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SMART M/Ways - A Big Fail.

Absolutely shocking these were ever green lit, and they are still creating them. M6 just outside of Coventry is being finished now.

Nationally, motorists currently have to wait an average of 17 minutes to be spotted, and a further 17 minutes before they are rescued.
 
And this!
A Freedom of Information (FoI) request sent by Panorama to Highways England revealed that on one section of the M25, outside London, the number of near misses had risen 20-fold since the hard shoulder was removed in April 2014.

In the five years before the road was converted into a smart motorway there were just 72 near misses. In the five years after, there were 1,485.
 
Absolutely shocking these were ever green lit, and they are still creating them. M6 just outside of Coventry is being finished now.

Yeah and they are spending £250million converting J13-15 of the M1! :(
 
Smart Motorways are a stupid idea, I suspect incidents as a result of no hard shoulder are responsible for more delays than a slightly more congested three lane setup. Any road has a certain capacity, intelligent driving can maximise journey efficiency, by (a) being considerate, ie not lane hogging, easing off a touch if someone needs to pull out, then getting on with it when you do get in the lane (b) not driving too slow, thus frustrating other motorists. Keeping a sensible distance so speed is not up and down like a yo yo. Perhaps all that is wishful thinking.
 
Also big parts of the M20 from south of Maidstone to the M26, and the M3 south from the junction with the M25. Whoever came up with the name "Smart" should be taken somewhere quiet and castrated with a blunt pair of scissors! I dread my wife ever having to drive alone to visit our daughter and family - M20, M25, Dartford Crossing, M25 to A42, much of which is this type of death trap with "Emergency Refuge Areas" that are far too short and way too far apart. Nearly had a "moment" on the M3 the other day when someone was attempting to exit a refuge area into an active lane with everyone, me included, doing 60+mph, luckily lane 2 was clear for me to move over just in time!
 
I was a big fan of these - have been using them for decade plus and so are just normal to me. However, having recently read threads and now actual data based on the FOI can see why people dislike them.

Personally, I think that falling standards of road etiquette and lack of traffic police is woeful thus a massive contributor to the deaths.

Have now revised my like/love of this "traffic calming" measure towards a dislike.
 
The M27 from the bottom of the M3 to Portsmouth is underway too.
Have to agree, not a wise decision to build these. I wouldn’t be to keen breaking down on one, nor have to exit one of the tiny refuge areas, provided that I made it to one, into a live lane, even in my 55 !!

As for my wife or daughter having a problem on one, not a nice thought.


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The problem with "SMART" (Highways England Newspeak) previously known as "Managed Motorways" is that there is NO HARD SHOULDER. I know I'm shouting but I'm annoyed.
On normal motorways it has long been recognised that even the Hard Shoulder is a dangerous place and people need to get out of their cars and over the armco FAST.
WTF you going to do in a live lane before the warning signs light up, even if the cretins know what they mean.
 
The M27 from the bottom of the M3 to Portsmouth is underway too.
Have to agree, not a wise decision to build these. I wouldn’t be to keen breaking down on one, nor have to exit one of the tiny refuge areas, provided that I made it to one, into a live lane, even in my 55 !!

As for my wife or daughter having a problem on one, not a nice thought.


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I feel exactly the same. Not so "smart" in any kind of breakdown.
 
Way back in the 70’s I remember being advised never to stay in your vehicle if broken down on the hard shoulder but to get over the barrier for safety.

I suppose I’m very fortunate in having only two such occasion in over 50 years motoring.
First time was in a 1.8 Marina when a tappet adjuster slackened back causing quite a noise with the engine. This was re adjusted by the breakdown service on scene.

Second was my exhaust came adrift at the manifold in my Vanden Plas 1100. I managed to break the entire exhaust free and “deposited it” by the roadside. I then drove the car for well over 150 miles home with no exhaust, quite noisy especially when you lifted off the throttle.
 
Apparantly the government is reviewing smart motorways and has already decided to scrap the dynamic hard shoulder.
 
Ministers who approved them say they were misled ?
Lack of total common sense I say. Bloody idiots in charge as usual.
 
Apparantly the government is reviewing smart motorways and has already decided to scrap the dynamic hard shoulder.
This is what happens when someone reckons he can solve the problem of overcrowded m/ways cheaper than building a fourth lane by utilising the hard shoulder instead. What is baffling me is how many people must have agreed to this mad idea to let it get this far.
 
Wonder how much cheaper it would have been to add another lane in the first place rather than do it anyway with the added cost of all this mullarkey included?
 
Ministers who approved them say they were misled ?
Lack of total common sense I say. Bloody idiots in charge as usual.
Exactly so. Any fule kno no stop in fast lane.
But I've only done 500,000 miles on roads everywhere, so I prolly don kno.
 

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