Smart Motorway Fine

[TheBookAccordingtoIsaac]

Hi, im hoping to get some previous experience of Smart motorway issued fines.

Yesterday i had just merged onto the motorway, 4 lanes in total. My turn off was the next left about 5 miles down the motorway so I stayed in the far left lane/slow lane. This lane started to close and the traffic in the other 3 became busy. An arrow advising to move out of this lane appeared overhead but there was no room to safety merge. So I continued to drive to find a safe space then I drove under an X sign and I got immediately flashed.

I'm certain a ticket is on its way but do I have any grounds to challenge if it wasn't safe? Should I have stopped totally in my lane to wait to merge?

Dreading a £100 fine coming through the post this close to Xmas.

Thanks in advance.

No grounds

Of course you should have stopped. Same as when joining a motorway, once slip road ia done if you haven't merged onto motorway you have to stop, you don't just keep going

You're not allowed to pass under the x sign, so unfortunately I'd imagine you'll be getting a ticket. It's tough to merge in some situations but you'd had an indication the lane started to close, then an arrow saying to move over and then an x. Sounds like plenty of time to merge - everyone in the lane to the right of you would have been expecting you to merge too so if you'd indicated someone would have let you in? Did other people behind you also get flashed if there was zero room in the other lane?

so op - it just have been flash flash flash flash, because surly everyone in that lane got flashed

unless of course… it was very few and the massive majority had made their move to a different lane safely already

I have, in the past, seen Police, Camera, Action type things where people were told to use the hard shoulder and merge rather than stop on a slip road.

What stopped you indicating and merging before the lane closed arrow? I know it's busy but usually if you make your intentions clear people will make space for you.

Why didnt you stop, and whilst indicating, wait until someone let you in?

You may find, as I did once, that if the other lane users are being a arse and there's a lot of traffic that you don't get a fine. For miles the motorway had signs '2 lanes closed beyond next junction' As I was coming off at the junction after, without thinking about it I stayed in the left hand lane. In hind sight I should have moved over one to hedge my bets which side of the road was closed. The overhead signs (still 4 lanes) went 60, then suddenly the next one went from 60 to 40 and with the 2 nearside lanes closed. In the space of going from the 60 signs to the 40 and 2 lanes closed were a lot of cars going a lot faster than me in the same boat, but despite indicating nobody wanted to let me in and they were going faster at that point, so I couldn't immediately move over due to the volume/speed of traffic and it was a REALLY short distance to the next sign where I definitely crossed probably at about 45 and still in the 2nd lane with an X possibly half way to 3rd lane. Lights flashed - but no ticket.

I'm also wondering how long it'll take to come through the post? Is it normally a week or 2?

I don't know abou on Motorways but mine from a van by the roadside for speeding was a couple of days.

14 days I believe.

@Ariela that's what I'm hoping for. That the camera flash doesn't mean an automatic ticket and that they look at the surrounding traffic and decide if I was genuinely trying to merge.

Guess I'm gonna have to wait for the post to decide my fate.

The gantrys are normally quite spaced out and you drive from one advising you to move over to the next one without an x, without being able to merge the whole time? What distance do you think it was between the two? Because if it was a standard sort of distance I think there will be no grounds for appeal.

Of course you should have merged -
going through the X is like driving through a red light

When you saw the lane was closing you woul have had time to indicate and start to edge your way into the next lane

I went on an awareness course a few years ago and 2 of the 8 people there had done what you have done

decide if I was genuinely trying to merge.

Were you indicating? If they close a lane, everyone in it will have moved over (did everyone else manage?). Generally people in the other lane will let you in if you indicate. Maybe not everyone will, but enough people will that you would have been able to find a space if you'd indicated.
Of course you should get a ticket, what you did was dangerous.

No they don't review every ticket. They are automatically generated. They might review it if you appeal, but it sounds like you are acknowledging you broke the rules, so what are your grounds for an appeal?

Update: I haven't received any fine in the post! Fingers crossed that it still doesn't materialise though, knowing my luck just by posting this update I'll jinx it.

I think you are safe as you should receive it within 14 days.

If you are in a company car I think the police gets longer to notify you

And yes you should have stopped and merged when safe to do so.