So why would those cars not have enough momentum to reach Lane 1 on a smart motorway?
Smart Motorways
- Thread starter Orionaut
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Soldato
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Because L1 would still be live?
You're relying on somebody noticing you've broken down, which is not instant. I'm not trying to sound patronising, sorry if it does
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Even if it was instant - you'd still have people in between the points of being close enough to understand what is going on and far enough back to now be moving over due to signs. The whole idea is daft, potentially deadly, except maybe in heavy slow moving traffic and even then it just causes additional confusion and congestion when something does happen.
I think we're talking about different things. It was suggested that a breakdown would require you to abandon your car in lane 2 or 3 and run across live lanes of traffic to safety, as if there was some reason you wouldn't simply be able to move across to Lane 1 the same as you'd move across to the hard shoulder on a normal motorway.Because L1 would still be live?
You're relying on somebody noticing you've broken down, which is not instant. I'm not trying to sound patronising, sorry if it does
not sure they are all down to smart motorways ? https://flexed.co.uk/dangerous-hard-shoulders-britains-motorways-revealed/
definitely a need for some education too, on what to do if you break down - not sure I have ever seen a tv info film ?
( more or less quickly depending on conditions you'd get safely out of the car ... take refuge way from the road, and grab the fluo gilet you may well have ?)
Soldato
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I see where you're coming from, my thinking was that on a smart motorway all lanes are active, so even in L1 you could have people coming up fast.
I had an engine failure in the outside land of a 2 lane section of the A1(M), it was sqeeky bum time getting through the lorries onto the hard shoulder.
The idea of it happening on a "smart" motorway is terrifying.
Yes they are probably all live but if you're about to break down in Lane 3, you still move across to Lane 1 if you can, so you're at the edge of the carriageway, just as you would move across to the hard shoulder on a normal motorway.
Soldato
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I realise that my initial argument may have been flawed
, I still think we need a permanent hard shoulder though.
In the article I read it was stated that the case of the 38 deaths attributed to smart motorways there was a very high probability that the presence of a hard shoulder could have prevented those deaths.
A perminent hard shoulder will always be clear. A "smart" lane will have a couple of miles of traffic behind you even when they close it off. The system is flawed.
TBH it's probably the most dangerous situation you can be in at night. The chances of being rear ended at high speed or by a truck is really high.
TBH it's probably the most dangerous situation you can be in at night. The chances of being rear ended at high speed or by a truck is really high.
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Soldato
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Just thinking about it, if it's an electrical fault and your lights go out your car basically becomes invisible until the last second (on motorways without lights anyway).
Most of the M6 from Manchester down towards Birmingham are now 4 Lane smart motorways.
I think they're absolutely needed due to capacity on the road, but either they need to put in more refuge areas, or much better automated signage.
Most of the people who have died from the smart motorway have done so because of a careless driver not paying attention to the obstruction in their path ahead.
The sad thing is the solutions are so simple and obvious yet our politicians still ignore them. They need to stop permanent running in the hard shoulder, increase the number of refuges and install radar control/monitoring across the network. They got the first two right on the very first stretch installed and then abandoned the best practices to save cash.
You are relying on some contractor to actually notice and close it off, which could take a while.
In the past, I would have and did on several occasions change a wheel on the side of a motorway with a hard shoulder. Even at night and even on the vehicle offside.
Now the options are sit on a banking behind a crash barrier and await rescue.
Avoid using the things.
Both in my view impractical. A wheel change is a ten minute exercise for a reasonably active male, the majority road user. It becomes a two or three hour stop probably being towed to a garage and paying a mechanic as well as the tow to change your wheel. Half a day wasted when business could be done.
Now the options are sit on a banking behind a crash barrier and await rescue.
Avoid using the things.
Both in my view impractical. A wheel change is a ten minute exercise for a reasonably active male, the majority road user. It becomes a two or three hour stop probably being towed to a garage and paying a mechanic as well as the tow to change your wheel. Half a day wasted when business could be done.
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This is exceptionally dangerous even on a conventional motorway.
Yep, if you absolutely have to, phone the police and they'll usually try to send a vehicle out to fend-off behind you. They'd rather sit there for 10-15 minutes with rear reds on than be dealing with the potential alternative.
I am talking of my experience over 50 years. Motorways particularly at night were less busy, but I have obviously felt exposed at times. The hard shoulder as a continuous safer reserve does provide more surety tham laybys every couple of kilometers.