at the end of November. As such, the council urges motorists to check if charges apply to their vehicle when travelling as charges and exemptions vary from city to city.

"The council has worked closely with tourist and events organisations to encourage visitors planning a trip to Bath to check their vehicle using the government’s vehicle checker. It has also run several advertising campaigns on social media targeted at people planning to visit or having recently visited Bath with a focus on raising awareness of the CAZ among tourists and visitors. More information on Bath’s CAZ can be found here."

On 27/07/2023 08:10 pm, Simon Mason wrote:

> Not a news story, but on-topic... In conversation a while ago, a friend told me they were annoyed because they'd been 'done' by a speed camera van parked about 50 yards from our house. Which is on a 30 limit village road, just along from a school entrance.

> I didn't quite know what to say, so I ran with "Good!".

That was no "friend".

That was your wife!

> They seemed genuinely confused as to why I thought that...

I bet you're the one who was "confused" when she'd finished with you.

Sriracha replied to David9694 | 3965 posts | 9 months ago
3 likes

So once again we have the appeal to incompetence being advanced as a defence:

I wasn't so much speeding as simply unaware of the limit altogether.

Gets me every time!

So he fully deserves two penalties - one for breaking the speed limit, one for driving without due care and attention.

The interesting part about that is why 58 offences were racked up. It was stopped elsewhere for having no insurance, but implicit in that was the registration did not tie up to an address and they needed the information from another force to identify the driver. They then sent 58 notices all at once..

Clearly a deliberate attempt to drive outside the law. They must have known they were setting off speed cameras and not getting tickets so they believed their ploy was working.

I can't see that ban being abided by given that no other aspect of vehicle law was abided by. Watch this space.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> A man from Kingsbridge has received two speeding fines - in a matter of
> two minutes. George Peck is now warning other drivers to "keep their
> speed in check" when travelling down the A379 into Plymouth.

> The first of Mr Peck's summons was for breaking the speed limit at 2.42pm
> on August 6, 2022, and the second was for the same offence two minutes
> later at 2.44pm. The first clocked Mr Peck driving at 36mph while the
> second caught him travelling 37mph.

> https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/man-receives-two-speeding-tickets-7631249

So, in actualité, there was only one speeding offence, not two.

--
Spike

A TikTok user has shamed their neighbour who blocked in her car for 13 HOURS. Stacey Campbell says her neighbour wants to park directly outside his house.

She shared a viral clip showing his black Mercedes parked right up to the kerb in front of his house. Stacey branded him "inconsiderate" - because he keeps blocking her in.

She wrote: "The joys of Sunday morning parking issues. "How inconsiderate are some people." Stacey added: "I asked the main to move his car as he was blocking in my car and had been for over 13 hours and he wouldn't."

Her daughter "missed a play date", she added. The TikTok user added to her followers: "Do people not realise you own a house...not the road."

In response, as the clip went viral, one wrote: "Just get a mate to drag away in the night." And a second chimed in with: "Someone I know had this issue, he welded massive steel bumpers onto the front and rear and pushed anyone out the way."

"Buy a skip and have it placed in his space," another asked her. And a fourth wrote: "I'll fully park outside and not move the car for a week."

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/mum-rages-neighbour-blocks-13-25238816

A Tesco shopper has been left raging after crashing into a new trolley bay.. The consumer says they are so short he couldn't even see them.

Paul Gadd, 49, has said his local trolley bay is "badly designed" after it left his car damaged. He hit the barrier bay at the store in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.

But he said the supermarket assumed his car had been hit by a loose trolley and received a 'confused' and 'childish' response.

Paul says he heard an 'almighty crunch' when his Citroen C4 hit the metal guard. He claims that the company has not accepted it was at fault.

He told YorkshireLive : "I have been trying to get them to fix it. They would not accept liability. They were making excuses when I was trying to explain to them."

In June, Tesco appeared confused when they sent Paul a letter that said: "We are sorry to hear that your vehicle was damaged during an incident with a trolley."

The letter said it could not take responsibility for "the wind catching an abandoned trolley" or if customers left them in an unsafe place. It said: "Unfortunately, this means that we cannot offer to pay for any damage on this occasion."

In a reply in August, Tesco said: "Thank you for the images, we have investigated this and this is still a rejection due to the trolley bay being a fixed object in the designated area clear and visible with hazard tape on the barriers." A Tesco spokesperson said: “The safety of our customers and colleagues is our number one priority and we are confident that the parking facilities at our Cleckheaton Superstore are safe and easy to use.”

