I repeatedly ring them up as I use the network heavily. I work on writing safety critical systems for such things as Hospitals, Power Stations etc etc. The one rule is, if you flag an alert that is not an alert, the system becomes dangerous as users ignore the warnings or find inventive ways to circumvent the system. Every major accident usually has that behaviour in it somewhere (even if it's a minor role). When I ring [highways], I get responses, varying from " we'll deal with it thanks for letting us know" to them telling me, that after driving for more than 10 miles under 50 mph on an empty motorway at 04:30-05:00 am, that: "only a Police car going through the same journey and confirming the road was clear would lift the restriction"! The other one I had was a whole section of 50 mph on the M1 Southbound Nottingham area - 23:30 - with "workforce in the road" and lane closures on lanes 1-2 leaving overtaking lakes 3,4 as the running lanes. Imagine my discussion to the telephone operator to point out that after that whole section with nothing happening they put us to National Speed limit, so as I hit 70, I was to find the workforce in the road on the next bend with no speed limit or lane protection! I wrote a complaint letter, and the response was absolutely shocking, and if any road crews ever get injured or worse (I truly hope not), it will be going to the relevant coroners court. A letter sent by someone sat in a nice office who's not out on the road overnight.
Very true. Some nasty nuclear criticality incidents have occurred due to such safety systems being on the blink resulting in operators becoming complacent due to the false positives.. Out of interest, is their phone number 24/7 or just 9 to 5?
@@hypergolic8468 i rang up about 4 lanes into 1 signage and was told that the roadworkers hadn't let them know it was clear and they'd have to send someone to take a look. So much for 'smart' motorways
@hyergolic8468 One half the time approx it's possibly down to the fault of those attending not keeeping dispatch up to date sayng the hazzard/s have been cleared, the other approx half the time is they have cleared and notified it but the delay between that whilst you have rune throught the section ar partially been through it before the signage changes the section. Other reasons are they don't have precise locations so it's precautanary signage and can appear both sides such as for peds or animals on the loose and until a patrol has been through it would obviously be unwise to remove precautanary signage
@@thetruckerseye I really do question how much is about safety. I don't know if you watch GBD Official - he's a breakdown driver doing the M6 in Staffordshire. He's had loads of run ins with them. One video he's in a "smart" motorway refuge and they will NOT put a closure on the running lane whilst he and the car he's fixed exits. They are expecting him to do a zero to 70 traffic speed to enter a live running lane. I say live running lane as they had put a "request" on the gantry prior to ask people to move out the lane, but people were ignoring it! As your pointing out at, if they can't see with their camera system what you reported, what hope has anyone - and as we tragically know from the many deaths, NONE! I've had a couple of breakdowns over the years, fortunately with hard shoulders, one involving a Leyland Daf DROPS wagon, even with warning triangles, cones (it was doing an ADR journey) and with a REME FODEN Recovery Truck covering us so the other one could get us sorted, the number of trucks and cars driving into the hard shoulder ws significant...and that was prior to mobiles becoming prevalent! It's dangerous enough both in driving traffic and for those working on the roads, recovering without them increasing that risk. I feel it'd not make much to actually change it to make it work for drivers, and not revenue, in my honest opinion.
@@RikAindow It's 24/7 I had a job where by the time I'd left site, got my stuff and set off home it was 22:00, I came across a blown tyre in the middle of the lanes on the M42 in the early hours of Christmas day, they answered the phone and said they'd recover it. And I mean this sincerely, there's lots of Highway staff who genuinely care, and do, in my opinion try their hardest to keep us safe and moving. It's just management that cripples it.
When the matrix signs are displaying "congestion", it's automatic and comes from data from the induction loop or radar based sensors which detect traffic speeds and volumes. Unavoidably, these will occasionally fail or need recalibrating, which is why you'll get this situation. The system will never be 100% perfect. National Highways have done lots of research on this, and will have concluded that it's safer to have this system in operation (even if it sometimes gets things wrong) rather than not having it at all
30 years ago when I was a trucker the m4 out of London was like this every night. Running joke was it was so that the police could have a longer kip in the services
I remember in the summer I would see erroneous 40mph signs on one single gantry not far South of Leicester going up the M1. I always adhered to it just to avoid getting The Flash, but really winds me up. I remember the first time I saw matrix signs at 60 with the text to the side finally admitting it was an environmental thing, I was shouting "I knew it! You bastards, I bloody knew it!" for about 5 miles.
