Are smart motorways smart

st3v3 said:
I'm not sure if compulsory or just common practice in France, but a broken down vehicle on the shoulder would prompt traffic to move from lane 1 to 2 well in advance. I've started doing that here too.
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I believe that is the requirement in the Sates too.
 
Tim120 said:
Absolute death traps if broken down.
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Smart motorways are absolute madness , the people who thought it was a good idea needs a private padded cell that they can rot in.
Even with hard shoulders we were always told not to sit in our cars in case of collision, so how they thought a lay-by every half a mile is safe is beyond belief.

I wonder how many deaths will it take before they scrap them ?
 
Four lane smart motorway.
From now on think I'll trundle along in either lane 2 or three at whatever speed feels comfortable for me, not the person I'm towing on a short rope, and do my best to leave a safe distance between myself and the vehicle in front.
If something stops in the lane I'm travelling in at least I'll have two possible exit routes.
Now makes total sense when someone is poodling along in the middle lane without a care in the world and being undertaken, overtaken, tailgated and harrased, shown the middle finger etc.
 
Go left! We launch our biggest ever motorway safety campaign


See they're listening to us
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Go Left ! Clicky
 
ptulley said:
Dule carriageways with a crash barrier are 70mph and do not have a hard shoulder, I feel that the accidents on the motorways around our cities is more down to driver error (bad driving!) and the lack of traffic police.
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Agreed, but as human error is commonplace I don't think it's an good argument not to have a hard shoulder. The same argument would see machine guards removed so the user could work faster, the machine was cheaper and loss of fingers/limbs or death was just part of the industry.
 
I wonder if standards are dropping with the test. Seems like now it's ok to sit in traffic, lights, etc with foot on brake and not use handbrake and crossing hands is ok in test too. Sure that wasn't the case years ago.
 
We have got a Smart car and the stop start technology cuts the engine as soon as you stop at the lights but, if you put the handbrake on, it kicks straight back in when you take your foot off the brake pedal. I was taught to always put the handbrake on when you come to a stop and put the car in neutral. I did have good teacher though, my Dad, he worked for BSM with a 97%pass rate.
 
In 1975 I got a job that came with a company car. The company sent me to BSM for a check test. I remember the discussion at the end. He told me that the speed limit was 30mph, that when you come to a junction it's wise to stop and look and that the gadget between us was called a handbrake and that it should be used occasionally but I wasn't a bad driver. They then sent me Edinburgh for a four week training course with three exams before giving me a brand new Vauxhall Viva. Wow.
 
***** said:
If sitting at lights with foot on brake and some idiot shunts you from the back end, your vehicle will shoot forward much more than if hand brake on
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Why is this the case, with a car having 4 braked wheels with footbrake and only 2 with handbrake applied, Or does the shunt shock you in to releasing the foot brake?
 
mark61 said:
I wonder if standards are dropping with the test. Seems like now it's ok to sit in traffic, lights, etc with foot on brake and not use handbrake and crossing hands is ok in test too. Sure that wasn't the case years ago.
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If I was in Government I would have a 'Check up Driving test' every ten years. But then if that was my policy I wouldn't have made it to Government :giggle: :giggle:
 
BIKER BRANDS SMART MOTORWAYS AS ‘DEATH TRAPS’ AFTER HORROR M6 CRASH

A biker has called out so-called smart motorways after being involved in a crash that means he’ll have to learn to walk again.

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A biker involved in a motorcyclists’ worst nightmare has called smart motorways a ‘death trap’ after he was involved in a crash that left him with life-changing injuries.

Jack Gallowtree was travelling on the M6 from Manchester last month when the incident occurred. He was riding in lane four of the motorway when he felt every biker’s worst fear. His bike began to lose power with what felt to Jack like a carb problem.

With his bike losing power and speed, Jack made for the inside lanes and the supposed safety an emergency refuge. When he got to lane two, Cheshire Live reports that the lane that should have been the hard shoulder on a conventional motorway was filled by two HGVs.

Taking his chance, he didn’t want to slot in between the two lorries or behind them, Jack moved the bike over to the left side of lane one and positioned his bike as close to the barrier as possible. It’s at this point his bike began to buck and weave, and it’s unknown if he touched the verge on the inside or debris that caused him to slide for an estimated 300 yards at around 60mph.

Speaking to Cheshire Live, Jack said:

"I had just enough distance ahead of these lorries to be able to move across in front them to get onto their far side, without them causing to abruptly break or potentially putting myself in a way that I would end up under their wheels.

"I moved across to the far left of their lane, so I was right on the edge of the tarmac and the dirt to try and allow them to still pass and I could roll to a halt and be able to be as safe as possible on those roads."

As a result of the crash, Jack has sustained multiple, serious injuries including losing a section of his tibia, smashing his kneecap, and damaging the bones behind. The crash has left one leg shorter than the other, meaning he will have to learn to walk again and likely will never have the same mobility.



Smart Motorway
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The growing call to ban smart motorways
Having first-hand evidence of how dangerous smart motorways can be for all road users but motorcyclists, in particular, Jack is now joining a growing number of people calling for them to be banned in the UK.

A post on his facebook reads:

‘Please go and sign this petition as it’s a smart motorway that almost took my life last week but instead has left me with life altering injuries in the hospital. There is nothing smart about these motorways given they remove the safety measures on the busiest stretches of motorway in the country whilst increasing capacity therefore danger. This has resulted in an insane rise in the death toll on motorways and have claimed many lives leaving some to escape to live another day. These death traps need to be gone

Please share this to every nook and cranny of face book too and encourage everyone you can to sign.’



https://www.visordown.com/news/gene...motorways-‘death-traps’-after-horror-m6-crash
 
I am not a biker, but I have signed it as I am in total agreement. Might be worth a seperate thread/post to rustle up a few more signatures.

Davy
 
mark61 said:
I wonder if standards are dropping with the test. Seems like now it's ok to sit in traffic, lights, etc with foot on brake and not use handbrake and crossing hands is ok in test too. Sure that wasn't the case years ago.
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Those that do not have their foot on the brake seem to be holding it on the Clutch for long periods. :oops:

We don't go far these days but see plenty of tossers almost on a daily basis. :(
 
TeamRienza said:
I am not a biker, but I have signed it as I am in total agreement. Might be worth a seperate thread/post to rustle up a few more signatures.

Davy
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I’ve signed it but because I think they’re stupid and dangerous but it still needs a lot more signatures.
 
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