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Smart Motorways ?
Bit of a rant coming.
I travel along the M62 practically every day. Between Leeds and Huddersfield.
Yesterday afternoon about 4.30pm i was tootling along at 70 mph when the overhead gantry limit at Jct 27 changed to 60, then 50 then 40 then 60 then 70, all between junction 27 and junction 26.
No obstructions, no breakdowns, no rain, no fog, just a huge line of stationary traffic due to these stupid limit changes :mad:
Who makes these decisions ? I want to complain ! This isn't just one day, this happens regularly, 3 times last week, it's ridiculous.
Not very smart motorways really.
I travel along the M62 practically every day. Between Leeds and Huddersfield.
Yesterday afternoon about 4.30pm i was tootling along at 70 mph when the overhead gantry limit at Jct 27 changed to 60, then 50 then 40 then 60 then 70, all between junction 27 and junction 26.
No obstructions, no breakdowns, no rain, no fog, just a huge line of stationary traffic due to these stupid limit changes :mad:
Who makes these decisions ? I want to complain ! This isn't just one day, this happens regularly, 3 times last week, it's ridiculous.
Not very smart motorways really.
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Comments
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No obstructions, no breakdowns, no rain, no fog, just a huge line of stationary traffic due to these stupid limit changes :mad:
What makes you think that reducing the speed limit to 40 would create a line of stationary traffic ??
I'd suggest that the line of traffic was caused by something else, and speeds were adjusted accordingly, would you prefer to have some warning of a hazard on the motorway or absolutely none
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+1 for thatI'd suggest that the line of traffic was caused by something else, and speeds were adjusted accordingly, would you prefer to have some warning of a hazard on the motorway or absolutely none
I invariably find that if the limit drops to 40 on a motorway then the traffic is already stationary at some point ahead so I may as well drop my speed as there is no point in rushing to join it.
By the same token, the M3 where I live (Farnborough) has been converted to a smart motorway and adhering to the temporary limit (generally 50mph) in the morning shaves 15 minutes off my journey time to Sunbury.Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
Torque is how far your car sends the wall across the field once you've hit it0 -
The variable speed limits work really well around here.Tall, dark & handsome. Well two out of three ain't bad.0
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Back to the original question, I think it's the Highways Agency that has responsibility for motorway signage.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/smart-motorways
What annoys me is signs warning of an incident and insisting everyone slows down, and then after a few miles of no problems whatsoever, the warnings are cleared and traffic allowed to speed up - so why was the original warning still in place?0 -
Ah, smart motorways. A scam to prevent new ones being built, and a tool for some self righteous officionado to play with speed limits. When it rains in Newport, they always stick at forty. Yet this road was built as a relief road for Newport itself, except the M4 managed to run over it.0
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Probably in order to keep you at a slower speed so that the obstruction (or whatever) can be cleared before you get to the scene.What annoys me is signs warning of an incident and insisting everyone slows down, and then after a few miles of no problems whatsoever, the warnings are cleared and traffic allowed to speed up - so why was the original warning still in place?Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
Torque is how far your car sends the wall across the field once you've hit it0 -
What makes you think that reducing the speed limit to 40 would create a line of stationary traffic ??
I'd suggest that the line of traffic was caused by something else, and speeds were adjusted accordingly, would you prefer to have some warning of a hazard on the motorway or absolutely none
It did create stationary traffic, i didn't imagine it.
The stationary traffic was caused by 6 lanes of traffic merging into 3 at Jct 27 and a sudden slow down from 70 to 60 to 50 to 40 within half a mile causing chaos. Halfway down the hill i was able to use the hard shoulder but at my exit, the limit went back up to 70 ! It made no sense at all.
I have no objections to slower speeds where there has been an incident or bad weather conditions. In yesterdays case there was neither.0 -
How do you know the incident/obstruction hadn't been cleared by the time you got there, or indeed that it was past your junction?In yesterdays case there was neither.
Similarly, it is quite possible the reins were applied in order to prevent an incident where the 6 lanes merged in to 3 because no sod wants to wait in lane these days. Instead they prefer to hoon it all the way up the outside and then cut in at the last possible minute (the M3 eastbound at the M25 junction is a perfect example of that kind of driving).
PS
You could always buy a motorcycle, that way you can "white line" it pretty much all the way to your destination instead of sitting in the traffic with all the other cagers.Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
Torque is how far your car sends the wall across the field once you've hit it0 -
Thought the speeds were automatically set by the traffic that went past the sensor further up the road?
Which is why they slowly bring the speed down.
The smart motorways Ive used in the midlands works wonders in my opinion.0 -
Same for the M3 where I am.harveybobbles wrote: »The smart motorways Ive used in the midlands works wonders in my opinion.
When I first saw the signs going up my immediate thought was "f**k me, it takes long enough to do the 20 miles to Sunbury as it is, now the b****rds want to slow me down even more".
Truth is, my journey is now 10-15 minutes shorter than it used to be and nowhere near as manic with all the last minute lane changing that used to take place at the M25 junction.Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
Torque is how far your car sends the wall across the field once you've hit it0
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