Not just at night either, I've noticed it a lot on the M25, signs up saying "report of..." And miles later back to normal yet no sign of whatever was supposed to be reported.
You mean all the car and lorry drivers that think they’re perfect yet still crash causing the roads to be closed? Those clowns? Nah, I don’t trust one driver around me. They think they know it all but they have no clue.
A misunderstanding common with drivers. The congestion isn’t in your face. It’s further away and/or in the future, beyond what you can see and know. Not only does congestion control deal with existing congestion but it also prevents congestion from forming ahead and in the future. Driver panicking, speeding and erratically lane changing/braking is the result of poor driving. It isn’t like the signs aren’t lit. It isn’t like there weren’t repeated signs. It is not the fault of the posted speed limit. That driver deserves the fine and more. Bad drivers are being punished for bad driving. Keeping you and everyone else safe. You’re welcome. If you do the maths, those cameras couldn’t hope to make back the cost of a smart motorway.
Nightly on the M6 I would phone highways and inform them that the “caution queue 40” was still on south past j16 and had been for two weeks solid . Phantom pedestrians/animals /fog/congestion/debris in road were a nightly occurrence. One excuse was there was a problem and they couldn’t switch the sign off, I had thus excuse 3 nights running . Told them simple turn the computer off and on again fixes most problems 🤣. Absolute muppets!
@@tonyford7987 the sign that makes me laugh is anything to do with 'Report of...' So basically I could ring them up from being on holiday in Australia and report pedestrians on the m6 and they'd then put a matrix up saying 'Report of perdestrians' with no evidence at all and just my 'report'? 🤣🤣🤣
You are aware people, congestion, animals, fog, debris etc MOVE right? So you pass a sign at 60 and know all the answers? It hasn’t occurred to you that the animal or person or fog may have moved? Good job the drivers that can’t drive without crashing aren’t muppets right? Oh wait!!
It was ever thus, I remember a trip down the M6 years ago - phantom accidents, invisible fog, runaway animals that had run away etc. all the way from Knutsford to Birmingham, then once on the elevated section nearly drove into an accident with cars all over the road without any warning, even though the police were in attendance and it was very close to the traffic police compound.
Just another benefit to the smart motorway system. They open an extra lane on the cheap, to the determent of road safety, and then have the excuse to install speed cameras to fleece the British motorist
I travel regularly on the M42 between junction 6 (M6 ) and junction 2 and back, the amount of times I have seen the gantry matrix signs that are on but no congestion or breakdowns or road works. What infuriates me is that the sign will say 60 the next gantry 50 then the next gantry will be back up to 60 then out of nowhere the next one drops down to 40 up and down like a yoyo. You then have to break hard to get to the right speed, this then has a knock on effect all vehicles behind start breaking until miles behind that traffic comes to a crawl or a stop. Do they do this on purpose to annoy drivers like you and me.
That section has always been the same since it went 'smart'....I think they pre-program the limits against predicted flow rather than reacting to live situations.
Can't believe travelled exact stretch Saturday morning about same time this is definitely nothing to do with road safety but cars were braking hard and bunching up getting closer to each other causing congestion so glad your covering this money making scam
National Highways have zero credibility. Each of these "incorrect settings" simply reinforces that. Reducing the speed limit when there's nothing happening on the road to justify it is dangerous.
Not too long ago after 11pm we drove from birmingham up to crewe on the m6, all te way the signs were set to 50mph becsuse of (non existent) congestion. Took use a lot longer than normal. Its stupid
I see it all the time on the m1 Vehicle stranded when there was no vehicle at all Pedestrian in road which there was none I seen fire in lane where there was not one at all mile down the motorway and it says end with nothing wrong
Totally agree ! Highway deception ! Money grabbing at it's extreme ! ...Congestion, Debris in the road , Pedestrian's in the road, Animals in the road, ...at least give us a good target ! Starmer in the road, Rayner in the road & Reeves in the road & probably the worst Miliband in the road !
Many times I've driven along the M6 with gantry signs warning of congestion and set to 40MPH on a free running road. Over 5 miles after the "all clear" has been given is when the avarge speed of the traffic drops to less than 15MPH without a junction or accident in sight.
Do you know what they'll say to you? They'll say they are managing the traffic flow and the fact that you didn't see a queue means they are doing a super job. They don't mention the queue 3 miles ago that they engineered with their slower speeds!
