Motorway 'traffic information signs', self fulfilling?
Discussion
I have noticed this quite a few times now on my daily drive from Swindon to Chippenham on the M4.
Basically, ahead (a few miles) is a car that has broken down and sat on the hard shoulder. The 'traffic officers' have parked up, and everyone is fine and off of the road.
However a few miles back a '50 accident sign' or three are lit up like a beacon of distress. All the traffic starts to slow, the outside lane is the first to slow and then within minutes the 50 changes to a 40.. Now all the traffic bunches up and comes to a grinding halt.
Once past the last 40 sign, the traffic starts to flow again.. A few miles later you obviously get the rubberneckers slowing down to look at the broken Corsa, but nothing has happened, there was no need for the concertina effect, bar the signs. I am sure with no signs people would have just drive past the accident and the traffic flow would have not been disrupted.
Anyone else noticed this.
TL;TR Traffic signs cause slow/stop traffic when they are not needed..
Basically, ahead (a few miles) is a car that has broken down and sat on the hard shoulder. The 'traffic officers' have parked up, and everyone is fine and off of the road.
However a few miles back a '50 accident sign' or three are lit up like a beacon of distress. All the traffic starts to slow, the outside lane is the first to slow and then within minutes the 50 changes to a 40.. Now all the traffic bunches up and comes to a grinding halt.
Once past the last 40 sign, the traffic starts to flow again.. A few miles later you obviously get the rubberneckers slowing down to look at the broken Corsa, but nothing has happened, there was no need for the concertina effect, bar the signs. I am sure with no signs people would have just drive past the accident and the traffic flow would have not been disrupted.
Anyone else noticed this.
TL;TR Traffic signs cause slow/stop traffic when they are not needed..
I had one work nicely in my favour last Saturday on the M60. Signs were showing outside lane closed, and the majority of people moved over to the inside 2 lanes, though I carried on the the outside lane (merge when you get to the obstruction, I always say). We passed approx 3 miles of queueing traffic, and it turned out there was no obstruction at all. Made up a nice bit of time on my journey there.
Hope they do it more often!
ETA: There is no need for 3 miles of signs requesting people to move out of the outside lane. Even if there was an obstruction in lane 3, the signs were making the queue much worse than it needed to be, by clearing the outside lane for 3 miles.
Hope they do it more often!
ETA: There is no need for 3 miles of signs requesting people to move out of the outside lane. Even if there was an obstruction in lane 3, the signs were making the queue much worse than it needed to be, by clearing the outside lane for 3 miles.
Edited by mnkiboy on Thursday 22 July 08:23
I can honestly say that I think they do more harm than good - at a guass 80% of the time they are giving false information - yesterday M62 - "Queue ahead 40" - there was f
k all!
And as for all those "Spray" "Fog" etc well duh! I have eyes and a brain - I don't need this stuff, and if you do then you shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car etc.
If there's a queue ahead then I will react to it when I see it
k all! And as for all those "Spray" "Fog" etc well duh! I have eyes and a brain - I don't need this stuff, and if you do then you shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car etc.
If there's a queue ahead then I will react to it when I see it
joe_90 said:
I have noticed this quite a few times now on my daily drive from Swindon to Chippenham on the M4.
I go the opposite way every day and yes, the quality and timliness of information is generally very poor and the warnings overly cautious in my view. I have a theory <dons tinfoil hat> that the real reason for the new large/OTT signs is to provide drivers with road pricing information in future - the cost of such a scheme was deemed by previous Parliaments to be prohibitive so I reckon the previous Govt. started rolling-out the infrastructure anyway, the cost buried under the heading 'Road Safety'.
When motorway pricing starts to be rolled-out I expect the western end of the M4 to be in the pilot scheme. This topic is currently under review from our cash-strapped Govt.
ETA linky.
Edited by bluetone on Thursday 22 July 10:22
Has it occurred to you that the 40 Queue warning may be to slow people down and give what ever is causing the queue a chance to clear? It is possible that something happened 15 miles down the motorway so the warning signs are put on by the time you have travelled the 15 miles the issue could have been resolved.
