Join for free
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 >
Cinderella's Avatar
Cinderella
Chatterbox
Cinderella is offline
East Anglia, UK
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 6,768
Cinderella is female  Cinderella has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 02:40 PM
1

Smart motorways are dangerous





Dumb. Highways agency cannot accept this is not working.
susan m's Avatar
susan m
Senior Member
susan m is offline
DORSET UK
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 4,935
susan m is female  susan m has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 03:19 PM
2

Re: Smart motorways are dangerous

I worry when driving on the M27 to see my friend and am honestly thinking of using the train in the future .

Who ever thought up this idea . So very wrong
JBR's Avatar
JBR
Chatterbox
JBR is offline
Cheshire, UK
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 32,785
JBR is male  JBR has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 03:34 PM
3

Re: Smart motorways are dangerous

They are indeed dangerous.
I was reading only yesterday about a family who were killed on a smart motorway simply because there was no hard shoulder on which to pull in.

They claim that there are plenty of warning lights on the overhead gantries to warn traffic of a breakdown and not to use the innermost lane.
Unfortunately, to do this takes notification and time, and above all, the continued attention of someone responsible in the control centre.
In the meantime, HGVs thundering along in the innermost lane may fail to see a broken down car, especially in the dark, and then follows inevitable injuries and even deaths.

All of these deaths, which continue unabated, lie on the shoulders of the idiot who decided that 'smart motorways' were a good idea (to save money) and those in government who listened to him and actioned the changes.

If there was any justice in the world, that man and someone in government who supported him would one day find themselves in a broken down car on an unlit smart motorway at night. Their deaths would be what they call poetic justice.
Cinderella's Avatar
Cinderella
Chatterbox
Cinderella is offline
East Anglia, UK
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 6,768
Cinderella is female  Cinderella has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 03:38 PM
4

Re: Smart motorways are dangerous

We have come to the same decision Sue, that any long journeys will now go by train.
Cinderella's Avatar
Cinderella
Chatterbox
Cinderella is offline
East Anglia, UK
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 6,768
Cinderella is female  Cinderella has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 03:45 PM
5

Re: Smart motorways are dangerous

https://fleetworld.co.uk/dangers-of-...ngland-report/

Stationary Vehicle Detection and published in March 2016, shows it takes Highways England more than 17 minutes to spot a broken-down vehicle in a live lane on an all lane running motorway when Stationary Vehicle Detection (SVD) systems are not in place. And these real-time radar systems – which can detect stopped vehicles across multiple lanes in all weathers and set off an alarm for the control centre – are actually only in place on less than a fifth of all-lane running motorways, although they can detect breakdown live events on average 16 minutes quicker. One live lane breakdown on an ALR motorway without SVD took more than an hour to discover on CCTV.

The report also highlights that operation centres have a three-minute window to set signal changes, such as a red ‘X’ warning, once a vehicle has stopped in a live lane.

Edmund King, AA president, said: “Ultimately, until you are found by the camera you are a sitting duck.

“Taking three minutes to set the red ‘X’ is too long for someone in a broken-down vehicle to wait. Expecting someone to wait in a dangerous and life-threatening position for 20 minutes is simply inexcusable.

“The safer stationary vehicle detection technology should have been rolled out before any expansion of all-lane running was even considered. We are now three years on since their fully throated commitment to installing stopped vehicle detection to all schemes but only 24 miles has the system in place.”

The AA research also reveals that although Highways England has said all smart motorway schemes have full low-light CCTV coverage, motorway CCTV cameras only face one direction at a time – rendering them ineffective for breakdowns happening in the other direction.

King added: “This smoke and mirrors approach to the removal of the hard shoulder has gone on long enough. There have been too many incidents, too many near misses and too many excuses as to why promises have been bent or broken.

“We must stop removing the hard shoulder immediately and double the number of emergency refuge numbers already in place.”


https://btst.co.uk/smart-motorway-sp...appened-to-me/


Money, Money, Money - what this is all about.
Cinderella's Avatar
Cinderella
Chatterbox
Cinderella is offline
East Anglia, UK
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 6,768
Cinderella is female  Cinderella has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 03:56 PM
6

Re: Smart motorways are dangerous

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/life...e-they-2444981
JBR's Avatar
JBR
Chatterbox
JBR is offline
Cheshire, UK
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 32,785
JBR is male  JBR has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 04:03 PM
7

Re: Smart motorways are dangerous

Originally Posted by Cinderella ->

Money, Money, Money - what this is all about.
Yes it is.

If they decide that a motorway needs an additional lane to cope with traffic requirements, they should purchase the necessary additional land to accommodate widening of the road. Until that is done it should remain as is, with a hard shoulder.

What they have done is incompetence which has, and will continue to, cost lives.

I'd like to know the name of the man who came up with the bright idea of making hard shoulders into running lanes.
Cinderella's Avatar
Cinderella
Chatterbox
Cinderella is offline
East Anglia, UK
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 6,768
Cinderella is female  Cinderella has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 04:08 PM
8

Re: Smart motorways are dangerous

Originally Posted by jbr ->
yes it is.

If they decide that a motorway needs an additional lane to cope with traffic requirements, they should purchase the necessary additional land to accommodate widening of the road. Until that is done it should remain as is, with a hard shoulder.

What they have done is incompetence which has, and will continue to, cost lives.

I'd like to know the name of the man who came up with the bright idea of making hard shoulders into running lanes.
Meg's Avatar
Meg
Supervisor
Meg is offline
Worcestershire
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 42,850
Meg is female  Meg has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 04:34 PM
9

Re: Smart motorways are dangerous

Originally Posted by Cinderella ->
Money, Money, Money - what this is all about.
I heard a report on the radio that losing a few lives with smart motorways was the cheapest option rather than extending the width of motorways to accommodate more traffic.

SMs are one reason I will no longer travel on motorways where they operate. The daughter of my sisters best friend was lucky to be alive after a lorry collided with her on the M1 and there was no escape. She was severely traumatised and is now reluctant to drive at all.
Muddy's Avatar
Muddy
Chatterbox
Muddy is offline
UK
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 31,286
Muddy is female  Muddy has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
26-06-2021, 04:35 PM
10

Re: Smart motorways are dangerous

Death traps
 
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 >

Thread Tools


© Copyright 2009, Over50sForum   Contact Us | Over 50s Forum! | Archive | Privacy Statement | Terms of Use | Top

Powered by vBulletin Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.