As a professional driver I did my own very non scientific study of the speed limit warning signs on the motorway (not managed motorway) and the conclusion was that 90% of the time the hazard was over or never existed. The problem with the nanny state is that I like most people do not trust and therefore disregard the signs. Obviously managed motorways now force obedience but the need probably isn’t any higher than before.
National Highways will not take criticism for duff info on gantries. Fog warnings on a bright summer's day, pedestrians in carriageway for 40 miles.... who monitors these things?
@@AL-zg5qs haha. I'd love to know if it's someone NOT paying attention and NOT turning the signs off or the technology is just so crap that they can't turn them off!
Seems Highways fuckery, just like cause traffic jams and then accidents,because this is becoming commonplace now, just look back to the roadworks at strensham M5/M50, closedown a perfectly usable lane, forcing all traffic into 2 lanes, then creating a queue back beyond j7 at Worcester, and then create a coned slip road to services and M50. It just makes you wonder if anyone at Highway’s England does actually drive, or is this just what some professor has taught? The current shambles on the M6 south is another prime example, the damage to the retaining wall just before j5, is now 3 months or more old, no attempt to repair it, put up a temporary barrier, then post 50mph, yet on 3 separate occasions I’ve passed it, the matrix showing 60mph, or the national limit of 70mph, in the day time, yet at 4~30 am, when there’s nothing on the road and no one working in the area, you’ve had the limit set as low as 40mph, which as you’ve said, would probably of been left switched on from the previous evening rush hour. And let’s not start on why they need 60,000£ + Land rovers, when they seem to spend more time sitting on authorised vehicles only ramps, when a matrix says report of blocked lane, and they sit there , idling the engine, doing what exactly? Rant over! 😂
@@kevw5557 Highways F**kery 🤣🤣🤣🤣. Those roadworks were set out so stupidly at Strensham. They bottlenecked 3 lanes into 2 before the services instead of letting people get off into the service or off at the M50 because they had no need to queue! They eventually worked it out and altered it all but not before they'd caused hours of delays
I travel along the M62 every week Monday through to Friday and the number of times the matrix signs give the wrong information is unbelievable, a few times the signs have said Motorway closed at junction 21 or 20 and I thought of the best way to go, but then I just keep going following the rest of the traffic and the Motorway is not closed. 👍👍.
A few years ago, Highways England had a mission statement of "improving journey reliability times". To me, this could mean doing things to improve the flow of traffic at peak times so that journeys at peak times are faster, but in effect, the opposite is true. By adding lower speed limits when the roads are quieter, they are making the average journey time similar to that at peak time, with the added "bonus" of speed camera enforcement. I hate this stretch of motorway and during my old 80 mile commute from Skem to Rochdale and back, I would often find the smart motorway sections would have no limits showing when traffic was heavy, or they would have random red "X" on the gantries forcing traffic to move from lane one to three, and back again in the space of three gantries and of course, the middle gantry would be the one with the camera on it. I don't miss the commute, especially now the M6 has been butchered.
I regularly traverse the M5 round Bristol and usually travel at 60 or less. I was caught out there once running at 58-60 under 60 limit when the limit suddenly flickered and went to 50. I was told that this could 😢.not have happened but I have a clean licence since 1961 and I know what I saw! Having no record of offences, I was able to opt for a speed awareness course, which was interesting, but I was still 100 quid out of pocket for no reason and I still feel bitter about it.
To play devils advocate, one of the reasons you might restrict speed is to keep traffic lite. Traffic is caused when the influx of vehicles into a stretch of road exceeds its outflow capacity. So let’s say more people are trying to exit at a junction than there is capacity, and that junction is starting to back up. If you do nothing it will back up onto the motorway, effectively closing a lane, and causing problems. But if you reduce the speed for a few junctions back, well now cars are approaching slower, so less arrive at the junction every minute and it stops backing up. By restricting the speed you avoid a jam entirely. From the motorists prospective it seems pointless, because they can’t see hypotheticals. But it’s actually helping them.
Went there last week, funny think is, it says use hard shoulder yet no one is! Whose fault is that out of curiosity? Moan there are queues, get a free lane to remove a queue, you don’t use it. Not so smart huh.
I've also noticed this on the M5 around Bristol, where the will slow the traffic down for no apparent reason. Reducing the speed limit at junctions to aid those who can't join the motorway at a reasonable speed. Having a red X in lane 4 between 19 & 20 because of so called "surface water" and a 40 mph limit. It's obviously a money making scam especially on these "smart motorways"!
