Are you scared of Smart Motorways?

[bridgetjones1]

I never used to be, I thought they were a fab idea and really eased traffic at peak times, but they now scare the bejesus out of me.

I have this fear of breaking down on the motorway, I get to the left hand lane but there is no hard shoulder.

I have 10 month old twins and I think it’s this that scares me. I know we’d all have to get out of the car and onto the grass verge pronto, but it’s the fear that I won’t get everyone out in time.

I saw on breakfast tv this week that the roll out of smart motorways has been suspended.

Should they be scrapped altogether?

Hard shoulders are dangerous too. To be honest I think the real problem here is being overlooked - HGV drivers who don't pay attention and drive into the back of cars - whether on a lane or a hard shoulder.

In any other scenario if you drive into the back of someone you are considered to be at fault.

There have been a larger than average number of incidents on the smart motorways but they are also some of the busiest stretches.

My main issue, as well as sorting out lorry drivers, is how emergency vehicles get to an incident if there is no hard shoulder.

I think in some ways they're good if people understood that 4 lanes still means you move to the left it you're not overtaking rather than treating it like a 3 lane motorway and they make my journey to work smoother, but I do have the same fear as you. What if I was to breakdown and couldn't make it to the next lay by? But I guess it's the same as if you broke down in any other lane and couldn't get to the hard shoulder.

The issue is more about education. I've seen many more accidents on smart motorways, simply because drivers use lane 2 as the left hand lane, so lots of people use lane 1 to undertake.

I’m not scared of them but I won’t use them..

Whoever designed them is a complete idiot with no knowledge of how cars break down. When my car broke down recently, the engine cut out and I could coast across lanes but I certainly couldn’t drive a mile to a lay-by.
The time before that, the car went into limp home mode and could only do two miles an hour. Lethal with the rest of the traffic travelling at 70.
The sooner they are scrapped the better.

It's not the smart motorway itself that bothers me, it's how narrow the lanes have become since they worked on our motorways. There is such little room for error, especially when HGV's are involved.

I don't know if it's like this everywhere but leaving the Manchester road network, everywhere else feels so spacious.

I imagine it's just as scary to break down on a 60mph single carriageway. I drive on fast country roads every day, and there are a few stretches that would be terrifying to be stuck on.

You’ve definitely got more chance of getting a family out safely on a hard shoulder than a live lane. So yes, I think they’re pretty scary.

Absolutely terrified after seeing panorama, I will actively avoid them now.
I knew how to use one but until I saw the programme I was 95% ignorant of the danger.
You only have to hear one of those calls.

I’m not confident that the emergency lane closing system for when there’s an accident is up to scratch yet. I heard a tragic story on Jeremy Vine a few weeks ago about people killed after they broke down and a HGV hit them.

Yes I am. My journey to my friends in Glos + sister in Wales will take 1/2 hour longer once the M4 goes 'live' as there's no way I'll drive on a smart motorway if I don't absolutely have to!

I use one sometimes 2 every day - the M42 is great - they have refuge areas really regularly and also seem to close lanes quickly

M6 not so much - and I agree about the lane hogging and poor driving being a big issue - and lorry drivers

I think they are a good idea if built correctly with regular safe stopping points - you could break down in any lane of a motorway - I was stranded in the right hand lane of the M56 once with 3 kids in the car (after some tailgating twat went into the back of us) .

@PurpleDaisies the other thing I've noticed though, in defence of the sign system, is that people choose to ignore the arrows telling them to move over into the next available lane until the very last second. There's obviously some time between each set of signs so if they're changing signs and haven't yet located the incident, there might be an arrow where there should be a lane closed sign. IMO they should just used the lane closed signs immediately rather than bothering with arrows. And again, if people aren't paying attention it's not going to make a difference unfortunately.
A lot of onus is on drivers to make the system work.

No. I drive on the M1 near Sheffield nearly every day. Before they introduced the extra lanes getting to work took twice as long.