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/tesco-shopper-raging-after-crashing-25193564

IanMSpencer replied to ShutTheFrontDawes | 1862 posts | 9 months ago
2 likes

I had a limiter on a 1999 Mercedes, and that could only use engine braking to hold the speed. On my 2012 they integrated it with the ABS/stability control system and now it will apply brakes to hold the speed. When approaching a speed limit it is easy to gently knock it down in 5s or 1s to hit the new limit bang on the line - which of course pisses off drivers behind who think that you have a few hundred meters of allowance so you shouldn't start braking until some point after the limit sign (but before any obvious speed cameras of course)

MUST STARE AT THE SPEEDO ALL THE TIME.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> IanMSpencer replied to ShutTheFrontDawes | 1862 posts | 9 months ago
> 2 likes
>
> I had a limiter on a 1999 Mercedes, and that could only use engine
> braking to hold the speed. On my 2012 they integrated it with the
> ABS/stability control system and now it will apply brakes to hold the
> speed. When approaching a speed limit it is easy to gently knock it down
> in 5s or 1s to hit the new limit bang on the line - which of course
> pisses off drivers behind who think that you have a few hundred meters of
> allowance so you shouldn't start braking until some point after the limit
> sign (but before any obvious speed cameras of course)
>
> MUST STARE AT THE SPEEDO ALL THE TIME.

If you think that’s a bad thing, campaign for the removal of speed limits.
Or speedos.

--
Spike

A plan that would see people's car registrations printed on food packaging from McDonald's is being considered in a bid to deter littering. The idea would see the details put on bags given to customers who use drive-thrus.

A council chief in Wales confirmed that the idea was being considered there.. Chris Howell, who is head of waste, parks and cleansing at Swansea Council, said it had merit.

However, he also said there were drawbacks to the idea in terms of data privacy, reports WalesOnline. Mr Howell also said there was an issue about which fast-food companies would "go first" with such an initiative.

Mr Howell told a climate change corporate delivery committee meeting: "The Welsh Government has explored with McDonald's, or their franchises, whether or not they could print number plates of cars collecting takeaways from their drive throughs with a view that that would discourage people from discarding their materials (litter)."

He added: "If McDonald's do it, then people will just go to Burger King instead of McDonald's, because nobody wants to have their private details printed on that packaging. I think it's a really good idea, but at the minute it's fraught with some difficulties."

Two years ago, Welsh political party Plaid Cymru launched a petition calling on fast-food companies to print number plates on drive through packaging after an increase in litter as people headed to outlets after the first coronavirus lockdown. The Welsh Government said littering was not acceptable and that it was working on a new prevention plan with businesses and councils.

Meanwhile, Mr Howell said Swansea was forecast to recycle 70% of waste from householders and 1,500 commercial customers the council collects from this financial year, which would hit a Wales-wide target two years ahead of schedule if achieved. A decade ago the figure was just under 48%.

Mr Howell said the efforts of householders and businesses in Swansea had been "fantastic". The recycling rate of commercial customers, though, is currently just under 58%, which brings down the overall recycling rate.

A report before the committee said recycling targets could be hit without altering the current fortnightly collection of black bin bags, but that this could change if more stringent targets were introduced. In Carmarthenshire, black bin bags will be collected every three weeks from next January.

In answer to questions from councillors, Mr Howell said Swansea Council was always looking to increase the type of materials it collected from the kerbside, but that technology and markets to deal with these materials had to be in place. Soft, flexible plastics and potentially textiles were, he said, "priority" materials for the council to consider picking up. He said supermarkets were keen for councils to offer a kerbside service for soft plastics, but that the market for processing them was "very much in its infancy".

Swansea Council's waste service costs just over £19 million per year, but it claws back nearly £7 million via income from commercial contracts and the sale of recyclable materials. Mr Howell said the authority's fleet of refuse lorries would need to be renewed shortly, and that consideration would be given to the next fleet having three compartments instead of two to accommodate an extra type of waste material.

He said some refuse vehicles in Wales had several compartments, and that there were pros and cons to this. "The system (we have) works perfectly well for us - I would not want to fix what's not broken, but obviously times continue to move on," he said.

West Midlands Ambulance Service has said moving its hub away from the Meole Brace area, where thousands of children attend local schools, is something it is working on.

But now Radbrook councillor Julia Evans has submitted a motion calling on Shropshire Council to work towards a solution as quickly as possible.

Several schoolchildren have been hit by cars in the area. Two mums launched a campaign group after one boy was hit by a car and another was involved in a frightening near miss.

Although the ambulance service has no recorded incidents of its vehicles being involved in a collision with a pedestrian in three years, parents are concerned about the traffic chaos caused by cars having to mount pavements to let paramedics drive through on blue lights and sirens. More recently, a man had to be cut free after a crash in Bank Farm Road.

In her motion, Councillor Evans calls on the council to urge portfolio holders to work towards a new ambulance hub site as quickly as possible, in order to facilitate much-needed road safety improvements in residential areas, investigate offering alternatives within the councils assets, in particular at Weeping Cross, and assist a teaching programme between schools and the ambulance service.