I believe that this is a preset for a standard week day. It is pure laziness on the part of National Highways. I've seen this happen on the M25 and M23 as well.
It's a money making scam. Drove over the M62 towards Manchester and the matrix was showing 60 salt spreading. The road was completely free running with no snow etc.. Was showing the same on the M1 southbound.
The speed limit in my experience always changes on a gantry with a camera, but some gantry’s can come up very fast if the motorway bends or has hill to a dip as M1 south just past jtn 26 I think. I’m ex truck and latterly 65,000 mile a year car driver, I have seen the inception of smart motorways evolve into what I believe is a cash grab in the name of safety. Don’t forget for most points equal higher premiums, which equals more 12.5% insurance premium tax for the government.
I don’t drive on motorways much now and, if I do, it’s mainly in the North West. Having reported things to National Highways, like falsely set Matrix, Deer on the Hard Shoulder etc, it seems there is a lack of communication between Birmingham HQ where the 0300 number goes to, and Haydock control centre. I reported a matrix at Worsley that had been stuck on a “ report of “ for ages and they said it didn’t exist despite me giving the driver locator sign. Over the summer, virtually every day, Deer on the M61 between J8 and J6. They send a Traffic Officer out but never do anything permanent with the fencing etc. In terms of the mandatory limits being set like on the video, I’ve seen that at Whitefield and I’ve been flashed at 56 in a 60. I saved the Dashcam footage as evidence but never heard anything. Makes you wonder why the Traffjc Officers can’t report these false signs. They either dont, they do and nothing happens in the control centre or they don’t care either.
On the smart motorway section of the m6 the speed limits were posted as 60 with very light traffic. As soon as the 4 lane smart mway reverted back to 3 lanes the limit reverted back to 70 still light traffic. What was that all about?
I agree this is a big problem, and all credibility is lost when the speed limits and messages get left on. I first saw this many years ago on the M1, when roadworks had been torn down of a morning but the gantry displays left on closing lanes, so annoying, and after a few weeks of the same thing you could see what was going on! (this was before 6am).
Same here in Glasgow / West Scotland. The control room for Scotlands Motorways were amalgamated to a point in Edinburgh. It went downhill from there. Can have notices of hazards up for over 2 hours once it is past. They claim it needs the Police to call them to say the hazard has passed. But can't they see it on camera? If a broken down vehicle is spotted, the citrac is activated , however once the vehicle is removed, surly the restriction can be promptly removed to allow traffic to flow again.
@@robertwillis4061 The company I work for don't come to Scotland anymore so I'm going to have to get in the car to make a video I really want to make in Scotland. Basically your authorities up there are as bonkers as ours are, but in a completely different way. Can't say too much as I want to keep the good stuff for my video lol, but part of it is about that new Queensferry crossing. They built that new bridge and it was a brilliant bit of engineering. But it's still only 2 lanes! Why? Why did they not future proof it? 🤣 I know the original bridge provides 2 lanes for local traffic but they really don't look to the future do they!
National Highways are a joke, a bad one at that. Running on the M25 the other week, Matrix signs progressively closed down lanes 1 through three on the clockwise approach to J9 due to an incident. I left by the J9 exit slip, but the gantry then said all lanes open National Speed Limit. However, just further ahead was the incident, AFTER the NSLA matrix! Utterly incompetent and stupidly dangerous.
We had one lane of a carriage way coned off, crusting long queues, coned off for a mile, because a couple of men were working , not on the road,but across the pavement, ten foot of grass , in the entrance to a farmers field. The high kerbstones would have stopped any runaway vehicles, so the workers were in no danger, but hundreds of motorists were inconvenienced for weeks. Why? 1:42 Also, why is the furniture, warning signs etc, not collected and is there for months or years. Waste of taxpayers money.
I'm not a trucker but hat off to those people that do that job ❤ I have been doing quite a lot of travelling at the moment down to my daughter's in Devon from Llandudno North Wales, When we get on the M5 and the sat nav says 137 miles on this road has become a nightmare, So we have chosen to start doing this at night time variable speed up and down constantly with no excess traffic or accidents whatsoever, I believe this is a money generating operation and designed to take people off the road as they do not want you driving anyway , and why not make some money out of you in a process.
