'Smart' Motorways.

[RonJeremy]

Are you taking the *** ? It`s hard to tell on a forum, thus, personally, I try to avoid doing so.......

With the exception of the brakes (which surely goes without saying) and the air bags, I don`t see any of those making a huge difference safety, certainly relative to drivers driving with less aggression, more patience, and more concentration.

"Collision prevention sensors", now there`s a thing, aren`t they called eyes in everyday speak ? Or are we talking about glorified distance sensors ? If so I`d love to know what settings have been inputted, would it be based on the 2 second rule ? If so would they sound (as they should do) every time a driver pulled into a gap (at 7mph) which was less than 131m wide ?

 

They put the brakes on for you. They physically stop the car if you fail to see the car in front stopping because you've got cheaper lights on your car. or because something has happened that you havent noticed.

I'm sure you have 20/20 vision.

 

http://www.mercedes-benz-intelligent-drive.com/com/en/1_driver-assistance-and-safety/5_collision-prevention-assist-plus

 

If you really love yourself, your family and all other pedestrians, you would get a car that had this. Money no object?

 

---------- Post added 05-01-2016 at 15:41 ----------

 

http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedkingdom/mpc/mpc_unitedkingdom_website/en/home_mpc/passengercars/home/new_cars/models/s-class/_w222/fascination/safety.html

[L00b]

Having said the above, if a car breaks down, it`s not usually the drivers fault is it ? What is he supposed to do ? He (or she) has no where to go. The point could be made that if people kept adequate distance from the vehicle in front *, kept up their concentration and didn`t speed, then accidents would be less likely with vehicles stopped on the inside lane. But still more likely than if there was a hard shoulder in place.

Breaking down through running out of fuel or equipment failure (typically through failing to service/maintain the car according to spec) is definitely the driver's fault, and I'm quietly confident that represents the majority of cases.

 

The broken down vehicles which I see just about every day at rush hour on the M1 are all older and/or smaller types, I've rarely ever seen anything new/new-ish stood with hazards. That's not automotive snobbism, just casual observation borne from commuting twice daily on the M1 at rush hour for the last 7 years.

* The facts : required 2 second gap at 70mph = 63 m. But this is front and rear, i.e. the gap between two vehicles must be at least 126m plus the length of your own vehicle (say + 5m = 131m) before you move into it (if changing lanes) even if all three vehicles are doing exactly the same speed. But when these facts were stated, on a different thread, more than one poster said they thought the gaps "excessive".

I hardly ever use brakes on motorways. Ever. That includes the busy Jct.31-34S section of the M1 at rush hour, twice daily. No issue whatsoever keeping a 'large' safety distance relative to the car in front (large enough that...I don't have to use brakes to adjust my speed, just gears, unless traffic ahead gets stood too long).

 

It's not a specific driving style or bragging, it's the standard compulsory tuition for motorway driving in France (since the year dot...and certainly as of 26 years ago) wherein, if you have spent any time driving on motorways there (not-overly congested ones like the Périph, that is), you may have observed that few people ever brake indeed. The relevant driving skill is a-n-t-i-c-i-p-a-t-i-o-n. Most people manage just fine. Those who can't, don't get a driving license. Simples

Are you taking the *** ? It`s hard to tell on a forum, thus, personally, I try to avoid doing so.......

With the exception of the brakes (which surely goes without saying) and the air bags, I don`t see any of those making a huge difference safety, certainly relative to drivers driving with less aggression, more patience, and more concentration.

"Collision prevention sensors", now there`s a thing, aren`t they called eyes in everyday speak ? Or are we talking about glorified distance sensors ? If so I`d love to know what settings have been inputted, would it be based on the 2 second rule ? If so would they sound (as they should do) every time a driver pulled into a gap (at 7mph) which was less than 131m wide ?

The biggest safety factor in any car however old or modern and regardless of gadgets is the driver.

 

An extra lane, temporary or not, and the absence or otherwise of a safety lane, should make no difference howsoever to your capacity to (i) drive safely and make reasonable progress without endangering or inconveniencing any other drivers and (ii) maintain your car to such a reasonable standard that it is -inasmuch as possible- never at risk of breaking down whilst travelling anywhere.

 

The government isn't going to restrict new drivers' "right" to own and use a car, conducive of ever more traffic/congestion on British roads and accordingly requiring ever more solutions (such as e.g. 'smart' motorways) for the existing (and new) road network/infrastructure to accommodate it, for the sake of Justin Smith's convenience.

 

You can learn to get with the times, or choose to do away with a car, or just buy your own road network. As a leftfield option, I suppose you could run for MP, then party leadership in due course, and hope to eventually get the big gig at No.10 to do something different or better about it

 

Personally, I'd make motorway driving a compulsory part of driver training and testing in the UK. Then more drivers would know how to use multiple lanes (to begin with ), and not be so terrorised at the idea of having an extra one to contend with

 

Next automotive whinge, if you please.

Edited January 5, 2016 by L00b

[monkey104]

I think that the safest car on the road is a big German 4 x 4 with a loud exhaust

[Justin Smith]

Pretty well known that more modern cars are safer in all aspects of the NCAP safety rating schemes compared to their older counterparts. So you having an older car means you are making your own family less safe due to that decision regardless of what any other driver out there is doing.

 

In fact, let's compare your car to the current model. A 1999 Ford Focus gets 4 stars on NCAP for occupants of the car and a lowly 2 stars for pedestrians! The 2012 model gets 5 stars for occupants and 4 stars pedestrians.

 

Sorry that first paragraph reads needlessly aggressive and unfair. I should have worded it the other way around that you can make your family more safe by buying a newer can rather than implying you choose to make your family unsafer which is neither fair or true.

