SMART MOTORWAY ?

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69473

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Sadly the lasted figures for Smart Motorway deaths is now 1 death for every 17 miles (2020) a truly shocking figure for all those involved.
Not having a safe non live lane has always been a concern, as the owner of a dark grey van I don't relish breaking down on a dark winters night.
Recently purchased these impressive led road flares, good quality, low cost and very effective.
Multi functional light strobing plus a white light that can be used as a torch.
Lights are magnetic so can be attached to the vehicle.
Available in orange and blue, although I suspect blue may be illegal?
 
This site contains affiliate links for which MHF may be compensated.
Hate the things!

Get to a refuge and if you can’t, get out immediately.

Forget flares, lights and making yourself visible, just get out and wave down oncoming traffic while you dial 999 from behind the barrier.

Trying to get to accident scenes on the things is awful!
 
Sadly think (perhaps a bit cynical here) that these scenerios are thought/dreamed up by folks who haven't done/been/seen/lived. ( was going to add with xxxx etc but does it matter) Little seems to be devoted to COMMON sense. No body seems to to do what ifs, or consequences. Road scheme are planned using lego.

Sorry, perhaps a rant at planners who happily allow development but refuse to improve infrastructure.
 
RandallC said:
Sadly think (perhaps a bit cynical here) that these scenerios are thought/dreamed up by folks who haven't done/been/seen/lived. ( was going to add with xxxx etc but does it matter) Little seems to be devoted to COMMON sense. No body seems to to do what ifs, or consequences. Road scheme are planned using lego.

Sorry, perhaps a rant at planners who happily allow development but refuse to improve infrastructure.
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Wholeheartedly agree , have personal experience of trying to talk to higher echelons in Civil service when ask them about plan B , "not needed" some of its mind blowing , the waste as well , you understand why you have to sign up to official secrets act !!!!
 
A recent review has concluded they are staying in use even though there have obviously been deaths seemingly caused by the lack of a hard shoulder.

What isn’t so clear is wether or not the death rate is higher than a standard motorway lay out, as far as I can tell that data hasn’t been made public but I may stand to be corrected.

Personally I think they are are anything but smart and the idea of removing a safe haven is short sighted and irresponsible.

The original idea was to open the hard shoulder to traffic during congestion, this meant any vehicles travelling in the hard shoulder or other lanes would be travelling very slowly, therefore small risk of hitting a stationary vehicle.

But somewhere along the way that changed, and what we have now is a system based on someone watching a screen and switching a sign, then expecting drivers to pay attention.

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I put runflat tyres on my car so at least if I get a puncture they will get me off the motorway.... I dread the day when an actual breakdown occurs because I won’t be able to get out and over a barrier in a wheelchair....🤷🏼
 
Wondering star said:
Recently purchased these impressive led road flares, good quality, low cost and very effective.
Multi functional light strobing plus a white light that can be used as a torch.
Lights are magnetic so can be attached to the vehicle.
Available in orange and blue, although I suspect blue may be illegal?
Click to expand...
These look good! I've ordered one set and may well buy another set for the van.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which MHF may be compensated.
Boris7 said:
But somewhere along the way that changed, and what we have now is a system based on someone watching a screen and switching a sign, then expecting drivers to pay attention.
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...and recently it's come to light that the screens are rarely checked in some places! Also Highways England apparently don't think they have a duty of care to users - i.e. us!
 
A client of mine recently took early retirement from the Highways agency because of the arguments inside work about the Smart Motorways and the dangers both to Public and emergency services. He felt that he was banging his head against a brick wall and constant arguments had taken their toil, so he walked.
He will not travel on the Smart sections as he doesn’t think the system is quick enough when a vehicle stops in the nearside lane and there is not enough education for drivers, plus there are not enough gantrys with the warning matrix lights or refuges.
its Frightening
 
Wondering star said:
Sadly the lasted figures for Smart Motorway deaths is now 1 death for every 17 miles (2020) a truly shocking figure for all those involved.
Not having a safe non live lane has always been a concern, as the owner of a dark grey van I don't relish breaking down on a dark winters night.
Recently purchased these impressive led road flares, good quality, low cost and very effective.
Multi functional light strobing plus a white light that can be used as a torch.
Lights are magnetic so can be attached to the vehicle.
Available in orange and blue, although I suspect blue may be illegal?
Click to expand...
Blue would have more effect, and help would come quicker :giggle:

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
This site contains affiliate links for which MHF may be compensated.
joe and sue said:
Blue would have more effect, and help would come quicker :giggle:
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Trust me when I say the colour is irrelevant.

The blue lights on my car at work are the brightest you can get. We even had a complaint from a member of the public asking if we were trying to signal Mars. :)

Still they brake and swerve round it, how it hasn’t been hit, I have no idea!

The only safe traffic is stationary traffic, and I never ever take my eye off running lanes past the scene.

