Smart motorways

Molly 3

Molly 3

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Fear of breakdown on smart motorway AA won't attend breakdowns on smart motorways . they have to drive to the nearest safe spot and wait for highways agency to attended and close the motorway . are you happy to drive on smart motorway's , having had one close call I leave a very large gap between me and the car in front ,I would hate to have to stop quickly in my tuppaware box with a HGV up my rear .
 
I totally agree with the new AA ruling enough of my ex colleagues and members have been injured on these ridiculous motorways, we need a national campaign for drivers to move over a lane whenever they see a breakdown or emergency situation,
I did 19 years on the side of the road and flashing leds blue or amber are not enough to protect our emergency/ breakdown crews
 
St3v3 said:
That and paying attention would mean there is no problem.

Anywhere else this would work fine, but the standard of driving in this country is frankly sh1te!
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If you think it is bad hear , driving in some other countries is much worse
 
yes barry had forgotten ! the spanish habit of going all the way round a roundabout in the outside lane close & very close couple of times in the first few days ,
 
People are getting killed on smart motorways because it takes to long for control rooms to realise the problem and close lanes .
 
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Drove down a stretch of M6 smart motorway near Stafford the other day. First time I’ve seen or been on one and I can’t help thinking what a stupid and dangerous idea. Talking to people down there most drive in lane 2 as they fear what might happen in lane 1 which rather defeats the object. However I don’t blame them and would probably do the same myself. Luckily I am so rarely in an area with smart motorways that it’s not an issue for me but I pity those poor souls who have to use them every day.
 
I'm a motorway avoider when possible. I don't blame the AA or any rescue service. Why should they put their lives in danger. Much safer to remove all breakdowns to a safe place off the motorway.
 
The government propoganda machine came up with the "smart" motorway,when they are in fact a "cheap" motorway,awful idea that's already caused far more deaths than a normal motorway.
 
Why are they called “smart“ motorways? As far as I can see they are just 4 lane motorw@ys with refuges.
 
yorkslass said:
I'm a motorway avoider when possible. I don't blame the AA or any rescue service. Why should they put their lives in danger. Much safer to remove all breakdowns to a safe place off the motorway.
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In terms of accidents per mile, Motorways are* by far the safest roads to travel on.

*I say 'are' - definately used to be the case for sure, but "SMART" motorways may have changed that :( I don't like them at all and think they are a massive degredation in safety.
 
Having broken down on a "Smart" motorway, I can assure you it is a frightening experience, It is alright having refuges but you don't always breakdown right next to them. I would hate to have had kids on board.
 
Molly 3 said:
People are getting killed on smart motorways because it takes to long for control rooms to realise the problem and close lanes .
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And when they close the lane driv ers still ignore it.
 
We use the M6 smart motorway regularly between Stafford and Knutsford, the traffic flow is much improved to what it was but we have yet to experience a breakdown situation, nor do we want to given the obvious dangers. It would have been better to have a lot more refuge areas but I suppose that costs too much money?
It is a good job that HS2 is such good value for money isn't it. ;)
 
www.bbc.co.uk

38 killed on smart motorways in last five years

Panorama reveals for the first time how many have died on roads that no longer have a hard shoulder.
www.bbc.co.uk

"A Freedom of Information (FoI) request sent by Panorama to Highways England revealed that on one section of the M25, outside London, the number of near misses had risen 20-fold since the hard shoulder was removed in April 2014.
In the five years before the road was converted into a smart motorway there were just 72 near misses. In the five years after, there were 1,485."
 
Hi. Not sure what the difference is between a smart motorway and a motorway so can't comment on that. But I thought it was common sense/courtesy to change lanes when passing vehicles broken down/ stopped on the road leaving one lane free between you and stopped vehicle. I know that in quite a few states in the USA it is law to have a lane free when passing stopped vehicles ( there was a clip on the internet showing a us trooper leaping over the bonnet of his car to avoid a passing car hitting him.
 
Smart motorways regulate traffic flow by fluctuating speed limits...

As someone who spends 5 hours minimum a day on the M6 between manchester/Midlands.....

It does seem to improve overall traffic flow (or does when they have finished the works)
However a million percent improvement would be to restrict the 'my truck is faster than your truck truckers tizer chucking lot' to the inside lane ONLY....
 
A smart motorway is a former ordinary motorway which has had the hard shoulder turned into the inside lane, making it a 4 lane motorway instead of a 3 lane motorway.
So if you breakdown and your vehicle can't be moved you are stuck in a live lane rather than on the hard shoulder, with vehicles in the inside lane coming up fast and possibly not being able to move over into the second lane in time before they hit you, as these motorways are usually very busy (that's why they've tried to make them 4 lane) - I don't think there would be a cat in hell's chance of all the traffic moving over to the third lane to go around you.
 
Caz said:
A smart motorway is a former ordinary motorway which has had the hard shoulder turned into the inside lane, making it a 4 lane motorway instead of a 3 lane motorway.
So if you breakdown and your vehicle can't be moved you are stuck in a live lane rather than on the hard shoulder, with vehicles in the inside lane coming up fast and possibly not being able to move over into the second lane in time before they hit you, as these motorways are usually very busy (that's why they've tried to make them 4 lane) - I don't think there would be a cat in hell's chance of all the traffic moving over to the third lane to go around you.
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Having been a daily driver of the M6 between manchester/Birmingham...

I can't say I've ever yet seen someone suddenly come to a stop and an accident occur....
What tends to happen is more of a rolling road block situation.....

Getting emergency services through 5 or so miles of solid tailback traffic is however a very different matter.
 
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