campervanista Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 A week ago today my wife and I drove off the ferry at Portsmouth after five weeks of trouble free travel around France avoiding major centres of population. As we headed west along the M27 we noticed that work was proceeding apace on converting the motorway into a "Smart" motorway. That is to say suppressing the hard shoulder in order to achieve an extra lane. Not good we thought, remembering the deaths these killer motorways have already caused. Very little media coverage of course. This is madness on stilts! The M4 from Reading to London is ,I believe, is also being similarly "upgraded" and it is going on around the country. Then as we proceeded westward a builders dumpy bag came into view and lodged itself somewhere under our vehicle. Luckily we were in the slow lane at truck speed but of course there was no safety lane - just a concrete barrier that went on for miles. What if it had wrapped round a drive shaft or something similar? Eventually it freed itself and went on to cause possible havoc again, sigh of relief! WRONG. A few miles further on a flying stone came bowling towards the windscreen and one ducked. It hit I know not where and again a potential reason why one would have to stop with no escape from a rear shunt. Who on earth in authority ever thought this was a good idea? Why is there no emoticon for the grim reaper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 campervanista - 2020-10-08 12:07 PM A week ago today my wife and I drove off the ferry at Portsmouth after five weeks of trouble free travel around France avoiding major centres of population. As we headed west along the M27 we noticed that work was proceeding apace on converting the motorway into a "Smart" motorway. That is to say suppressing the hard shoulder in order to achieve an extra lane. Not good we thought, remembering the deaths these killer motorways have already caused. Very little media coverage of course. This is madness on stilts! The M4 from Reading to London is ,I believe, is also being similarly "upgraded" and it is going on around the country. Then as we proceeded westward a builders dumpy bag came into view and lodged itself somewhere under our vehicle. Luckily we were in the slow lane at truck speed but of course there was no safety lane - just a concrete barrier that went on for miles. What if it had wrapped round a drive shaft or something similar? Eventually it freed itself and went on to cause possible havoc again, sigh of relief! WRONG. A few miles further on a flying stone came bowling towards the windscreen and one ducked. It hit I know not where and again a potential reason why one would have to stop with no escape from a rear shunt. Who on earth in authority ever thought this was a good idea? Why is there no emoticon for the grim reaper? I too do not like the idea of a smart ?motorway with no hard shoulder , the emergency stop places on these Motorways are never going to be where you want them if you have a problem are they. If you have to stop on a live carriageway you are dicing with death, as someone is likely to plough into the back of you, people drive too fast and definitely too close to the vehicle in front don't they so stopping for these idiots will be by running in to the rear of your vehicle, and what gain is there to these Motorways in saved time if there is a major pile up closing the Motorway? Madness in the extreme I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 campervanista - 2020-10-08 12:07 PM A week ago today my wife and I drove off the ferry at Portsmouth after five weeks of trouble free travel around France avoiding major centres of population. As we headed west along the M27 we noticed that work was proceeding apace on converting the motorway into a "Smart" motorway. That is to say suppressing the hard shoulder in order to achieve an extra lane. Not good we thought, remembering the deaths these killer motorways have already caused. Very little media coverage of course. This is madness on stilts! The M4 from Reading to London is ,I believe, is also being similarly "upgraded" and it is going on around the country. Then as we proceeded westward a builders dumpy bag came into view and lodged itself somewhere under our vehicle. Luckily we were in the slow lane at truck speed but of course there was no safety lane - just a concrete barrier that went on for miles. What if it had wrapped round a drive shaft or something similar? Eventually it freed itself and went on to cause possible havoc again, sigh of relief! WRONG. A few miles further on a flying stone came bowling towards the windscreen and one ducked. It hit I know not where and again a potential reason why one would have to stop with no escape from a rear shunt. Who on earth in authority ever thought this was a good idea? Why is there no emoticon for the grim reaper? If it's any consolation, I believe the stupid idea of "Smart " motorways has now been put on hold, presumably while some people with common sense review them. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 The original concept around 'Smart' motorways has been changed, they should have had a 'refuge' at regular close intervals, and the outer lane constantly monitored so it could be closed straight away. This was soon diluted down until the refuges became further apart and the outer lane can take a long time to be closed, this has resulted in numerous deaths. The government announced a pause in building them until after an enquiry, but it seems those that where already planned are going ahead. I think we can expect month if not years of delays as these go ahead, then further months or years of delays as they upgraded to a safe standard. >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 I get the impression that the decision that these Smart motorways was a good idea, was made by computer . Almost every major plan that goes wrong these days seems to be the result of 'computer modelling ' - without review by people using common sense. Computer results are only as good as the people who programmed them. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 ‘Smart motorways’ were discussed here in January 2020, including mention of the conversion of parts of the M27 https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/-smart-motorways-/54339/ The BBC “Panorama” programme that was shown at the time is still available on-line. