Driving, Motorways, The Highways Agency and me getting angry!!!!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I made a thread the other day (I say the other day but it was probably over two years ago) praising the 'Managed Motorway' sections that have been appearing in the UK over the last few years. You know what I'm talking about? The now call them 'Smart Motorways'.

http://imtech.com/EN/traffic-infra/traffic-infra-Projects/Interurban-Traffic/M42--Birmingham-Managed-Motorway.jpg?hid=img;mxw=470;mxh=300

The overhead gantries carry information for motorists and speed cameras make sure they stick to them. I was impressed by how well this technology seemed to have worked on the M62 around Leeds, where regular congestion had been managed even at rush hour. It was a thumbs up from here.

However my mood has changed since then. Last Saturday night I was whizzing down the motorway to London from the North West to see my girlfriend. I hadn't seen her for three weeks so I was quite errr....eager to get there as quickly as possible ;)

As you may know the M42 is one of these 'Smart Motorways' and even though it was 11.30PM and I was the only car on the road, the active traffic management was in action. The speed limit flashed up at the gantries in the following sequence: 50>40>50>30>50, then two miles at 50mph. And what for? One car broken down in the hard shoulder being recovered.

https://www.wordans.com/wvc-1352771831/wordansfiles/images/2012/11/12/169356/169356_340.jpg

[Malbec]

Take the train next time?

[Brown, Jon Brow]

The last train is at 8.30pm and I finished work at 9.15pm ;)

Plus, door to door the train probably takes longer.

[driveace]

My biggest gripe with the Motorways in the UK ,is the drivers who will not keep LEFT when not overtaking .They open the hard shoulder up ,then build 4 lane Motorways ,AND just how many drivers use them ?The Police now have the power to stop drivers who continually hog the middle lane ,but how often do we now see a patrol car on the Motorways.It's all done by camera now,as traffic cops were too expensive .In Germany there are continual signs every 5 miles or so saying "If not overtaking ,keep right" and they do.Another thing they have on dual carriageways are between 6am and 6 pm NO HGV s or any towing vehicles can use the overtaking lane ,and that works too .It's educating drivers that the LEFT lane in NOT the SLOW lane

[D-Type]

I totally agree. It goes back to the first motorway when some idiot 'explained' that the slow lane was for trucks, the middle lane for cars and the outer land for fast cars. Unfortunately John Q Motorist took it to heart. Why, why, why don't they put "Keep left unless overtaking" on the variable message signs instead of platitudes like "Take a rest"
going back to the original query, it's a chicken and egg situation. Motorists tend to ignore signs so they have to repeat them again and again for miles beforehand. Because the signs appear meaningless, motorists tend to ignore signs.
The other one that infuriates me is signs saying "Beware fog" and you can see clear to the horizon. It may have been foggy 5 hours previously but the numpty on duty hasn't switched the sign off.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

going back to the original query, it's a chicken and egg situation. Motorists tend to ignore signs so they have to repeat them again and again for miles beforehand. Because the signs appear meaningless, motorists tend to ignore signs.


But the they have speed cameras on the the managed motorway sections?