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The M62You are in: Bradford and West Yorkshire > Places > The M62 > From behind the wheel!  From behind the wheel!The M62 was supposed to be the quickest and easiest way to get from one side of the country to the other - but for many of West Yorkshire's commuters it can sometimes be the road to hell! What's it like to have to use it every day? One man who has plenty of experience of the ups and downs - literally - of the daily M62 commute is John Campell from Lepton near Huddersfield. For the past two decades it's been his way of getting to and from his work across the Pennines in Preston - a round trip of a mere 120 miles every day. To him, the M62's like an old friend: "I can't imagine life without it at times! It's very, very weird..."  The road to hell? The M62's not always the most friendly of places to be, though. If it's not snowing or raining or sometimes scarily windy, then the traffic often seems to find another reason to come to a grinding halt before you know it. But, it's at times like this that the driving experience becomes a people watching experience for John Campbell: "You start to take in the people around you, what they're doing. Then suddenly the traffic moves off and there'll be a guy or a woman two cars up who doesn't really look up and who puts their foot down and 'smack' - straight into the back of the car in front. Or, in some cases, the wagon in front. Then you've got ANOTHER delay. It's a kind of weird phenomenon." Worryingly, though, it's not just a lack of concentration when cars are stationary that's the problem. John says he's seen some scary sights even when the M62's flowing freely: "People are texting each other as they're driving at 70-plus. You've got women doing their make-up, people looking like they're doing sudoku, reading their newspaper or a novel. You name it, they're doing it. It's not something I do, I must say, but it's certainly something that's crept into people's driving in this country. I don't know how people do it!"
And then there are the times when the M62 really bites back due to the weather or a bad accident somewhere on the route through West Yorkshire. It's times like these when John Campbell decides to forget the return journey to Lepton: "Not every week, but a lot of the time at least once every week I stop in Preston because it just alleviates that stress I have to go through on a daily basis. It can just mean I can be at a meeting earlier in the morning or whatever." Perhaps, then, this is the main down-side of the M62. When it works, it works well - but when it goes wrong, it can really go wrong. Despite this, John says there are some compensations for the daily drag along West Yorkshire's 'main street': "You can get some amazing skies up there - either sunsets or sunrises. It can look amazing. There are physical phenomena because of weather and nature which can be strangely enjoyable."  Sunset: "Strangely enjoyable!" But one day, John says he hopes he can hang up his M62 routemap for good. In a strange way, though, he does admit he'll miss it: "I'd like to think there'll be a day in my life when I don't have to use the M62 to get to work, but I suppose it'll be when I retire. I'll probably have to go out in the morning periodically and go on the M62 for a quick fix. I won't be able to stand not being on it for an awful lot of time!" Feature based on interviews carried out by BBC Radio Leeds' Spencer Stokes. Find out more from Spencer by clicking on the audio links at the top right of this page!last updated: 17/04/2008 at 11:40 You are in: Bradford and West Yorkshire > Places > The M62 > From behind the wheel! [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
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