I agree that far too many drivers don't seem to understand how having 4 lanes work.

We have had all day closures on the Sheffield stretch of the M1 due to accidents recently, but I don't know if this was caused by there being 4 lanes instead of 3 and a hard shoulder. None of these accidents were caused by broken down cars on the inside lane though.

No but I make a point to have a new car so less likely to break down. I'm glad they've stopped roll out of more. My commute to work uses them so I kind of don't want the road works associated with scrapping them..

I’m nervous about breaking down on a smart motorway as well. The last time I broke down was a few years ago and the electrics cut out in the car, so the lights and everything went. If it was night on a smart motorway I’d have been fucked. As it was I was on a country lane which wasn’t fun but it was at least quiet.

Yes, they should be scrapped altogether without a doubt. I have quite a lot of driving experience and I - I rarely use this word - HATE them. At the moment I have little choice but to use one of them and I dread it. How is someone meant to get babies, young children, disabled children or adults, pets, often a combination of those, out of the car safely?! My next journey on one - twice - is coming up at Half Term, and I am already worrying about it. So-called Smart motorways are - not to put too fine a point on it - death traps and have turned what should be a time of looking forward to a family jaunt into being worried about it instead. Stupid Motorways, not Smart at all. The person or persons responsible should not still be in their jobs. How can it be ok to decrease road safety?!

@GinnyStrupac does your journey have to be at a certain time? If not, they tend to close the 4th lane mid morning so if you set out at 10am or afterwards you'll probably be ok and not actually have to worry

Ginny do you drive an unreliable car? While smart motorways haven't been a good idea you seem to be more anxious than you should be.

I hate them, they're hideous. The problem is that rightly or wrongly not everyone is a good driver, not everyone has the same reaction times and people are fucking idiots. They work theoretically, but they do not cater for the lowest common denominator- Dumbass Dave who's on his phone, Stupid Steve who has driven for 5 hours without a break after a night out, Speedy Phil who thinks he might be the next Lewis Hamilton despite being a particularly paunchy 45... 90 year old Doris and Dennis who drive along chewing the steering wheel getting flustered when they have to change lanes and don't have a clue what all this new signage is about....

I avoid them as much as possible.

'Smart' motorways might be ok in places for congestion management if the leftmost lane was kept clear as a hard shoulder most of the time, and only allowed for driving in conjunction with a low speed limit, 30-40 max.

They may become ok in future if cars and lorries are also 'smart', with accurate automatic obstacle detection and braking (longer range than currently available) and lane control. I can imagine when such technology becomes more standard, only vehicles which have it being allowed on some roads. When and if ... not now.

BBC were reporting recently on the increase in deaths.

It's a terrible concept, costs lives and needs to be dismantled asap

I had a brick thrown through my window from a motorway bridge. Window smashed, cuts down my arm, I was immediately able to pull into the hard shoulder. I'm genuinely interested to know what would happen on a smart motorway?

They terrify me. I can't believe it was passed through as a good idea!

I commute to and from work on one every day. Not much choice really. I am aware there are concerns and there has been a statistical increase in road deaths since their introduction.
I live near a stretch called "Death Valley" locally for decades now. I just put it to the back of my mind but I am not a carefree driver anyway.

Hate them too. The thought of getting two kids oit on a live lane makes me want to throw up. Luckily we don't have any motorways where I live so it's only an issue 3 times a year when we go up north

As soon as we heard that they were "upgrading" motorways to smart motorways and doing away with hard shoulders, DP and I both said they would be dangerous. Being on the hard shoulder is terrifying enough, being broken down on the carriageway itself is a terrifying thought.

Disclaimer: my friend was killed, and her toddler suffered life-changing injuries, when she had to stop on the hard shoulder. A lorry driver, who'd fallen asleep at the wheel after exceeding his hours, crashed into her. He got 2 years in prison, which I thought was too lenient.