To think smart motorways should be got rid of

[Helpmechangemymindsetplease]

Apparently 40 people have died after stopping on smart motorways “hard shoulders”.

What was the rationale behind them - money saving ??

AIBU to think they shouldn’t be made “safer” , they should be scrapped.

How are they a "cash cow"?

Because there are speed cameras on the gantries. Put up a speed limit for a spurious reason and ker-ching - loads of drivers fined without justification.

They should be scrapped. Why anyone could ever have thought they would be a good idea I can’t imagine. The technology that controls the lane use/speed isn’t even there in many areas presumably for financial reasons. Quite apart from the danger if you break down how can emergency services get to accidents when there’s no hard shoulder? They are ridiculously dangerous.

'Ridiculously dangerous'. Yes.
The poor guy who was killed on the M1 near Sheffield faced a choice of,

1. Remaining in his vehicle, in a live lane, or
2. A twenty foot drop, if he jumped over the barrier.

Yes bring back hard shoulders.
Death traps

I see both sides - hard shoulders are dangerous too but there's no doubt the smart bit of the M3 is much better than it used to be.

If people are getting killed, it's because other people aren't paying attention and are driving into the back of them. That needs to be sorted out.

And the middle lane sitting (or 2nd lane sitting) happens because the 1 lane often disappears, either to become a slip road or a hard shoulder again, so people stay in lane 2 to avoid constant lane changes.