 

It`s a 2006 model, i.e. neither 1999 nor 2012 !

 

---------- Post added 05-01-2016 at 16:16 ----------

 

Next automotive whinge, if you please.

 

Every person I`ve spoken to about the new 4 lane (no hard shoulder) MI "(not so) smart motorway" thinks it`s retrograde step. If you want to call it a whinge to say that then fine, but I`m comfortably in the majority on this one.

Funnily enough the TNT driver is here at the moment, he also thinks no hard shoulder is a crap idea, and, in fact, his mate, who commutes up past Junc 39, has already seen an accident where a truck piled into a broken down car on the inside lane (i.e. what was the hard shoulder).

You do what you want, but I won`t be driving on the ex hard shoulder.

 

---------- Post added 05-01-2016 at 16:17 ----------

 

I think that the safest car on the road is a big German 4 x 4 with a loud exhaust

 

Yes, very good.

 

---------- Post added 05-01-2016 at 16:20 ----------

 

Using the hardshoulder as as extra lane is far too dangerous. If a vehicle in front of me suddenly breaksdown, it has now where to go to get out of the way & i may have to swerve to avoid it.

For that reason, i will not use the hardshoulder as an extra lane, & even if plod pulls me up for not using the hardshoulder & nicks me for it, i will go to court & defend my actions !

 

You`ve got the perfect defence, the South York Police Chief Constable agrees with you, well sort of.

[L00b]

Every person I`ve spoken to about the new 4 lane (no hard shoulder) MI "(not so) smart motorway" thinks it`s retrograde step. If you want to call it a whinge to say that then fine, but I`m comfortably in the majority on this one.

If it makes you feel better. Personally, that statement just reinforces my belief that too few people know how to drive properly on multilane highways in this country

 

I won't have any issue using the ex-hard shoulder if it is the leftmost lane in use and there is no other traffic in sight.

 

But then, the intention is to only use the hard shoulder as a lane when traffic is heavy (that's the "smart" bit, see? ) and...

You do what you want, but I won`t be driving on the ex hard shoulder.

...whenever there's any traffic to overtake, and because I tend to drive mostly at times at which when traffic is heavy indeed, practically speaking I'm quasi-always (one could say semi-permanently) in the rightmost lane, gently waiting (at a safe distance) for the driver ahead to pull over and then charging on

 

So, errr...right you are, I'll just carry on, if you don't mind

Edited January 5, 2016 by L00b

[RonJeremy]

It`s a 2006 model, i.e. neither 1999 nor 2012 !

 

---------- Post added 05-01-2016 at 16:16 ----------

 

 

Every person I`ve spoken to about the new 4 lane (no hard shoulder) MI "(not so) smart motorway" thinks it`s retrograde step. If you want to call it a whinge to say that then fine, but I`m comfortably in the majority on this one.

Funnily enough the TNT driver is here at the moment, he also thinks no hard shoulder is a crap idea, and, in fact, his mate, who commutes up past Junc 39, has already seen an accident where a truck piled into a broken down car on the inside lane (i.e. what was the hard shoulder).

You do what you want, but I won`t be driving on the ex hard shoulder.

 

---------- Post added 05-01-2016 at 16:17 ----------

 

 

Yes, very good.

 

---------- Post added 05-01-2016 at 16:20 ----------

 

 

You`ve got the perfect defence, the South York Police Chief Constable agrees with you, well sort of.

 

So .... how many of the safety features that I mentioned does it have?

[biotechpete]

If it makes you feel better. Personally, that statement just reinforces my belief that too few people know how to drive properly on multilane highways in this country

 

I won't have any issue using the ex-hard shoulder if it is the leftmost lane in use and there is no other traffic in sight.

 

But then, the intention is to only use the hard shoulder as a lane when traffic is heavy (that's the "smart" bit, see? ) and...

...whenever there's any traffic to overtake, and because I tend to drive mostly at times at which when traffic is heavy indeed, practically speaking I'm quasi-always (one could say semi-permanently) in the rightmost lane, gently waiting (at a safe distance) for the driver ahead to pull over and then charging on

 

So, errr...right you are, I'll just carry on, if you don't mind

 

That's the whole point of this thread. That's not at all the intention. It is to take away the hard shoulder and make it a permanent lane, mostly to avoid the cost of installing the continuous monitoring system that opens / closes the hard shoulder.

[Justin Smith]

We were talking about this "no hard shoulder motorway" at work, nobody thought it a good idea, but one of us mentioned something yet to figure in this thread. He said that the hard shoulder wasn`t just a refuge for vehicles which have broken down (or drivers who have had sudden health issues, it does happen), they`re also for the use of the emergency services to reach the scene of an incident. How are they supposed to do that if all the lanes are blocked ? I know the more sophisticated M42 "smart motorway" could still have the same problem, but :

1 The 50mph limit during no hard shoulder running would make an accident less likely to occur and less serious if it did.

2 The individual lane signs would make it easier for the controllers to keep the hard shoulder open f they though it might be required And possibly reclose if necessary ?

Edited January 5, 2016 by Justin Smith

[L00b]

That's the whole point of this thread. That's not at all the intention. It is to take away the hard shoulder and make it a permanent lane, mostly to avoid the cost of installing the continuous monitoring system that opens / closes the hard shoulder.

Oh, right...just like most single and dual carriage ways since, like, forever, then?

 

And the drama was about...what, again?

[Eater Sundae]

Oh, right...just like most single and dual carriage ways since, like, forever, then?

 

And the drama was about...what, again?

 

One of the benefits of "proper" motorways is that they are safer than single and dual carriageway roads. That safety advantage is being eaten into.