Good and informative video. I am an HGV Class 1 driver and working nights. This warning are seen almost every night M1,M40 and so on. Who is watching? How do they justify their pay?🤣🤣🤣🤣 Clearly most of them do not check the cameras. All this are dangerous . Was driving on M42 southbound with really thick fog and not even one sign to mention it. Ridiculous
or the OTHER distraction aiding to the already lead of being vigilant on the road. When the signage reads : REPORT OF AN OBSTRUCTION. What ....... How is that going to alter/ affect my journey, driving ? I will follow the advice from the overhead signage. But '' report of obstruction '' ? Then see to the obstruction. Informing me, changes nothing. Pointless.
Like I said to someone yesterday. Can I phone up from Australia and report a cyclist on tbe M6 for example, and will they illuminate the matrix without any evidence? They probably would 🤣
I actually have a video of that happening to me but never heard anything. I was doing about 46 in a 60 and then the 60 changed to 40 as Inwent through, i saved the video incase I needed evidence lol
You are right. Gantry info has not often anything to do wirh real world. I often see info relating ro an incidemt on OPPOSITE CARRIAGEWAY . Seems apprentices in operations room cannot get direction of motorway correct😅
@@JurivonStolzenberg14 There was a breakdown in the inside lane (no hard shoulder) last week and they brilliantly had all the signs up telling you of a report of blocked lane....only problem that all of the gantries telling you this were AFTER the position of the car 🤣
Most of the smart motorways have the default limits pre-set at certain times of day, regardless of the live traffic situation. On a weekday at the same time the road will be busier, but for some reason they don't seem to factor the weekend into the system....happens so often when travelling the motorways at the weekend during 'rush hour'.
I've noticed this on certain stretches too. Tell you something else too... the radio traffic bulletins do the same through the week. They'll tell you that there's queuing traffic at somewhere where there is usually queuing traffic at the same time you are driving through the same place thinking it's bloody quiet here today 🤣🤣
They think they are (or claim) to be erring on the side of safety when this behaviour creates danger through causing erratic behaviour in drivers, loss of faith in the warnings and even speeding to make up lost time in the un-monitored sections of the roads. As usual its the common sense that is missing.
It’s nothing to do with “money grabbing”, it’s down to poor training, sloppy attitudes, indifference and a general “mustn’t let my tea go cold” ethos, that pervades many vital services staffed in part by less than professional operatives.
The smart motorway work on the M6 between J21 and J26 is now open so all lanes are used . The gantry signs are set at 50mph for the whole length of the smart motorway. I think this is because of the dangers posed by having no hard shoulder and the issues caused by broken down vehicles. National highways know how dangerous these sections are so are limiting the speed to 50mph to mitigate the problem they have created .
Two comments. First there are some parts of the motorway network where the speed limit is reduced not because of the congestion, but to reduce pollution. Engines produce less pollution when not driven as hard, so in areas where air quality is an issue they reduce the motorway speed. There are two that I am aware of, the elevated section of the M1 and M6 through Sheffield and Birmingham. So the congestion warning is actually wrong. The second comment is about the technology behind these signs. When they were introduced they were supposed to be automated. Sensors on the motorway were supposed to detect slowing traffic and automatically adjust the speed limit approaching the congestion to smooth out the flow. However, this didn't work. I believe that there were technical reasons, but there was also a certain amount of cockup by national highways because of the way that they split control across regions rather than them being a national system. So they switched them into manual control and as we all know humans make mistakes. This particularly a true where the splits between regions occur and the limits change up or down for no apparent reason.
I have to drive now but I'm going to take you on a little bit about the first comment so I will do it quickly. You're right about them having pollution limits but I think I've noticed they've disappeared a lot lately apart from the fixed ones in Wales on the M4. You are right about the theory they have about lower engine revs etc equalling less emissions but I have another view on it that they don't seem to want to take any notice of... i'll get back to you on it when I have more time if that's OK?
