RE: 50 limits by the back door: PH Blog

[traffman]

DelicaL400 said:

Oddball RS said:

M74 today, smart signage advised me to check my tyre tread and not to alter my satnav whilst driving. Really? this is not needed. What next 'Did you leave the gas on?' 'Have you paid for your daughters school dinners this week?' How long before we get the first sponsored signs with ads on when not in official use?

My favourite M74 one is something like "don't mix drink and drugs". Presumably drink or drugs on their own is ok then?

Gantry sign on M74 yesterday asked if i was prepared for winter?

[Niffty951]

Welcome to the world south midlands M1 travellers have been suffering for years. Now obviously I'm borderline Jeremy Vine show annoyed by all this and you could easily marginalise me into a minority but I've been commuting using A-roads instead of motorways.

The original idea was to avoid the road works, George Orwell's nightmare and accidents making it stressful and hard to plan a consistent commute times but actually I find it far less stressful during working hours and have cut my 1hr 15 journey by between 0-15mins reliably.

Why would you risk being sent to room 101 or do 0-50mph stuck on a road you can't divert from in traffic when there are endless opportunities that will never all be blocked or equally nazied?

Viva the turn and weave

[traffman]

I cant recall a time the speed limits actually been increased. Life's getting slower.

[Guybrush]

Agree with the article's slant. My view is the people 'in charge' have their own agenda. You won't change their minds, no matter what the majority opinion (sound familiar? ) The only way is to change the people. A clear out is needed, somewhere in the Highways department possibly?

[Rich1973]

Smart? I think they are bloody stupid. Whoever thought it was a good idea to remove the hard shoulder of a motorway and then call it 'smart' wants their bumps read.
Love to see the risk assessment that says it's a reasonable thing to do.
Dangerous and expensive sticking plaster that doesn't really solve the underlying problem.

[traffman]

They would have consulted there safety book , which is of course allway's right.

[anonymous-user]

I have been saying for years that these SMART motorways are just a way to introduce 50mph limits by the back door and to generate some nice revenue doing so. The installation time and cost is also nonsense and our taxes are basically being frittered away on contracts that are deliberately overpriced and doubtless agreed behind closed doors by the old boys network that run this country.

We need a real government who will start thinking about allowing people to move around quickly for the benefit of the economy as a whole rather than have them crawling along at 50 or worse still sat in miles of traffic jams.

However while they allow their road policy to be set by tree hugging ****wit environmentalists and blinkered road safety groups who are stupid enough to really believe that people can be allowed to drive and there be no injuries or deaths that isn't going to happen.

[flight147z]

It will be a very sad day when the m69 finally turns "smart". Wish all motorways were like that!

[ZX10R NIN]

2am Sunday morning M25 from the M23-A2 NSL 50mph (by the speed camera) NSL then 50mph (by the speed camera after the M20) then during the day the number of times it 50mph for no apparent reason is beyond a joke.

[Hitch]

Cars are getting smarter - why do the roads need to?

I am well up for mandatory automated driving on motorways. They're dull as dishwater to drive on and I'd rather get everywhere at a guaranteed 70mph than spend my time pushing at several leptons to make up for the slow bits.

[handpaper]

CupMeister said:

I agree 100% we've recently had a stretch of the M4 in Newport converted and there doesn't seem anything smart about it at all. The system is contrived creating a traffic density that just wouldn't exist with out the limits imposed. It often results in cars packed nose to tail and very little space for motorists trying to join from junctions. Now, I understand the idea behind the concept and with the Brynglas tunnels in Newport causing a natural bottle neck it's a sound enough idea. As with many of these things it's the execution that's lacking, and a good deal of fine tuning and no small amount of common sense could improve things massively.

I've driven the Westbound Brynglas tunnels at every hour of the day and night, and I've never seen a limit higher than 50, even between midnight and 4AM.
It's stupid and lowers respect for speed limits in general and 'temporary' limits in particular.

