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'Smart' Motorways.


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I've driven up it a few times now, I'll have to look more closely.

 

---------- Post added 16-02-2016 at 13:53 ----------

 

 

Where do the lanes turn into slip roads without warning?

 

J39 going south is the usual candidate. People get to the exit realise they are exiting and swerve off to the right into Lane 2.

 

Also please note I never said "without warning"

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Could the new smart motorways be quite safe, and the problem being bad driving?

 

 

I don't think so because apparently many police forces are lobbying the government to get rid of them due to the increased fatalities and serious injuries being caused on roads with no hard shoulder. Apparently part of the cause is that without a hard shoulder the emergency services cannot access accident scenes easily anymore. Also a lot of injuries and deaths are being caused when a stopped car is smashed into by another vehicle. The latter may be bad driving of course, but given bad drivers are out there I'd rather my risk is not increased by making it more likely they will smash into my car if it breaks down!

 

Apparently yet another issue is that the emergency lay-bys cannot always be used because HGV drivers are using them as rest areas to park up and have a snooze. Furthermore the police have said they are too few and too far apart.

 

I also recall reading a government quote stating they expected smart motorways to result in more deaths, but they felt this was "acceptable" due to the increase in economic activity the smart motorways would cause with reduced travel times.

Edited by nightrider
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To be honest Ob I drive on the M62/M1 almost every day and haven't had an issue...apart from when they drop the limit on a clear road...

 

The M62 is a lot better than the top end of the M1. When they mooted the M1 everyone thought they were going for the active running - that's not happened and I'd like to know why it took years for them to repaint a bit of road as thats' all that seemed to have happened...

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Could the new smart motorways be quite safe, and the problem being bad driving?

 

And who are the motoring Mafia? Is it a secret organisation?

 

Given that driving can be good or bad anywhere, but some roads have more casualties and accidents than others, it's useful to compare whether a road has a higher or lower rate of accident than the norm.

 

---------- Post added 16-02-2016 at 14:43 ----------

 

J39 going south is the usual candidate. People get to the exit realise they are exiting and swerve off to the right into Lane 2.

 

Also please note I never said "without warning"

 

I shall have a look for it on my next trip to Leeds.

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Given that driving can be good or bad anywhere, but some roads have more casualties and accidents than others, it's useful to compare whether a road has a higher or lower rate of accident than the norm.

 

---------- Post added 16-02-2016 at 14:43 ----------

 

 

I shall have a look for it on my next trip to Leeds.

 

Just remember - while you've seen the overhead signs, not everyone else has :)

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I don't think so because apparently many police forces are lobbying the government to get rid of them due to the increased fatalities and serious injuries being caused on roads with no hard shoulder. Apparently part of the cause is that without a hard shoulder the emergency services cannot access accident scenes easily anymore. Also a lot of injuries and deaths are being caused when a stopped car is smashed into by another vehicle. The latter may be bad driving of course, but given bad drivers are out there I'd rather my risk is not increased by making it more likely they will smash into my car if it breaks down!

 

Apparently yet another issue is that the emergency lay-bys cannot always be used because HGV drivers are using them as rest areas to park up and have a snooze. Furthermore the police have said they are too few and too far apart.

 

I also recall reading a government quote stating they expected smart motorways to result in more deaths, but they felt this was "acceptable" due to the increase in economic activity the smart motorways would cause with reduced travel times.

 

There is NO HGV drivers using motorway emergency lay-bys for rest periods on motorways.

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There is NO HGV drivers using motorway emergency lay-bys for rest periods on motorways.

 

Well the police stated otherwise in a article in The Times this week. Specifically they said its caused by foreign drivers not understanding what the lay-bys are for because other countries don't have this setup.

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Well the police stated otherwise in a article in The Times this week. Specifically they said its caused by foreign drivers not understanding what the lay-bys are for because other countries don't have this setup.

 

But the point was,they wont be resting,they wont be there long enough.

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Foreign HGV drivers were known for using the hard shoulder as a rest area during heavy traffic as well.

 

Seen it on a couple of those police TV shows, they send a unit down the hard shoulder and round up 4 or 5 Polish guys who are sat around having a chat and drink.

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