Did the hgv driver get a NIP for this ? or was it white van man who got flashed ? its difficult to make out,.If the hgv was flat out at limited hgv 56mph speed he shouldn't get nicked if the police adhere to the 10%+3mph rule which would allow for a vehicle to pass by at 58mph without getting flashed,. I know 10%+3 isn't set in stone by all forces, i was on the M6 and M42 around birmingham on sunday and the gantry signs were 50/40/30 mph and a car flew past me at a good 70/80 mph and i didn't see any flash, (1) he knows something i dont, (2) the car was on cloned plates, (3)car was stolen, but my guess from speaking to others is that all the gantries warning of speed cameras are telling lies ? Just lately ive been going m6/m5/m42/m40 as that route dosent have any variable gantry speed signs, same as most of m40,.I've also been told by someone that he drove m6/m42 flat out in his car and he never got a ticket, this was a few years ago tho, i tend to push the limits when say 30/40/50/60 is displayed i will pass them @ or slightly above posted limit, as cars speedo's usually read a few mph fast,. Got away with it so far anyway,. But like you say is it a stealthy way of raking in extra revenue ? also to much brake light action on this video, mainly the cars as most trucks brake lights activate when they lift off accelerator due to having auto engine braking, volvos are ok, scanias flashing brake continuously during gear changes,.
Certain sections of smart motorway near Birmingham have the cameras mounted on the gantries behind the variable speed limits displays and generally speaking, only every second or third gantry has cameras on them. As for the 10% +3 rule, it's a guideline that the police force responsible for the area can choose to stick to or not. From experience, Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety DOES offer this leeway as they even say so on their website.
As for cloned plates, the camera will still flash, plate or no plate, but of course the criminal will be feeling invincible if they think they can't be caught.
Staff levels across the public sector have been cut year on year since the start of austerity under Cameron. This will have lead to fewer staff o the night and weekend shifts to monitor the matrix system and variable speedlimit areas. I met someone who works in a different sector of tge government who works in a teamof 80 that monitors the activities ofover 100,000 organisations spread across the UK. My other point relates to how the matrix/variable speedlimit systems are set up. Travelling around it appears that these system operate in groups spreadover sevral miles which often means they are still showing restrictions after tge incident sitehas been passed.
May be worth touching base with GDB, the breakdown guy. He gas had run ins with Highways for refusing to close a lane when he & his clients are ready to leave aN SOS bay on a 'smart' motorway.
There is a whole lot of problems with SMART motorways. I am sure we all can come up with cracking answers for the SMART anagram. When breakdown crews attending breakdowns ask for a lane closure, they only get a move over that is not enforced as lane closure would, they are furious. Don't get me started on Motorway closures and the abject failure of diversion signage or prewarn on Council controlled A road motorway feeders. This is the problem when everything gets centralised, local knowledge goes. To protect broken down trucks I will not travel on the hard shoulder of a 'not so' SMARtT motorway, as I don't want anyone's death on my shoulders!
And who do the reports from from? YOU GUYS!!! and why are signs on for miles? As YOU don’t know where you are. We have to have a nanny states cos everyone is so thick
This is not something new this has been going on for years, its not about points on your licence it's about getting money into the coffers from an easy target, anybody with a driving license is a target, vocational or otherwise. As for these alleged "traffic officers" they are just a waste of space and a burden on the financial budget. I travel across europe and never see this in countries I travel through, I fact to see a police car is a rare thing although I'm sure there are cameras monitoring traffic
I repeatedly ring them up as I use the network heavily. I work on writing safety critical systems for such things as Hospitals, Power Stations etc etc. The one rule is, if you flag an alert that is not an alert, the system becomes dangerous as users ignore the warnings or find inventive ways to circumvent the system. Every major accident usually has that behaviour in it somewhere (even if it's a minor role).
When I ring [highways], I get responses, varying from " we'll deal with it thanks for letting us know" to them telling me, that after driving for more than 10 miles under 50 mph on an empty motorway at 04:30-05:00 am, that: "only a Police car going through the same journey and confirming the road was clear would lift the restriction"!
The other one I had was a whole section of 50 mph on the M1 Southbound Nottingham area - 23:30 - with "workforce in the road" and lane closures on lanes 1-2 leaving overtaking lakes 3,4 as the running lanes. Imagine my discussion to the telephone operator to point out that after that whole section with nothing happening they put us to National Speed limit, so as I hit 70, I was to find the workforce in the road on the next bend with no speed limit or lane protection!
I wrote a complaint letter, and the response was absolutely shocking, and if any road crews ever get injured or worse (I truly hope not), it will be going to the relevant coroners court. A letter sent by someone sat in a nice office who's not out on the road overnight.
Very true. Some nasty nuclear criticality incidents have occurred due to such safety systems being on the blink resulting in operators becoming complacent due to the false positives..
Out of interest, is their phone number 24/7 or just 9 to 5?
