Smart motorways - If the equipment fails, then it should just default to fail-safe, and shut the lane down, until the equipment is back in working order.
When the equipment fails, they should simply close the lane.
- Thread starter Harry Bloomfield
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No such thing as a smart motorway. Anybody that uses them regularly knows they are neither smart nor safe.
M4 has lots of lane closures for no reason whatsoever, apart from issuing fines to the disobedient...
Total agree we work in West Yorkshire traveled M62 all through when 'smart' motorway was been constructed.
Daily accidents
Even now the area between M1 and J26 is a nightmare.
Figures released following Freedom of Information requests by Panorama show that between June 2022 and February 2024 there were 397 incidents when smart motorways lost power, making it difficult to detect when a vehicle has broken down. These outages sometimes lasted days:
The longest outage was at junction 14 on the M4, a stretch of smart motorway that does have a hard shoulder. The sensors and signals were out for 11 days.
- For five days in July 2023 there were no signs, signals, camera or radar at junction 18 on the M6
- In September 2023, there were no signs, signals or CCTV for five days at junction 22 of the M62
- In December 2023, there were no signs, signals, sensors or CCTV for three and a half days at junction 6 on the M5
The longest outage was at junction 14 on the M4, a stretch of smart motorway that does have a hard shoulder. The sensors and signals were out for 11 days.
Claims that smart motorways tech leaves drivers at risk
Figures obtained by the BBC reveal worries about the reliability of the tech behind smart motorways.
www.bbc.co.uk
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Do you mean display the big red cross which many ignore? Some drivers are as dumb as the motorways.
I had in mind, to cone off the lane, and reserve it for breakdowns, as they used to be, until such time as things are back in order. With equipment failures, there is no guarantee that the red X would work.
It a total, disgusting and life-threatening shambles. I spent much of my working life, not as a driver, but driving was a large part of the job. I'm not noted for being timid behind the wheel, but these 'smart motorways' scare the hell out of me!
Mum-of-five killed on smart motorway after car broke down in live lane
Nargis Begum was stranded in a live lane with no hard shoulder
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
The family 'torn apart' by smart motorway crash as government scraps scheme
Sevim Uston and Ayse Uston were both tragically killed after being struck by a lorry on the M25
www.essexlive.news
Smart motorway horror crash deaths 'would have been avoided' with hard shoulder as Govt 'abandons' rollout
A horror crash on a smart motorway that left two people dead in a three-vehicle collision would have been avoided had there been a hard shoulder, a coroner has said.
www.lbc.co.uk
Let's do away with hard shoulders, I mean, who needs 'em???
And that's not exactly news - anyone used the Aston Expressway ?
Designed to be tidal flow, I was under the impression they soon abandoned that in favour of a fixed 3 lanes in, 3 lanes out, and the central lane permanently closed. Because it was apparently too difficult for people to understand that a big red X means "don't drive in this lane".
I do get the feeling that why cost cutting / improving capacity was discussed the powers at be suggested that the hard shoulder could be just another lane. Their thinking was that nobody would be stupid enough to take them up on it.
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Yes, scary. No central reservation between the lanes. Only found out later at a speed awareness course that it isn't a dual carriageway.
Classic failure from the British state and its awful civil service and politicians.
What's even worse is that it has taken years on end - more than a decade even? - of bloody endless 50mph zones whilst they've installed all this shyte. Seems to comprise a concrete central reservation, removal of the hard shoulder with some hopeful emergency lay bys every so often instead, and then epic levels of surveillance and speed cameras. And the cost of it all has been what? It is a horrible, technocratic nightmare.
I'm just grateful that the motorways around my way haven't been blighted by smartness. Funnily enough, they don't have any fixed speed cameras on them, no digital signage, are well used, and manage to generally work fine. There's the odd incident every once in a while but very rare bearing in mind the volumes of traffic over time. Hopefully they won't decide to fix what isn't broken.
What's even worse is that it has taken years on end - more than a decade even? - of bloody endless 50mph zones whilst they've installed all this shyte. Seems to comprise a concrete central reservation, removal of the hard shoulder with some hopeful emergency lay bys every so often instead, and then epic levels of surveillance and speed cameras. And the cost of it all has been what? It is a horrible, technocratic nightmare.
I'm just grateful that the motorways around my way haven't been blighted by smartness. Funnily enough, they don't have any fixed speed cameras on them, no digital signage, are well used, and manage to generally work fine. There's the odd incident every once in a while but very rare bearing in mind the volumes of traffic over time. Hopefully they won't decide to fix what isn't broken.
If you're unlucky enough to break down in a live lane on a 'smart' motorway and get rear-ended by an artic - you may bleed to death before the emergency services get to you. There's no hard shoulder - which also doubles as an emergency lane. Your ambulance is stuck in 4 lanes of stationery traffic. Yet another benefit!
I refuse to drive in them -and never have since they were introduced (unless I have to as am leaving the M- way.) Stupid idea and I never trusted all the "they will be safe" nonsense. Like other safe and effective things recently.
I see that plenty of other drivers do not use them either.
I see that plenty of other drivers do not use them either.