Drivers don’t even try and make an extra lane for emergency vehicles, they just impatiently bunch up so they have nowhere to go and we end up reverse running to incidents which require a full stop with traffic control at the scene, or the public just wait longer.

Poorly thought out, dangerous and a horrible place to work.
 
Never forget your cannon fodder or units of production, like Downing Street barriers they have out riders, armoured vehicles and helicopters in the event of a breakdown. Your unit cost is relatively low.
 
busby said:
Doesn't matter how SMART you are it's whoever is driving behind you when your car breaks down. BUSBY.
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Totally agree. Not enough people realise that they are in charge of a lethal weapon

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TheBig1 said:
As I understand it, at least one bereaved family is taking highways england and the government to court for manslaughter and failure in their duty of care
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I heard that too.
 
ChrisSue said:
No good having smart motorways without smart drivers
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Ive just been reviewing a video for the Police. Some idiot, has driven 200 miles to a job in the morning. Set up a massive crane lift job, lift job took up the whole day. En-Route back from, driving North. Its dark, raining, The guys probably been up 16 hours. He makes a 17 min broadcast on facebook, reading messages, replying to messages and updating pages. Whilst driving at over 70 mph. Evidence in the video indicates by the drivers suggestion, at one segment, it was 110mph.

If you are in a live lane of a smart motorway, get hit by anything at 70mph. God help you if its an idiot at 110mph using social media, well. say no more.
 
According to the transport secretary the death rate on smart motorways is less than that on conventional motorways and they are also introducing stopped vehicle technology which will hopefully reduce the number of deaths even more.
I dont really think they are a bad thing but people need to understand that any fast road whether it's a smart motorway or a 2 lane dual carriageway are super dangerous places and no matter how many flashing bright lights you have on your car or motorhome some cock on the the phone will still not see you, breakdown mechanics get killed whilst working on broken down vehicles and they lights that rival blackpool
So as someone has already said get out the vehicle and over the barrier or up the bank the minute your wheels top turning vehicles can be replaced people cant
Oh and only stop if you have broken down not to have a wee or look at the scenery
 
Grummyb said:
According to the transport secretary the death rate on smart motorways is less than that on conventional motorways and they are also introducing stopped vehicle technology which will hopefully reduce the number of deaths even more.
I dont really think they are a bad thing but people need to understand that any fast road whether it's a smart motorway or a 2 lane dual carriageway are super dangerous places and no matter how many flashing bright lights you have on your car or motorhome some cock on the the phone will still not see you, breakdown mechanics get killed whilst working on broken down vehicles and they lights that rival blackpool
So as someone has already said get out the vehicle and over the barrier or up the bank the minute your wheels top turning vehicles can be replaced people cant
Oh and only stop if you have broken down not to have a wee or look at the scenery
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At least with a hard shoulder you and your passenger have room to bail out.On a Smart motorway instinctively you are going to stop very close to the barrier if you break down leaving you with one exit into a lane of moving traffic. BUSBY.
 
I absolutely hate these motorways , my plan if i ever breakdown one one is 1- Bail out and get as far up the banking as possible , 2- call my insurance company and tell them my MH is about to be written off , 3- get my phone out and film the destruction . I feel so sorry for people caught up in accidents on these roads

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Working on the hard shoulder of motorways doing breakdown work for twenty two years had its scary times. The sound of brakes squeal had me over the barrier rather to often.
One of my colleges worked on the M25 and had two vans and a truck rammed whilst parked oh the hard shoulder. In one case the inside lane was closed and a truck used the hard shoulder instead. He would not be alive now with smart motorways. He only lasted a couple of years before he changed jobs.
I don’t think it was an average motorist or some one who worked at the roadside that dreamt up that stupid idea.
 
mitzimad said:
mag mounts are no good on an a class or coach built as theres no metal at the rear ok for the OP AS HIS IS A PVC
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Use them on the safety barrier you are behind, only then if you can grab them on the way out with no delay.
 
A sports car forum I subscribe to suggests if your in a position that means your going to be forced to stop with no shoulder or safety zone you should box in an article and force it to stop behind you, hence giving you some protection while you escape behind the barrier or up the bank.

Not ideal but I guess desperate situations need desperate measures.
 
Boris7 said:
A sports car forum I subscribe to suggests if your in a position that means your going to be forced to stop with no shoulder or safety zone you should box in an article and force it to stop behind you, hence giving you some protection while you escape behind the barrier or up the bank.

Not ideal but I guess desperate situations need desperate measures.
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Not sure I would try that, if you can’t make it to a refuge, chances are your car is going to stop quickly. Choosing to go in front of a HGV when you know you are going to stop might end badly.

You could hope that the HGV driver is aware and assists but not all will. They are usually very good and have experience of the terror of breaking down in a running lane.

It is a dire choice to put anyone in, hence why I hate them!

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