[PhantomPH]

boxedin said:

PhantomPH said:

There is a stretch of the A1 bypass around Newcastle that was down to 50mph average camera limit whilst a tonne of works were done over the last year or so. Those works were widening of the motorway, adding lanes in both directions. The work is now complete, but instead of things being back to they were before (70), there is a new fixed 50mph limit in place.

If you were right they'd have extended the 50 mph all the way up to the A69 junction for instance, but they haven't.

The 50mph section covers the main junctions from Team Valley to the MetroCentre / Swalwell. Once you're approaching the 'B&Q' bridge its NSL again.

Personally speaking, the 50mph limit and widening has been great.

Eh? It wasn't 50mph round to there during the works. I stated the 50mph limit that covered the works, remained once they were done.

Just to be clear - you LIKE sitting on a clear stretch of 3 lanes at 50mph at any hour day or night? More fool you.

[anonymous-user]

These days, i just set the NAV to 'shortest' make sure it's not set to avoid C class roads and let rip. Often, you can legally do 60mph down a single-width, grass-in-the-middle, covered-in-gravel track, right next to a wide dual carriageway A road trundling along at 40.........

[Crippo]

I've just done this....had to get from Wakefield to Cannock this afternoon, which way???-------Peak District!!

[Finchingtons]

Dan you certainly don't sound like a broken record. Its in everybody's interest to have safer and smoother running motorway network but I have to agree the usefulness is at best patchy. I (and I suspect many others) have absolutely no objection to these smart motorways, the concept is a great one. Managed motorways and the opening of the hard shoulder during busy times is a novel help, but not final solution to out ever increasingly strained system but as a regular traveller through the Birmingham area I have to wonder who is monitoring the roads when a 50mph limit is inforce where the traffic is light and no obstructions are immediately obvious. I always hope that there is some mitigating factor I'm not aware of up ahead and a professional in the control room is on top of things but I can't help feeling deep down that it smacks of miss management and a bit of incompetence. We all know the frustration of a 'CAUTION FOG' sign flashing away on on a clear, bright afternoon.

[NomduJour]

Stupid speed limits aside, removing the hard shoulder is emphatically not very "smart".

Most annoying thing is that I happily detour to the A1 instead of the God-awful M1, and the SPECS cameras and low limits are insidiously arriving there too.

[Davidonly]

And to add to the misery - it probably won't be long until England follows Scotland down the mass SPECS route ..... (A77 / A9 and A90 next - 50 miles that one).

I guess my present decent motor will be the last. I hate to admit it but I think the game's up on ANY residual pleasure from driving within 5 years or so.

Oh well - it was a good innings!

[Twincharged]

I currently have to sit through the ststorm of traffic on the M6 between J16 and J19, which is 50 limit due to the road being 'upgraded' to smart motorways. This work is taking forever to complete, and causes delays every day... and that's even before there's a lorry fire or vehicle breakdown. It's very rare to see anybody working on the road, which is perhaps why so many man hours are wasted with people sitting in traffic.

At one point in the roadworks, a sign proudly proclaims that this is a Northern Powerhouse initiative.

[robm3]

I brought this up two years back, I only visit the UK every 5 years so I get to notice how things change. I was shocked how the road system has been slowed down. Not just motorways but most of your B roads too!!!

Seems a lot of PH'er thought I was mad or overreacting...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

UK drivers share a lot in common with these guys:

[anonymous-user]

funkyrobot said:

That is the usual load of bks trotted out by people who are convinced 'the system' is against them. Along with 'arbitrary number on a sign'.

So you think these slower motorways are a good idea? What next? Back to the horse and cart. It's people like you that are the problem with this country. You sit there accepting everything the authorities feed you and swallow their **** hook, line and sinker! Newsflash! There would be no need to lower motorway speed limits if the roads were invested in properly! They're not and it's a heck of a lot cheaper to reduce the speed limit and install cameras to fine everybody accordingly!

funkyrobot said:

I've read similar before on here by a chap who had been caught speeding again and was due to hit 12 points and maybe a ban. The system was quite clearly against him and it wasn't his fault at all.

And a stupid nonsensical comparison to boot!