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

I have just sent this letter to my MP and also to Grant Shapps, transport secretary ,following a frightening experience in the M3W and I would encourage any of you who agree with my comments to do the same.

Dear Sir,

I write to ask for your help with the matter of safety on so called “smart motorways” or all lane running motorways.

Recently my wife and I were travelling southwards on the M6 near Stafford - a smart motorway - when a total electrical failure disabled our vehicle: we were without power, lights, direction indicators or hazard warning lights. I managed to negotiate the transition from the fast lane to the nearside lane safely and stopped 50 metres from the next refuge area. The side of the motorway was fenced with an Armco type barrier and thorn bushes prevented us from climbing over to safety - we pushed the vehicle to the refuge believing this to be the best action to safeguard us and other road users. At no point did the traffic in the nearside lane seem to have been diverted and lorries passed us, continually, at speed, swerving into lane two to avoid a collision.

Having reached the refuge we arranged for a recovery vehicle to rescue us. The driver followed the posted instructions and used the SOS telephone for advice on rejoining the motorway. At no time did the traffic in the nearside lane reduce and it was obviously not closed to give us safe access. Rejoining the motorway in these conditions was, to say the least, hazardous.

The following points are, I feel, worthy of your consideration.

1/ Stranded vehicles must have room for the occupants to exit the vehicle on the near side without having to position the vehicle far enough from the barrier to open a door and therefore be positioned well in to the nearside lane.

2/ The area of land on the other side of the barrier must be kept clear of vegetation and other obstructions for vehicle occupants to find safety - this would require regular cutting back of vegetation - a hazardous process in itself!

3/. When a stranded vehicle is detected and the nearside lane is closed there is often a substantial number of vehicles which have already passed the overhead red cross and bear down on the stranded vehicle with no warning. Any one vehicle, approaching in this manner, is an unacceptable hazard. “Stopped vehicle detection” will not remove this delay. Disabled vehicles pulling on to a hard shoulder are seen by all following vehicles, instantly and therefore the hazard is eliminated.

4/. Continued and increasing awareness of these dangers will cause people to avoid using the motorway system bringing an increased load on local infrastructures - the very problem motorways are intended to ease

I ask for your support in abolishing these dangerous motorways and returning to the safer hard shoulder amenity.

Phil Bleazey

That must have been really scary Phil. I support your desire to abolish these Smart Motorways, they should be renamed "Dangerous Motorways"

Very scary - they always make me feel nervous and I am glad to get to where there is a hard shoulder. Whoever came up with the idea of smart motorways cannot have been very smart him/her self.

Couldn’t agree more. Years ago when this ‘solution’ to increase traffic capacity was mooted the civil engineering profession were very much against on the grounds of inherent risk to anyone unfortunate enough to break down. The Highways Agency chose to ignore such warnings and proceeded with a test section on the M42. The results were encouraging and it was subsequently rolled out across many further sections of motorway. On paper it is far cheaper to use all lane running than add a running lane while retaining a hard shoulder. Financial considerations have been deemed more important than safety considerations.

Anyone, as I have many times, who has stood next to a live motorway carriageway (even with 50mph speed restrictions in force) will be aware how frightening this environment is. I wonder if those responsible for the high level decisions to implement all lane running have ever experienced this.

Delighted that MPs have this week voted for a cessation to this debacle. Smart Motorway conversions have cost the tax payer over a billion pounds. Spare from pending manslaughter prosecutions, National Highways should be brought to book for this gross waste.

Perhaps they could also explain how a disabled wheelchair user is expected to safely vacate a broken down vehicle stranded between lane 1 refuges as HGVs that have already passed any warning signs rapidly bear down on them.

This sounds terrifying.

We live close to the M42 / M1 junction and regularly use the all lane running stretch of the M1. I might re-think.

I'm glad you survived what must have been terrifying.
Please let us see the response though I expect it will be Greta,s favourite blah blah.
Smart mways I think exist also for road pricing.

and speeding fine revenues.

Fully agree with you Phil, I spend some time driving my 44 tonne Rig on the motorway network and have seen some very very near misses. These "Smart" ideas are anything but and are being poorly monitored anyhow, at best by people who have no idea of driving. They also seem to have a maniacal plan to keep changing the gantry speed limits just to bugger everyone up and in many ways are the actual cause of bunching up and accidents.
Ian

Re Chocca, I was told, on my smart motorway rehab course, that sudden limit changes are caused by motorists still slowing down as they pass a gantry, the system thinks there is a hold-up ahead. Self inflicted.

Crikey Phil, not a nice experience.

“Smart Motorways” are anything but smart. After enduring years of delays while our local M3 was made “smart” I found myself en route to Stanstead airport which is a journey of some 90+ miles. Heading toward the M25 just before the Bracknell exit, the new smart signage said “queue ahead” what it should have said was “ access to M25 closed in all directions and we are routing you into central London, you’re screwed.”

5 hours later I was on my way back out of London and my flight probably passed overhead. That sign should have routed us off at Bracknell which was the normal route before the M25 existed.

While the signage technology is apparent, it’s of no value in the hands of idiots.

How many times have you been slowed down for 10-20 miles over reported debris or public on the motorway only to speed back up 20 miles later having seen nothing, what the hell do they do with all those cameras why don’t they know exactly where the problem is?