Smart Motorways

[chrisjpainter]

A coroner has referred Highways England to the CPS for possible manslaughter charges after a woman was killed when the hard shoulder was an active lane. It seems the lane was live for 16  minutes in between breakdown and collision. 

Highways England could face manslaughter charge over ‘smart motorway’ death | News | The Times

I really dislike them and can't imagine the fear of breaking down on one and being stuck with no escape lane.

any thoughts?

[Ultrastu]

Itsbeen proved that "smart " motorways are more dangerous for a number of reasons than normal ones. They are costing lives not saving them .

[Lloyd90]

2 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

Itsbeen proved that "smart " motorways are more dangerous for a number of reasons than normal ones. They are costing lives not saving them .

I was under the impression they weren’t there to save lives, they’re there to add an extra lane to reduce congestion. 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, who ever thought this idea wants locking up👍, the reason for more accidents leading to long cues is bad driving, the family killed on the A34 ? Polish driver using a mobile phone, should have got life in prison, and many instances like this all over UK

[Newbie to this]

Let's hope the case is heard and highways England are found responsible for this womans death.

And this brings about the end of 'smart' motorways.

[Scully]

I hate them, and in my opinion that inside lane should be reinstated as a hard shoulder immediately. 
Whenever I’m driving on one I use any lane but that inside one. 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Scully

[lampro]

I know of a chap who is involved with the design and construction of the smart motorways, we had a discussion regarding the safety and he stated that they had designed the motorway to have a safe pull.in every mile for breakdowns ect and the government said it would be to expensive so they made them very 3 miles plus, yet again it's all about the money not what should be done 

[Spr1985]

I believe the guy who came up with the idea  was interviewed in the last few years and stated that they’re dangerous and he wished he’s never come up with the idea....I’ll try and find the article and post a link. 

[chrisv]

A documentary about them last year showed some horrific crashes. 
Lloyd, yes they are supposed to reduce congestion. Two of the main safety features- the distance between refuges and automatic detection of stationary vehicles were changed/ ignored. They were not approved in their current design and should not be allowed. 
As Scully says, the hard shoulder should be reinstated immediately.

[sam triple]

Absolute death traps been told a lot of break down services will not attend to you if you break down on one , and I can’t believe in this day and age of health and safety that the HS&E commission hasn’t been all over them and shut them down , 

[eggy74]

Cannot think of a less apt name for the damn things

[Lloyd90]

11 minutes ago, chrisv said:

A documentary about them last year showed some horrific crashes. 
Lloyd, yes they are supposed to reduce congestion. Two of the main safety features- the distance between refuges and automatic detection of stationary vehicles were changed/ ignored. They were not approved in their current design and should not be allowed. 
As Scully says, the hard shoulder should be reinstated immediately.

I completely agree. 
 

They’re so slow to update the signs etc they’re not worth having! 

[sam triple]

38 people killed on them in the last 5 years all after being hit by other cars as they’ve exited theirs after breakdowns or shunts 

[AVB]

Traffic congestion is horrendous and we have to do something to reduce it. There are plenty of 2-3 Lane non motorways that don’t have hard shoulders yet nobody moans about them. 

[Imperfection]

I dread breaking down or getting a puncture (common for me) in one.

[JohnfromUK]

There is another BIG problem - emergency services access:  I was on a smart motorway about 2 years ago and there was a fatal accident - one car lost control and the driver was killed - fortunately no one else hurt, though one other car a bit damaged - and we all came to a halt, my car about 4 cars back from the accident.   The problem was that with everything halted - the emergency services struggled to get there - and the first ones there came the wrong way down the (empty beyond the accident) carriageway.

[SO3isme]

26 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

There is another BIG problem - emergency services access:  I was on a smart motorway about 2 years ago and there was a fatal accident - one car lost control and the driver was killed - fortunately no one else hurt, though one other car a bit damaged - and we all came to a halt, my car about 4 cars back from the accident.   The problem was that with everything halted - the emergency services struggled to get there - and the first ones there came the wrong way down the (empty beyond the accident) carriageway.

As above; they could not be more badly named, and this point about preventing emergency services access, is another good example of how stupid they really are. You could not make it up.....

[sam triple]

35 minutes ago, AVB said:

Traffic congestion is horrendous and we have to do something to reduce it. There are plenty of 2-3 Lane non motorways that don’t have hard shoulders yet nobody moans about them. 