Engineer1 said:
Has it occurred to you that the 40 Queue warning may be to slow people down and give what ever is causing the queue a chance to clear? It is possible that something happened 15 miles down the motorway so the warning signs are put on by the time you have travelled the 15 miles the issue could have been resolved.
15 miles!?!? There you have it - why not activate the signs in the locale of the incident rather than 15 miles down the road? 
bluetone said:
joe_90 said:
I have noticed this quite a few times now on my daily drive from Swindon to Chippenham on the M4.
I go the opposite way every day and yes, the quality and timliness of information is generally very poor and the warnings overly cautious in my view. I have a theory <dons tinfoil hat> that the real reason for the new large/OTT signs is to provide drivers with road pricing information in future - the cost of such a scheme was deemed by previous Parliaments to be prohibitive so I reckon the previous Govt. started rolling-out the infrastructure anyway, the cost buried under the heading 'Road Safety'.
When motorway pricing starts to be rolled-out I expect the western end of the M4 to be in the pilot scheme. This topic is currently under review from our cash-strapped Govt.
ETA linky.
Edited by bluetone on Thursday 22 July 10:22
It just normally is on the way home, and fridays.. well that is another matter.Edited by joe_90 on Thursday 22 July 10:33
Engineer1 said:
Has it occurred to you that the 40 Queue warning may be to slow people down and give what ever is causing the queue a chance to clear? It is possible that something happened 15 miles down the motorway so the warning signs are put on by the time you have travelled the 15 miles the issue could have been resolved.
The point a car changing it wheel on the side of the road, should NOT be a cause for people to drive past or cause issues, and normally its not.However putting a 40mph on 10 miles before causes chaos at that point.
bluetone said:
I have a theory <dons tinfoil hat> that the real reason for the new large/OTT signs is to provide drivers with road pricing information in future - the cost of such a scheme was deemed by previous Parliaments to be prohibitive so I reckon the previous Govt. started rolling-out the infrastructure anyway, the cost buried under the heading 'Road Safety'.
Good thinking! I really think you might have something there.
Personally, I hate delays as much as the rest of you, BUT to openly admit you IGNORE traffic safety and speed restriction signs, displayed in an attempt to minimise risk to public in the event of an incident, is just stupid and ignorant. I'd expect that of a chavvy 18yr old Corsa driver.
A few weeks ago I passed a women with two kids who had just broken down on the outside lane of the motorway in heavy, stop/start traffic. The motorway signs closed off that lane and reduced the speed of the traffic to avoid an accident, just glad none of you idiots were on that stretch of motorway at the same time.
A few weeks ago I passed a women with two kids who had just broken down on the outside lane of the motorway in heavy, stop/start traffic. The motorway signs closed off that lane and reduced the speed of the traffic to avoid an accident, just glad none of you idiots were on that stretch of motorway at the same time.
Edited by Craigwww on Thursday 22 July 12:47
Craigwww said:
Personally, I hate delays as much as tne rest of you, BUT to openly admit you IGNORE traffic safety ans speed restriction signs, displayed in an attempt to minimise risk to public in the event of an incident, is just stupid and ignorant. I'd expect that of a chavvy 18yr old Corsa driver.
A few weeks ago I passed a women with two kids who had just broken down on the outside lane of the motorway in heavy, stop/start traffic. The motorway signs closed off that lane and reduced the speed of the traffic to avoid an accident, just glad none of you idiots were on that stretch of motorway at the same time.
Explain the ones that take you down to 30mph in each lane to get to the ones when they go back to NSL and have passed nothing untoward on any lane, eh.A few weeks ago I passed a women with two kids who had just broken down on the outside lane of the motorway in heavy, stop/start traffic. The motorway signs closed off that lane and reduced the speed of the traffic to avoid an accident, just glad none of you idiots were on that stretch of motorway at the same time.
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