I was coming into town on A689 at 7pm yesterday and decided I would stop at the new garage opposite the Travellers rest. It's was jammed with 4 lanes of cars inside the garage bumper to bumper I counted over 20 vehicles. Then the queue outside was three cars deep. I joined in that queue but within seconds vehicles came flying up A689 into Hartlepool and breaking galore. A couple of transits one Asda artic all breaking hard or sharply turning into the outside lane to avoid a backend job. I left the queue went to next garage and is was 1.1 pence a litre more. So that's only around 20p on 19 litres. Surely people aren't that concerned about a few pence enough to risk there lives. Possibly costs more just queuing up at that garage for 10 mins etc. Makes you wonder if the council highways and planning committee do proper research for the big companies. Also I have to wonder if that was one of us opening a fuel garage on a dangerous corner would we be granted a licence. And yes I know it originally had fuel at that garage but that surely does not come into it after such a long time of that being closed down. We also have a much bigger percentage of vehicles on the road now both queuing up or passing by. Sadly it's only a matter of time when some poor bugger gets reaended through nievty or a quid saving.

I share your concerns - I nearly came to grief whilst turning right from the westbound carriageway into the station after some knobhead came flying down the eastbound carriageway at around 60mph.

As you say the price of fuel at the Esso station is now on a par with the other outlets in the town however the opening of that station undoubtedly had an impact on the cost of fuel in Hartlepool - especially on the supermarkets who had been ripping us off for some time now.

Another attraction of the Esso station is the huge self service shop which also sells
hot takeaway food etc so it's not surprising that it is so popular, especially at teatime and weekends.

I would just go to a different petrol station. People get too hung up on the price per litre not realising that they are probably worrying about just a few pence.

Agree with you but put in on scales. One side low fuel prices huge plus for the town versus some poor person or young family children in the back getting hit by a car at 30 40 50 miles per hour or horrifyingly a artic or a 10 tonner loaded unable to stop in a short distance. It really doesn't sit well with me. We had a fully loaded white van man run into us on the A19 because of a massive puddle across the southbound lanes ( foot or so deep ) that forced us to brake hard. He was tailgating in driving rain whilst flashing me to move over but I was alongside two artics and unable, then bang what a collision it was. My wife was 4 months pregnant and the seat belt & airbags caused her real pain. My 4 year old son in the back went from chatty to total silence...all I could do was quickly get across and onto the grass before looking behind me. I was petrified that he was seriously injured or worse but although covered in glass he amazingly said " dad can we do that again " what a unforgettable funny little comment in such a terrifying situation. The wife was rushed to hospital and again I feared the worst but thank god she was released everything fine just badly bruised and bed rest. It was a young lad aged 19yrs driving the van and I didn't know what to do first when he got out either punch the fooker or leave it to the police to sort luckily the police car was seconds behind and took control. Thee lads boss sent a huge bouquet to the hospital and a get well card with a £500 cheque inside. The young lad learnt a valuable lesson that night and to be fair he rang the hospital 2 / 3 times next day very concerned and worried. I got to speak to him and he was genuinely scared and crying and constantly saying " I'm so sorry " and he meant it 100% even though he had already been fired. Young and daft that's all it was but it was a surreal situation when the car was totalled with back seats within two feet of the front seats, yet everyone was fine in the end. That happened 20 years ago now but to this day it's always in the back of my mind when driving.

Some people are prepared to go through a minefield to save coppers on petrol.
I go to the garage I always use, no point queueing to save coppers

And it saves the " coppers " from attending yet another well stoppable accident.

only time i fill up to the brim is if i am checking my fuel consumption. others do it to save a few pence but lose it running around will a full tank when the do not need to do.

There has always been a problem long before the garage was built by the bus stop.
Caused by drivers approaching a blind bend and not lowering their speed for possible problems around the corner. We lived near there for 8 years and it’s always been like that.
A roundabout at the bottom of Brierton Lane/Traveller's would solve it and there’s plenty of land there to remodel it.

as long as they are driving under the speed limit thats all many drivers are bothered about. when you bang on and on about one law you cannot blame them really. the days of using common sense on the roads have been lost on just two campaign. Speeding and drink driving. avoid doing both and people feel fine about doing anything else including parking.

Yes i agree a roundabout would help. Was this not the site of an accident involving some Pools players years ago.
The garages competitive pricing has helped lower prices across the town as the greedy supermarkets have had to react.

A lot of drivers are pig ignorant, selfish and absolutely no ability to be aware of their surroundings or even care about them.
Doesn’t help when massive cuts were made to traffic police numbers by the Tory’s, 10 years ago.
You’ve got more chance of a fine for not knowing someone’s pronouns than doing 60 in a 30 zone…..

There's loads of room round the back of that garage they should have built it with the pumps at the back.

There’s business’s at the back……

Do you fancy returning to the council but this time as the highways planning officer. Because that's a really good way to stop this craziness.

It was the garage that Bob Newton crashed into killing his team mate Dave Wiggot and got jail for in his Capri on way back from the Fiesta club in the early hours after getting home from the Brentford game and going out on that horrible Saturday night. But like Snowy suggested a roundabout or even a set of traffic lights at the junction before would put a stop to more loss of life.