Maybe but why turn motorways with hard shoulders into death traps without them and cost millions of pounds in the process ala M27 one fatality already this year after someone broke down and exited their car only to be hit by another 

[Raja Clavata]

Arriving late at a local motorway speed awareness course, the instructor asked the class what we knew about smart motorways - I went first; "they are actually not that smart". I was immediately cautioned that disruptive behaviour would result in expulsion from the course and automatic reversion to 3 points on licence and a fixed penalty fine.

Over lunch I broached the subject with the instructors as to what line of work they intended to pursue when cars drove themselves and nobody would therefore even be "done" for speeding, that discussion actually went better than I thought it would although I think they failed to pick up on my main point.

By the time we were dismissed in the afternoon, pretty much the entire class - and I think instructors - had come round to the belief that smart motorways are indeed not very smart.

One of the current things Highways England are looking at is smart prevention of "wrong way driving on Motorways" - I wish them luck with that...

[Ultrastu]

The " smart "motorways  also change the speed limit with those over head gantry  signs .a streach near me has them every 400 yds they are often reading different speeds to each other and can change frequently  meaning drivers spend more time looking up into the air than reading the traffic in front behind and to the side .

Cars speeding up slowing down sudden breaking. 

These obviously  create a slower overall traffic progress and a much more dangerous  environment  to navigate .

And thats without the horrors of the 4th lane  .

[Walker570]

To be honest I think, with regard to these stupid 4th lanes, you would be better to pull into the centre or even the fast lane if your vehicle breaks down, you would have more chance of being spotted and avoided. The whole motorway would then come to a halt.   Even a mile apart so called safety zones are useless.  As said the hard shoulder should be reinstated without delay until a full enquiry is completed.   Thank goodness for Coroner's courts and their powers.  Be a brave man or department to ignore a Coroner unless they have gone all snowflaky as well since my time as a Coroners Officer.

9 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

The " smart "motorways  also change the speed limit with those over head gantry  signs .a streach near me has them every 400 yds they are often reading different speeds to each other and can change frequently  meaning drivers spend more time looking up into the air than reading the traffic in front behind and to the side .

Cars speeding up slowing down sudden breaking. 

These obviously  create a slower overall traffic progress and a much more dangerous  environment  to navigate .

And thats without the horrors of the 4th lane  .

So in those circumstances drivers ignore them completely as well.

[Gordon R]

You have got to admire the absolute stupidity of any designer, who put in a safe refuge every mile. Did it never occur to anyone that you can't break down at that exact point? Given their length and only one per mile, your chances of making it into one would be slim.

Corporate manslaughter charges would focus a few minds.

Edited February 11, 2021 by Gordon R

[Mice!]

1 hour ago, Ultrastu said:

The " smart "motorways  also change the speed limit with those over head gantry  signs .a streach near me has them every 400 yds they are often reading different speeds to each other and can change frequently  meaning drivers spend more time looking up into the air than reading the traffic in front behind and to the side .

Cars speeding up slowing down sudden breaking. 

These obviously  create a slower overall traffic progress and a much more dangerous  environment  to navigate .

And thats without the horrors of the 4th lane  .

I was about to say this.

I thankfully don't drive on any smart motorways very often, but the M60 for instance is generally chock a block with cars, add in bad weather,  dark and then the changing speed limits with cameras up to 'DO' you if your caught speeding, recipe for disaster. 

Then add in the years of traffic jams changing the roads while the work is done.

Makes me happy driving north for work, light traffic then open roads 😁

[discobob]

I (used to) join the M6 from the M54 - no matter what time of night it would always be some stupid speed (40/50) but be totally clear. I found out (but can't remember where from) that there was a speed sensor just after the services on the M6, and it would be detecting slow lorries joining the motorway from the services and drop the speed down. I have had wind up watches that are smarter than these motorways!

[old man]

14 hours ago, Newbie to this said:

Let's hope the case is heard and highways England are found responsible for this womans death.

And this brings about the end of 'smart' motorways.

Absolutely, they are lunacy on steroids?

Why has it taken so long for these to be brought to court?

As usual I suppose the idiots behind it will not have their ears tweaked?

I never use them, an absolute nightmare here in the midlands. The lanes can open and close in minutes.

Edited February 12, 2021 by old man