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000dtqv/panorama-britains-killer-motorways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 I am so against this killer decision I would be inclined to ignore this hard shoulder smart lane and keep to the old inner lane, if most drivers did this the gantry cameras would show those in charge this idea is flawed. I believe some countries have enough cameras to instantly red cross these lanes when some poor soul breaks down in them, but not in this country at present. It has been muted about that the 70mph will be reduced to 60mph, but most still drive at least 10mph over these limits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campervanista Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 Let's hope so. There was certainly plenty of contractor activity goiing on, safely (for them), behind the concrete barrier. Difficult to say exactly what they were doing though. Regards, Ron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 chas - 2020-10-08 3:34 PM It has been muted about that the 70mph will be reduced to 60mph, but most still drive at least 10mph over these limits. There is a plan to reduce the limit to 60 mph on certain short stretches of motorway, for a trial period, in an attempt to reduce pollution. I read somewhere that these stretches will be : M6 = J 6 to 7. M1 = J 33-34 M5 = J 1-2 M602 = J 1-3. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 chas - 2020-10-08 3:34 PM I am so against this killer decision I would be inclined to ignore this hard shoulder smart lane and keep to the old inner lane, if most drivers did this the gantry cameras would show those in charge this idea is flawed. Up to £100 fine and three points on your licnce if found out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 That does not apply to drivers who hog the centre lanes unless they are going very slow. If I was driving at a speed that matched the hard shoulder drivers, can't see the offence, sorry but I am no way going to be a sitting duck in a live lane, which it was never intended for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 chas - 2020-10-08 6:14 PM That does not apply to drivers who hog the centre lanes unless they are going very slow. If I was driving at a speed that matched the hard shoulder drivers, can't see the offence, sorry but I am no way going to be a sitting duck in a live lane, which it was never intended for. But what if you break down in lane 2? Wouldn’t you be at the same risk at the very least? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 That's why a empty hard shoulder is vital ,as a safe refuge, this cheap way of increasing traffic flow shows no respect for human life. It's criminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Whoever dreamt up the idea of smart motorways should be placed in a broken down car and stuck on one for an hour. They are lethal and the Govt know it but it saves a few pounds, lives do not matter it seems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 From what I understand your breakdown service provider's will also refuse to attend a live lane breakdown , and just imagine the carnage after a 40 ton lorry piles into the back of a stationary vehicle, how on earth are the emergency services going to get to the scene of the slaughter, utter madness 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
costaexpress Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Having seen the statistics it looks like they need a bit of tweaking, however, I have seen the benefit of the smart motorway especially between J13 of the M1 southbound and really like them and can't really see the difference between breaking down here and breaking down on one of the '000's of miles of duel carriageways we have in this country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 costaexpress - 2020-10-09 10:42 AM Having seen the statistics it looks like they need a bit of tweaking, however, I have seen the benefit of the smart motorway especially between J13 of the M1 southbound and really like them and can't really see the difference between breaking down here and breaking down on one of the '000's of miles of duel carriageways we have in this country. Not far north of j13 was the scene of one of the first fatal's on a smart motorway AFAIK the coroner critised the design of the motorway as it was ascertained to being the main reason for the crash. When they are flowing they work well, if there is a breakdown they are death traps, this was widely accepted during the enquiry as being due to them being built to a much lower standard than first enviged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 These bright ideas have arisen since politicians hired overpaid private consultants to tell them how they could solve problems cheaper *-) And has continued apace as Dominic Cummings sacks civil sevants to replace them with private consultants who compete with each other for hugely lucrative jobs telling stupid politicians whatever they want to hear. Hence BoJo's World Beating Test & Trace, Operation Moonshot, etc etc *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCC Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 John52 - 2020-10-09 1:37 PM And has continued apace as Dominic Cummings sacks civil sevants to replace them with private consultants who compete with each other for hugely lucrative jobs telling stupid politicians whatever they want to hear. Hence BoJo's World Beating Test & Trace, Operation Moonshot, etc etc *-) This is rubbish. Dominic Cummings hands these contracts out to his friends: it's wrong to suggest that there is any competition. The idea of competing for jobs was removed when the virus hit! I think part of the problem with smart motorways is that whilst there was once a relentless drive to improve road safety the approach is now to moneterise all decisions. What is the cost of a few deaths if millions are saved? Cost is the main decider these days, not value. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Thread frozen - I've warned forum members before about getting on to their political hobby horses on the Motorhome Matters forum >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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