Hard shoulder to be opened
New congestion cutting plan raises danger concerns
Hard shoulder to become available
While we've heard proposals along such lines before, this scheme is going live. The 'new' left lane will be brought into use with a 50mph speed limit when congestion builds up on an 11 mile stretch of the M42, from junction 3a to 7, near Birmingham from 12 September.
Drivers will be directed as to whether the hard shoulder is available for general use by overhead electronic signs. The system will be activated by sensors in the road.
What happens if you break down? There'll be emergency refuges or lay-bys every 500 yards or so -- although you don't always get a choice as to where exactly you break down: that's the problem with breakdowns.
The Highways Agency said that, with the use of CCTV, the signs can warn drivers "within seconds" that someone has broken down on the hard shoulder, by the illumination of a red 'X' on the sign above the hard shoulder.
Roads minister Stephen Ladyman said: "This scheme is an important part of a package of measures the Highways Agency is using to cut congestion in the West Midlands. This flexible approach to opening and closing all motorway lanes, including the hard shoulder, to manage traffic shows how innovation and the latest technology can be used to cut congestion."
Dangers of the hard shoulder
And yet, only three months ago, the Highways Agency issued this bulletin, which warns of the danger of sitting in a car in the hard shoulder:
A heavy goods vehicle collided with a car on the hard shoulder of the M25 earlier this week just minutes after the driver and passenger got out of the vehicle on the advice of Highways Agency Traffic Officers.
Highways Agency Network Operations Manager for the East, Jon Caldwell, said this was the second such incident in his region in as many weeks and today warned drivers who stop on the hard shoulder to get out and stand clear of their vehicle behind the safety barrier.
About 84 per cent of accidents on the M25 hard shoulder involve a parked vehicle being hit, generally by a vehicle in lane one veering onto the hard shoulder; the risk of injury to an occupant of a parked vehicle on the M25 hard shoulder is about 4.5 times that of driving along the motorway; and the M25 has the highest number of hard shoulder accidents of any motorway after the M1.
Malcolm and Sally Jones, from Kent, broke down between junctions 27 and 26 of the M25, near Loughton in Essex, on Tuesday (6 June 2006) and were sat in their car waiting for their recovery organisation to arrive when Traffic Officers Leo Coleman and Paul Longhurst stopped to offer them advice on their safety.
The Traffic Officers advised them to put on their hazard warning lights, get out of the car on the left-hand-side furthest away from the moving traffic and stand behind the safety barrier whilst waiting.
Within 15 minutes of continuing their patrol, the Traffic Officers were called back to the scene where a heavy goods vehicle had collided into the back of the Jones' car.
Network Operations Manager, Jon Caldwell said: "Fortunately Mr and Mrs Jones followed our advice and though shaken-up were unhurt. On many occasions though motorists do not take our advice and this accident highlights the importance of getting as far away from motorway traffic as is possible and safe to do so should your vehicle break down.
"Our Traffic Officers often encounter motorists sitting in their vehicles on the hard shoulder, especially when it is cold or raining and they would rather stick to the confines of the car where it is warm and dry.
"While comfortable, this could prove to be a really dangerous decision as it only takes a matter of seconds for somebody travelling at 70 miles-an-hour on the motorway to lose concentration and stray onto the hard shoulder, possibly striking the stranded vehicle.
"People use the hard shoulder for all sorts of things, from answering their mobile telephones to taking comfort breaks and there has even been a recent case of a man releasing a cage of racing pigeons from the hard shoulder on the M1 in the East Midlands.
"Motorists should use the hard shoulder in an emergency but they must be aware that it is a dangerous place. Our patrols may spot broken-down vehicles but motorists can also use the roadside telephones every mile-or-so on the motorway to speak directly to one of our operators and get help from the Traffic Officer Service."
As far as I'm concerned, the problem isn't that vehicles experiencing difficulty won't be able to find refuge (although it is a signfiicant issue), it's access for emergency services in case of a major accident.
I think the main problem with this is is that if people at the moment primarily acknowledge there's only a middle or an outside lane and don't have any lane discipline anyhow so the hard shoulder won't make any difference. When it will make a difference is when there's real traffic caused by an accident and then, as the previous poster mentioned, there's going to be trouble for the emergency services.
The lane is only open when congestion starts to build up and it is obviously able to quickly spot an accident and close the lane if need be.
Very good system and glad we are trialling it.
Cant wait til it comes to the M25
There was an incident on the M62 this week where a collision in heavy rush hour traffic resulted in a fire and two people dying - how much worse would this be if all the lanes were rammed with traffic as they would be on the M42? How on earth would you get fire engines etc through?
