MNer in England who drives? Take a survey - £300 voucher to be won

[JustineBMumsnet]

We'd like to find out about your experience of and knowledge around motorway driving and breakdown scenarios.

This survey is open to all Mumsnet users in England who drive.

All who complete the survey will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Click here to complete the survey

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Condtions apply

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England’s roads are just so busy though

But they aren't actually. Outside the peak hours they sit there practically empty. It's the bunched up hours which cause problems. Smooth that out better and you relieve a lot of problems. It's us who are the traffic, after all.

Commutes who could take me 1.5hrs take 30-40 mins because I go off peak. A trip to a holiday destination took me 3hours of non-stop clear roads all the way, when someone who left on a Saturday afternoon took till nightfall to get there,

(Obviously this isn't an instant fix and there are dozens of dependent factors, but we have to start somewhere, at some point!)

Outside the peak hours they sit there practically empty

Where do you live?

Made me realise what a lot I didn’t know!

Outside the peak hours they sit there practically empty

You clearly don't live anywhere near me.

Interesting survey. My car once developed a fault on a very busy motorway in a roadworks section with no hard shoulder. I had DC in car and was scared of stopping (even though signs said free recovery). Luckily car kept going to next services where I called a rescue service.

You clearly don't live anywhere near me.

So your local motorways have no off-peak periods at all? 24/7 they are equally jam packed solid with not an inch to spare?

And you know this because you have travelled every day at every hour?

Jeez, I'm just saying that if you don't travel in rush hour, the roads are quieter - I know this because it is exactly what I do day in, day out. When did that get to be so contentious? I know it's fashionable to complain that "traffic" is other people, but come on...

So your local motorways have no off-peak periods at all? 24/7 they are equally jam packed solid with not an inch to spare?

No-one has said that. But that is different from they sit there practically empty

Yes, rush 3 hour (s) is busier, but the roads are certainly not empty during the middle of the day where many people live.

I can assure you I live very close to/use some of the busiest motorways in the country. When I use them they have vehicles on them, but well spread out and nobody is near anyone else.

Compared to peak hours, I call that practically empty.

Typed in email address wrong right at the end and won't let me change it!



Highways England should keep the variable speed limit off until there is a problem. atm they use it as a sledgehammer to crack a nut. If I had a tenner for every time I've been told by overhead gantries there's 'congestion' and the hard shoulder is open when I'm almost alone on the motorway I could properly retire to a mansion in Belize. Or anywhere else hot.

HE, you are causing congestion by artificially slowing down traffic. Just let the traffic flow. Only use the 'smart' bits when there is a problem, like it was supposed to, when it was introduced.

Interesting survey, but had no idea how to answer the questions about their efficiency and leadership.

Done. Have to say I agree smart motorways are unsafe. My husband is a recovery lorry driver and working on the hard shoulder is bad enough. Working in a live lane is awful and I seriously worry about his safety
They are a money making scheme in my opinion

I can't imagine how hard it must be trying to do a pick from a broken down vehicle on a smart motorway.

Even if the vehicle has made it into a refuge area, there doesn't seem to be much room to slow down and safely enter the area, or to safely re-enter the motorway.

With normal hard shoulders, you have a chance to gain some speed before re-joining, but with these emergency areas you must just have to try to wait for a gap in the traffic and then accelerate as fast as you can (even harder if you have a tow truck).

(The photo is from the RAC website)

That's interesting. As a local authority planner I know who Highways England are but didn't really know the 'rules' for breaking down. What are the TV series about them? I'd be interested to watch them.

done.

I know very little about smart motorways though I think we have been on a stretch recently.

Interesting that on the question about what you'd do if you broke down pets were mentioned but not children.

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