She also calls on the authority to assist WMAS with public information on how to drive and pull over when blue lights are seen and negotiate with them about incorporating a local Shropshire Ambulance Control within the new hub

At a Radbrook Road Safety Group meeting on November 25, a WMAS boss said that moving the hub was the organisation's "number one" estates priority.

Craig Cooke, the WMAS operational support services director, said: "The project is my next priority, my number one priority. There is no estates priority in front of this one. It has a lease life. We are serious about replacing this one."

Mr Cooke revealed that the hub is busier than it would normally be because of increasing pressures on the service.

"Every crew that books on has an emergency waiting for them," he said.

If pressures weren't so acute, ambulances would be out and about in the community instead. Chiefs hope that a bigger hub would be better for the Shrewsbury area where a rising population is increasing demands.

Councillor Evans' motion will be discussed at a full council meeting on Thursday this week. To view the meeting, which starts at 10am, visit bit.ly/3FhuoiU and click on the agenda front sheet to access the video link.

On 27/07/2023 10:06 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> A TikTok user has shamed their neighbour who blocked in her car for 13 HOURS. Stacey Campbell says her neighbour wants to park directly outside his house.
>
> She shared a viral clip showing his black Mercedes parked right up to the kerb in front of his house. Stacey branded him "inconsiderate" - because he keeps blocking her in.
>
> She wrote: "The joys of Sunday morning parking issues. "How inconsiderate are some people." Stacey added: "I asked the main to move his car as he was blocking in my car and had been for over 13 hours and he wouldn't."
>
> Her daughter "missed a play date", she added. The TikTok user added to her followers: "Do people not realise you own a house...not the road."
>
> In response, as the clip went viral, one wrote: "Just get a mate to drag away in the night." And a second chimed in with: "Someone I know had this issue, he welded massive steel bumpers onto the front and rear and pushed anyone out the way."
>
> "Buy a skip and have it placed in his space," another asked her. And a fourth wrote: "I'll fully park outside and not move the car for a week."
>
> https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/mum-rages-neighbour-blocks-13-25238816

Which one was a chav on a chav-bike?

On 28/07/2023 02:18 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> A plan that would see people's car registrations printed on food packaging from McDonald's is being considered in a bid to deter littering. The idea would see the details put on bags given to customers who use drive-thrus.

[ ... ]

A chav on a *fairy-cycle* complaining about littering!

You couldn't make it up.

Well, not unless you have some idea of May Sun and his form (as well as
that of chavs on chav-bikes generally - village greens, anyone?).

When you mix a pedestrianisation with a string of iffy car parks, relief road with iffy underpasses and the local river, you can end up cutting your town centre off from its surrounds. But if your business is offering something special or worthwhile, people will find it.

They can be a strange lot, shopkeepers, they seem to associate people driving past in their cars with actual trade.

:-)

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> When you mix a pedestrianisation with a string of iffy car parks, relief
> road with iffy underpasses and the local river, you can end up cutting
> your town centre off from its surrounds. But if your business is
> offering something special or worthwhile, people will find it.
>
> They can be a strange lot, shopkeepers, they seem to associate people
> driving past in their cars with actual trade.
>
> :-)

That sounds as if it was written by someone who has never even ran a whelk
stall.

--
Spike

On 28/07/2023 11:23 pm, Spike wrote:
> swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
>> When you mix a pedestrianisation with a string of iffy car parks, relief
>> road with iffy underpasses and the local river, you can end up cutting
>> your town centre off from its surrounds. But if your business is
>> offering something special or worthwhile, people will find it.
>>
>> They can be a strange lot, shopkeepers, they seem to associate people
>> driving past in their cars with actual trade.
>>
>> :-)
>
> That sounds as if it was written by someone who has never even ran a whelk
> stall.

Spot on.

On Friday, July 28, 2023 at 2:18:31 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> A plan that would see people's car registrations printed on food packaging from McDonald's is being considered in a bid to deter littering. The idea would see the details put on bags given to customers who use drive-thrus.

but you could easily tear the reg part off, and still dump the bag or its contents so it doesnt solve the problem, equally alot of the road detritus we see, and Im not denying people do still chuck stuff and dont care, but actually comes out the back of rubbish trucks, as they just chuck the rubbish in the back and rarely if ever secure/close the hatch part, it might compact it a bit, but most of its still left loose right, and when the truck gets up to a certain speed there is a negative pressure effect that actually then sucks some of the trash back out.

I only know this because I happened to be following one once that was merrily dumping McDs type stuff and other loose items roadside as it hacked along a road.

That doesn't explain the copious quantities of cans/bottles/fast food containers that can be found at the traffic lights at the end of motorway off-ramps.
I can honestly say that I've never seen a refuse truck on a motorway.