Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Smart Motorway - near death experience!

No nothing smart about these, just a way to save money while easing the congestion that escaped the planning in the first place. We keep kicking stuff down the road..

Horrible experience, your comments prove what has been said many times and my thoughts are with you.

The day the Coupe had a big wobble at 75mph on the M4 and the electrics all shutdown I was just able to get to the hard shoulder and if it had been an untelligent section I would have probably been saying the same thing so I count my blessings. Your comments on disabled people is not something I had considered and worries me for others in my family.

Yep .... one of my pet hates when racing down south .... big camper towing a big race trailer makes a big target sat on the inside lane if anything happens (and, because we've driven for years, we've all experienced problems that won't limp a mile to a layby) .... that, and the unpredicatble and frequent speed limit changes make for stessful driving .... always breathe a sigh of relief when I get north of the things!! .... wouldn't be sad to see them go!

K

Not just smart motorways. A few years ago I was westbound on the M4 passing Port Talbot on the raised section. A VERY busy section as it is a choke point for most traffic in the area. Company pool car and the timing belt failed. It is a 50mph limit section. The hard shoulder has a 4-5’ wall as a parapet. Basically a bridge. At least a 30’ drop onto hard ground, buildings, gardens. Even with the 50 limit it was scary with nowhere safe to go. I stood by a tree that had grown close to the parapet on the grounds of using it to jump into if possible should I need to and it was down flow of my stranded car. No traffic cameras on the section at that time, just a nearby safety camera ( speed). I used my mobile to call it in as I didn’t feel safe walking to the nearest emergency phone. A recovery truck arrived after about 30 minutes. No signs of police or highways officers.
Motorways tend to be safer roads but when it goes wrong it is a major incident. Add in deteriorating driving standards and distraction.....

What you point out is also very pertinent to the road safety officers purpose and availability?

It would be interesting to see if their numbers had been increased in the areas without hard shoulder and what their feeling about having to attend incidents on them were. I would imagine it would make their job a LOT more stressful. They may have issues recruiting. With the drop in the number of (area?) Police cars as well this feels like a total Clus____k occuring. The faster they reverse these things the better as far as I am concerned.

There is no point in personally having the power to do that and not using the power.

So glad you survived this dreadful experience, I'm not even going to begin on my thoughts about these abysmal money saving options

I always feel mightily relieved once I clear these sections..

I view them as a form of Russian roulette.
5 out of 6 times toy are fine, the sixth is terminal.
I try hard to avoid them, but it is difficult to avoid the M3 without going on the slow, slow A30. Likewise the M25.

Reminds me that on my last trip south to Prescott crossing the raised M6/M5 motorway section at Birmingham (not a local so no idea what it's called but they've just finished major refurbishment of it .... oh yes, and it has stupidly bright and distracting video billboards along it just to help out!) ..... had to make a heart-stopping swerve as the traffic in front jinked aside at the last moment to reveal a luton van parked in the middle lane like a rock in mid-stream .... no warning and no police to be seen .... possibly a broken cam belt or some such .... plenty stops modern cars dead in their tracks with no chance of reaching a distant emergency layby.

K

I was in the UK two weeks ago, in Manchester area. And I'm just back in Madrid after another trip to the UK for business. I drove from Heathrow to Watton (near Norwich).

This might be a little off-topic here, but wanted to share my opinion about your motorways. Please note that I use to drive in the UK many times a year, this is not just what I think about it after a single trip.

Maybe this is surprising for you, reading a Spanish man writing this down.... but:

A) The signs on your motorways are really poor. Maybe you're used to them and don't realize they are. But if you drive in Spain, our signs in the motorways are much clearer, way more frequent and all exits are indicated with a lot more advance and clarity. In the UK we have to pay much more attention to the exits as it's much easier to miss the one you're looking for.

B) I think that the 120 km/h speed limit in Spain is low for the quality of our motorways. It could perfectly be upgraded to 130 km/h as in France. But your 70 mph limit is booooooooring... And you have too many radars. It's crazy!

C) THE MOST IMPORTANT: I'm amazed by the quantity of debris and rubish on both sides of your motorways. Absolutely shocking! I'm not only talking about gravel, but mostly about the hundreds (I would say thousands) of plastic and metallic auto parts. Some are huge, like bumpers and ripped tyres. You have a serious problem with that...

This said, we love the UK and I hope that the Speedy Marmots will be able to travel there next year with our M3W. If we do so, we will definetely avoid your motorways.