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100 people a year are Killed / Seriously Injured on average on the hard shoulder itself, which is usually narrower (and on motorways not upgraded in the last 15 years or so, generally built to a lower specification - hence why they have to spend time strengthening the hard shoulder when converting to Smart Motorway).
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In the unfortunate event I did break down and was unable to make it to a wide, camera controlled, barrier protected Emergency Refuge (or get off the motorway), I'd rather the car be in a signal controlled running lane with advance indication given to drivers than to be in a hard shoulder narrower than a normal lane that there's an odds on chance some yummy mummy reading Facebook whilst driving, or some HGV changing the song on his phone on Spotify is going to crash straight into.
It's also worth pointing out that some of the high profile deaths were of people who shouldn't even have stopped if there was a hard shoulder! There was a woman in Birmingham who "took a nap" in what she thought was a hard shoulder, but was a running lane; and the two people who died in South Yorkshire M1 had stopped to exchange phone numbers after a bump, and stopped in a running lane (right in front of a sign saying "Emergency Refuge - 1 mile").
Yes. I would hope that the technology would help protect users in all lanes. But I think it is not reliable enough yet so is at risk of causing more problems than it solves.
Except that the current technology that is supposed to quickly identify when a vehicle has broken down on the inside lane very often doesn't work, so that broken down vehicle can be a sitting duck for 15 minutes. Having a continuous hard shoulder in which to pull over quickly - and where the passengers can get out of the vehicle to climb over the barrier - is far safer.
I say this as someone who has broken down on the M1 on a motorcycle many years ago. On the hard shoulder is was scary enough but I'd be petrified in a live running lane.
That is a very significant negative for smart mtorways.
I would rather be on a hard shoulder with the inside running lane closed as well. There are not only two options.
When it is not busy and I see a car on the hard shoulder I often pull out to lane 2 to give it a wide berth - it frustrates me how people often "undertake" me, close passing the stopped car, when I do.
I usually move over if there is space in the 2nd lane. But I have once had someone undertake me between the breakdown and myself !. It really comes down to how risk averse (or oblivious to risk) different people are.
I'm not surprised that anyone is confused (though slightly so that this is not currently covered). Given the plethora of apparently different signs and the number of times single ones display something apparently random I frequently find myself wondering "what exactly am I supposed to do here?" Being naturally cautious I tend to opt for the most cautious safe option, but there have been frequent occasions where a single lane is displaying a figure in an overhead gantry but you can see the next one ahead is blank and there is apparently no obstruction in between) - or where the display is off to the side and you can see there is a figure on it as you approach - which is then obscured by the continuous line of high-sided vehicles in the outside lane. That's before I get on to the "roadworks speed limits" signs which get left behind after the works finish...
In situations where all the electronic signs are actually working correctly (!), then I think it would be an improvement if any "new" signage were to flash [or have orange / yellow flashing lights round it] (so that would be all signs along the affected stretch for a little more than the average time taken to pass between two signs - ie everyone in the affected area should see at least one flashing sign, except those in the last section - followed after that time by just the first one) and that, on removal of the restriction , the restriction were to be progressively replaced by the "national speed limit applies" sign working backwards through the restriction.
This might help with situeations where the restrictions are being lifted. If the people behind only see a slightly less restrictive aspect then the obediently slower vehicles in front might not feel so swamped and intimidated.
I have seen restrictions on one gantry where I can see a different restriction on the next gantry ahead. Some will be tempted to go for the most restrictive of the two while others will favour the least restrictive. But I will go for obeying the restriction I am passing under. Just as long as that does not involve any sudden changes of speed or direction.
Blue signs = 70, green signs = 60. What is confusing about that?
Don't ever drive a van if you find that confusing, as it is the law for vans already, so making cars the same is a simplification.
Fairly key (hence my view that 60 should be put up on motorways without a hard shoulder). Also I expect a motorway might have better slip roads, no on-road lay-bys for discretionary stops etc. And cycling is permitted on most A roads.
Not to mention motorcycles under 50cc and learner drivers are not allowed on motorways.
Alternatively: increase van limits (at least dual carriageway) to be the same as cars.
In my experience many vans (proper ones) drive at 70+ mph !. On the M11 it seems like speeding vans are more common than cars. I do think the restrictions need to be kept simple but lumping large vans in with lorries makes sense. Regardless of how smart the motorway is.
It's one thing raising the speed limits for small vans that are based on car bodies and aren't carrying loads greater than the car version's full load of passengers. But a larger van with a 1000kg load driven by a less than considerate driver is not the sort of vehicle to increase the allowed speed for, especially as their aerodynamics affects their CO2 output far more than smaller vans.
Yes, I have seen right behind me those heavily laden vans that do not want to slow down and then accelerate again. It is to be hoped that the cameras on smart motorways might pick up their tailgating behavious.
