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?

@whatdoidonowffs I think the problem is that if lorry drivers drive to the same standard as other drivers, their mistakes are a lot more obvious and dangerous.

I've had plenty of lorry drivers swerve in front of me into a space where a car could comfortably fit but a lorry can't without me having to change the way I'm driving - and I'm generally quite considerate so if they were to actually indicate I'd back off and let them in. They'd just rather bully their way in instead.

I'm not joining in the lorry driver bashing. Just answering your question.

The key thing is that, if you have broken down, GET OUT OF THE CAR and stand behind the barriers.

Well, for all those people who are genuinely worried, go to www.change.org and get them scrapped.

Yes they should be scrapped. They are death traps.

The M3 is so much better as a smart motorway

I've got to say, I'm not a motorway fan and I steer clear as much as possible but the M3 is fine since it was converted and it doesn't scare me, it's very open and has a decent road surface. I'd choose it over the A3 any day which is a race track.

When a lane is closed due to roadworks, you are NOT meant to all leap into the other lanes immediately you seen the signs, you are meant to drive almost to the lane closure and 'zip merge', every other car

That's actually not the case on the motorway. The same issue came up on a thread a couple of weeks ago and I looked it up in the Highway Code at the time. If traffic is fast moving you get over early. If it's slow moving eg around Stonehenge/Countess roundabout on the A303 you merge.

Not loving all these posts about the M1 near Sheffield as we're going to Leeds in Feb half term :( Went on the A1 last year (at the weekend with few lorries) but had to use the M1 coming back because lorries and four lanes are better than lorries and two lanes.

Are we any worse than the hundreds of car drivers I see everyday on mobiles,shaving,doing makeup and in one case actually giving himself hand relief in the outside lane of the M25 ?
No, usually much better, but in charge of about 42 tonnes more weight which is much more likely to kill when something goes wrong.

Petition

www.change.org/p/scrap-dangerous-smart-motorways

I regularly drive from Nottingham to Liverpool. I hate the smart motorway. The thought of breaking down in a live lane terrifies me.

*never liked driving on motorways and now we're surrounded by "smart" ones I'll probably never drive on one again. Fortunately we have a good choice of decent A roads around so there's no real need for me to use the motorway"

Whilst I don't doubt that smart motorways are not dangerous than normal ones, you do realise that A road driving is statistically much less safe than motorway driving,.with far more fatal crashes?

Sorry I meant 'More dangerous' instead of 'Not dangerous'

you do realise that A road driving is statistically much less safe than motorway driving,.with far more fatal crashes?

Yes - though I'd be interested to see stats comparing A roads with 'smart' motorways rather than normal ones.

Apart from the obvious possibility of head-ons, bad corners etc, it can take a while to be discovered and then help arrive out in the countryside.

However, it may be more possible to drive 'defensively' on an A road than a smart motorway?

Yes I know that Bumbling, I just don't like motorway driving

I was driving on the M1 when my daughter (3) suddenly began to cough violently and I thought she was choking. I pulled into the next refuge area. She was ok though. I got her out and we stood behind the barrier whilst I spoke to someone in the motorway emergency team. I was told that he would close the inside lane, reduce the speed limit and put the stranded vehicle warning up, for the appropriate section of the motorway. I was told to wait until the lane cleared before I tried to rejoin the carriageway. The number of drivers that failed to reduce their speed and continted in the closed inside lane. It took a while for me to pull out because of this. I was bloody terrified and felt sure that someone was going to drive into us.

I actually also live very close to Sheffield, the junction 31 to get onto the M1 is probably one of the most dangerous junctions in the country. You have to get over 2 lanes immediately to stay on the M1 and not filter onto the M18, whilst you’re trying to get over you’ve got all the traffic coming from the south, a lot of who are also crossing the lanes to join the M18. How there hasn’t been more accidents I do not know. I realise this isn’t smart motorway based but the general area around Sheffield is definitely a hot spot for accidents caused by the smart motorways. I just think of those poor people hit my a HGV and killed instantly whilst trying to exchange insurance details after a collision 😞

I really can't stand "smart" motorways. Don't think they make the traffic move any faster at all.

But ... for everyone worried about breaking down with no hard shoulders, what's the difference when you're on a dual carriageway? No hard shoulder there either.

Well, the difference is that motorway driving (before smart motorways ?) was always the safest when compared to a dual carriageway. The only difference is motorways did mainly have hard shoulders.

They could so easily be switched off by 'red crossing' the left hand lane, effectively making it a hard shoulder, when traffic is flowing freely, and only open it when speeds have dropped due to congestion so any impacts will be less severe. Best of both worlds.

@walkacrossthesand the problem is that drivers continue to use the closed lane even though there is a big fat red X on the overhead gantry. Far fewer disregard the no driving on the hard shoulder.

YANBU - they’re a death trap. Not monitored properly...even the AA has admitted they can’t deal with vehicles that have broken down in live lanes.

I’ve got to attend two training courses next month, if I go on the smart motorway it’ll take me half an hour. If I avoid it, it’ll take me at least double that time but I don’t care, I’m not bloody driving on them.

On the stretch of smart motorway near me, five people have died in the last 10 months.

@WhiteBadger they’re just not comparable to dual carriageways. Generally faster for a start and much longer (so more time to gather momentum and go into auto-pilot). Also most of the dual carriageways I can think of have at least somewhere to pull over or off. I think people generally drive more aggressively on motorways.

We do not include smart motorways in the driving test. Many people are driving who in my view should not at the time hold a driving licence. People just get in a car and rarely check things, so that it can break down without warning. Far too many people speed on motorways.

So I understand why smart motorways are being scrapped.

cologne4711 it's fine. I drive it nearly every day. I find my journey to work much quicker and easier now we have four lanes instead of three.

The issue here is when there is a breakdown.

Yes I know that Bumbling, I just don't like motorway driving

When it’s quiet it is the easiest road to drive on – no roundabouts, no traffic lights, no junctions, no S bends, easy overtaking with no traffic heading in the opposite direction.

Don't think they make the traffic move any faster at all

In my case the M1 near Sheffield does.

They could so easily be switched off by 'red crossing' the left hand lane, effectively making it a hard shoulder, when traffic is flowing freely, and only open it when speeds have dropped due to congestion so any impacts will be less severe. Best of both worlds

They do this on the M62 near the M1 interchange.

@ForalltheSaints no motorways are included in driving tests.

Although there should be a second test you have to pass before driving on any motorway IMO.