Closing the hard shoulder to traffic won't empty the lane - it would only be open in the first place during periods of heavy traffic when the other lanes are already packed.
Madness.
Steve
Whatever will they think of next? Asking farmers to open up their fields when the motorways are busy? You read it first on PH...
I'll stick to tailgating slow moving Beamers or Jags in the outside lane.
Whatever will they think of next? Asking farmers to open up their fields when the motorways are busy? You read it first on PH...
I'll stick to tailgating slow moving Beamers or Jags in the outside lane.
And tailgating is so much safer!
Seriously, that is a very good point, and one which I will bear in mind.
Mind you, I drive a BMW and a Porsche, so technicaly speaking I'm not actually allowed out of the outside lane unless I'm leaving the motorway
A car changing lanes requires at least twice as much space as a car staying in lane. Although adding the hard shoulder would increase capacity, how much of that capacity would be lost by the increasing number of lane changes going on?
(Especially since the hard shoulder will likely end up as the fastest-moving lane through having just become available; whereas the drivers most likely to hunt for the fastest lane will be joining the queue in the overtaking lane.)
I think the problem is we shouldn't be looking at dealing with the symptoms of congestion on motorways in the first place - but actually how to tackle the causes. Somewhere around half of the motorway jams I've been in have been what I'd term "avoidable" - braking cascades, accident rubbernecking or (that favourite) lane discipline.
it's been open a week now i think - it works really well: currently empty. people can't quite work out why the gantries are now showing <tick> instead of <cross> which means you can steam up it (between the cams) without people being there.
it was opened between 4-5 when i was there. and just before J5 there was a sign saying 'hard shoulder for J5 only' or something like that.
the signs are big enough to not be a hazard (anyone read the letter in SundayTimes Driving this week? Idiot); and if they're being sensible and looking after the system properly, they can open and close it for accidents and emergency vehicles no problem.
Whatever will they think of next? Asking farmers to open up their fields when the motorways are busy? You read it first on PH...
I'll stick to tailgating slow moving Beamers or Jags in the outside lane.
And tailgating is so much safer!
I was attempting to be cynical when I said that.
This week was the quietest on the road all year. Hardly an appropriate measure - the M42 wasn't an issue in school hols beforehand. Wait until Oct/Nov when it's dark, raining, and everyone's back at work. THEN we'll see if it's a good idea or not.
Now there's a point. Every so often I've had to painfully crawl past a vehicle abandoned in the road with hazards flashing. And while a car breaking down, and sometimes breaking down in a way that prevents you getting away from the busy roads into a quiet side street, can't be avoided... what proportion of breakdowns are due to wilfully negligent maintenance?
Wasn't there a thread on here a little while ago about motorway speeds, that turned out to really be about happily driving around in a car that billowed black smoke if it went faster than 60? What would have been the result if that car had suddenly "let go" in busy conditions?
(Anyone living near or using a major motorway must surely have experienced the pure joy of a "vehicle fire between junctions x and y" and its resultant effect on journey times.)
theres lots of mis informed posts on here so im not picking on bedford specifically.
The section is entirely covered by cctv. the road signs are above the carriageways every hundred yards or so, if there is an accident, they will already be closely monitoring the hard shoulder flow and will switch off the signs, clearing the lane again (too many cameras to pick on drivers misusing it)
ambulances etc will get free run, or use sirens the same way they do on single carriage ways now!
lane hogging is not an issue until you approach london, ok it exists, but not to the extent of the m25, and drivers horns are very vocal about hoggers already on the m42.
staying in a car is more dangerous than climbing an embankment, but if the lane gets re-closed by the operators, its not the abandoned car, its the sleeping truck drivers that swerve into cars which can happen anytime, not just during slow traffic.
the cameras force all down to 50mph ( or less) so 70+ traffic hitting stationary cars isnt possible anyway.
the lane is swept A LOT, and once opened will be used IMHO daily! also its been extended to a normal lane width, so trucks wont straddle it.
That 100million is to pay for refuges AND upgrading the hard shoulder for regular use, so it would become a 4th genuine lane.
It will only be at "busy" times with a speed limit of 50mph, so I do think we will see all the lanes full - once a limit of 50 is there some level of lane discipline does return, and we won't have traffic averaging 75 trying to pass a lane of trucks at 56 either...
The idea is still fundamentally wrong, but hey-ho, that 400 million saved will keep the NHS going for almost a whole week, so it must the way forward eh?
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