Smart Motorways

They are dreadful and I was quite surprised the M1 had decided to go mostly (?) smart. There are accidents all the time because of it

I`m about to sign Chestnut and thank you for the thunbs up.

I think in the limited way they were originally planned they were OK. Dealing with rush hour queues and the bottlenecks that ensue in certain restricted areas at restricted times - traffic using them was slow moving, and when the rush hour was over they were went back to being hard shoulders.

But because something works in limited circumstances does not mean it works when everything is larged up.

Agreed greeneyedgirl.

Cost Ohmother Cost!

The reason this was done in the beginning was clearly speed and cost. They will revert to hard shoulders in the end anyway, with the extra expense and time incurred. Like so many ill thought out schemes.

The answer seems to be to now add a hard shoulder to all of them!

Stupid, expensive and dangerous thinkgs!

Yes you are right Teacheranne
There really is no safe option on these awful roads is there?

I usually avoid petitions on these threads but I will have a look at that one Chestnut

Does anyone who uses them think they're a good idea? It seems no one here. My late DH and I thought they were a stupidly dangerous idea from the time they first came in. We felt very vulnerable towing our caravan on them, which we did a lot.

I started a thread about this a while back and there is a petition to scrap smart motorways which is still going. You can still sign so don't hesitate!
Scrap Smart Motorways link here

A nice easy way to stop the worry would be to keep the inside lane closed. Smart motorways have gantries above them.
X means lane closed -so technically, a hard shoulder.
They are converting the M27- speed is limited to 50mph at the moment so it’s not too bad in this dark, wet and wintry weather, but once it goes up to 70 again?!

JenniferEccles

There are two near me, the M3 and M4, both of which have parts converted to the inappropriate name of ‘smart’ motorways.

When we travel on them my instinct is to avoid being in the inside lane in case a bit further ahead there may be a broken down vehicle with traffic hurtling towards it unable to brake until it’s too late.

Under the circumstances I think it’s pretty amazing that there haven’t been more fatalities on these awful roads.

That’s what I was thinking JenniferEccles until I realised that if I was in the lane next to the inner one, cars might swerve into me without warning if they see a broken down car in front of them! Maybe I should go in the old middle lane but then I’d possibly be holding up the traffic !

I used to use the M42 quite happily, the safety refuges were much closer together than on newer smart motorways and the “hard shoulder” was only opened in rush hour for those leaving at the next exit. I was horrified when I went on the section of the M6 between Knutsford and Holmes Chapel to realise that safety refuges were much further apart and the extra lane was open all the time, like a fourth lane. So no wintry to avoid them especially in the dark.

There are two near me, the M3 and M4, both of which have parts converted to the inappropriate name of ‘smart’ motorways.

When we travel on them my instinct is to avoid being in the inside lane in case a bit further ahead there may be a broken down vehicle with traffic hurtling towards it unable to brake until it’s too late.

Under the circumstances I think it’s pretty amazing that there haven’t been more fatalities on these awful roads.

The motorway I use most is the M3. There's a stretch of smart motorway where I join it, but fortunately it's only a short stretch and I just cross my fingers. Apart from that I try to avoid them altogether. Even DD, who is a much more intrepid driver than me, is very unhappy on them.

Smart motorways! Not. In normal times I drive regularly on the M4 from junction 14 to junction 2. A smart motorway is being constructed from junction 12. I was driving back with my OH and just after junction 3, I developed a migraine. He needed to take over driving. Luckily the hard shoulder hadn’t quite run out. If my migraine had developed a few minutes later I think I would have had to drive around 20 miles before I could pull off, nightmare.

I drove up the M1 last week to a family funeral, they were installing a"smart motorway". I said to DH that I would be avoiding them as much as possible in the future, goodness knows who thought that they were a good idea, they have blood on their hands.

There was a Panorama programme in January last year about the danger and deaths on Smart Motorways, and as far as I can discern these types of motorways were still being rolled out as late as Autumn last year.

This simplistic solution to motorway congestion, which has caused at least 38 deaths, and very many near misses, in the last 6 years is madness. It is acknowledged to be dangerous to stop on the hard shoulder of a motorway, it is suicidal on a smart one.

Monica, you were watching the program that prompted my question.
“We will consider points raised by the coroner” = someone dying might make a difference, but ‘I’m still considering’.
Refuge areas in 2013 were 1.5 miles apart and in 2018 they were saying they’d reduce that to a mile -‘where practicable’. Does practicable relate to finance, personal opinion, or willingness to give up on a bad idea. Whose car breaks down by a conveniently place refuge?

Madness, is the only word to describe them. When we drive on the motorways, which in normal times is quite regularly, we will never go into those lanes, only if they are leading to slip roads and even then we delay entering them until theblast possible moment.

What infuriated me today was the response from the Dept of Transport. I quote ' It was already considewring many of the points raised at the inqueast in a plan published in March last year........ We will carefully consider any further comments raised by the coroner once we receiv the report'

Or in other words they have had a year to consider the issue, during which they have done f*ck all and they are delighted that another coroner is making a report because it means they can continue to ignore these issues even longer, as they have no intention of taking any notice of what anybody says, they have made up our minds and are not interested in the facts on this issue.

As others have said, such a dangerous and ridiculous idea. How can it ever have been approved and implemented.
I also don't think there has been nearly enough (any?) public information about how to use them - i.e. that if there is a red cross above the lane you must stop immediately or get out of the lane if possible.

Exactly what Sarnia said. Ill conceived and so dangerous

Death traps. How much money has been wasted on yet another ill-considered Government project?

They are terrifying if you have the misfortune to be in a car on the M6, hemmed in by huge lorries all around. I hope something is done about them.

I agree that they are a ridiculous idea, with no regard for safety, which is unbelievable in an age where there is such an emphasis on health and safety.
In normal times I would travel up the M1 and M6 at least twice a month. Although I’m very aware on the stretches with no hard shoulder, I try not to over think it. I have noted the bits that don’t have a ‘safety’ barrier along the side, so at least there would be a verge to get onto.

They were exposed as being extremely dangerous not long after they were instituted and thirty eight people have been killed as a result of not being able to get to a refuge area. They were rolled out on the M42 where refuge areas were six hundred meters apart, but on most motorways now they are at least two miles apart. They are terrifying.