@@hypergolic8468 i rang up about 4 lanes into 1 signage and was told that the roadworkers hadn't let them know it was clear and they'd have to send someone to take a look. So much for 'smart' motorways
@hyergolic8468 One half the time approx it's possibly down to the fault of those attending not keeeping dispatch up to date sayng the hazzard/s have been cleared, the other approx half the time is they have cleared and notified it but the delay between that whilst you have rune throught the section ar partially been through it before the signage changes the section.
Other reasons are they don't have precise locations so it's precautanary signage and can appear both sides such as for peds or animals on the loose and until a patrol has been through it would obviously be unwise to remove precautanary signage
@@thetruckerseye I really do question how much is about safety. I don't know if you watch GBD Official - he's a breakdown driver doing the M6 in Staffordshire. He's had loads of run ins with them. One video he's in a "smart" motorway refuge and they will NOT put a closure on the running lane whilst he and the car he's fixed exits. They are expecting him to do a zero to 70 traffic speed to enter a live running lane. I say live running lane as they had put a "request" on the gantry prior to ask people to move out the lane, but people were ignoring it!
As your pointing out at, if they can't see with their camera system what you reported, what hope has anyone - and as we tragically know from the many deaths, NONE!
I've had a couple of breakdowns over the years, fortunately with hard shoulders, one involving a Leyland Daf DROPS wagon, even with warning triangles, cones (it was doing an ADR journey) and with a REME FODEN Recovery Truck covering us so the other one could get us sorted, the number of trucks and cars driving into the hard shoulder ws significant...and that was prior to mobiles becoming prevalent! It's dangerous enough both in driving traffic and for those working on the roads, recovering without them increasing that risk.
I feel it'd not make much to actually change it to make it work for drivers, and not revenue, in my honest opinion.
@@RikAindow It's 24/7 I had a job where by the time I'd left site, got my stuff and set off home it was 22:00, I came across a blown tyre in the middle of the lanes on the M42 in the early hours of Christmas day, they answered the phone and said they'd recover it.
And I mean this sincerely, there's lots of Highway staff who genuinely care, and do, in my opinion try their hardest to keep us safe and moving. It's just management that cripples it.
This scenario is ruthless revenue generation by a government agency / quango.
When the matrix signs are displaying "congestion", it's automatic and comes from data from the induction loop or radar based sensors which detect traffic speeds and volumes. Unavoidably, these will occasionally fail or need recalibrating, which is why you'll get this situation. The system will never be 100% perfect. National Highways have done lots of research on this, and will have concluded that it's safer to have this system in operation (even if it sometimes gets things wrong) rather than not having it at all
I've been driving a lot at night recently,, matrix are constantly posting speed limits for phantom,, accident's, lane closures,, stranded vehicles ,,
30 years ago when I was a trucker the m4 out of London was like this every night. Running joke was it was so that the police could have a longer kip in the services
I agree. Please read my experience above. Phantom accidents indeed.
I remember in the summer I would see erroneous 40mph signs on one single gantry not far South of Leicester going up the M1.
I always adhered to it just to avoid getting The Flash, but really winds me up.
I remember the first time I saw matrix signs at 60 with the text to the side finally admitting it was an environmental thing, I was shouting "I knew it! You bastards, I bloody knew it!" for about 5 miles.
Not just at night either, I've noticed it a lot on the M25, signs up saying "report of..." And miles later back to normal yet no sign of whatever was supposed to be reported.
So what? The caller lied then.
Does anyone have any trust in these Highway Clowns
They're part of the government... Or criminal Extortion racket as I call them. Their only care is how to get more money from the peasants.
@@CookiethedelBobo i've got more videos coming in time, they're gonna have me on a watchlist 🤣🤣🤣
not only them but no trust in the whole b****y system.
Nope !
You mean all the car and lorry drivers that think they’re perfect yet still crash causing the roads to be closed? Those clowns? Nah, I don’t trust one driver around me. They think they know it all but they have no clue.
A misunderstanding common with drivers. The congestion isn’t in your face. It’s further away and/or in the future, beyond what you can see and know. Not only does congestion control deal with existing congestion but it also prevents congestion from forming ahead and in the future.
Driver panicking, speeding and erratically lane changing/braking is the result of poor driving. It isn’t like the signs aren’t lit. It isn’t like there weren’t repeated signs. It is not the fault of the posted speed limit. That driver deserves the fine and more. Bad drivers are being punished for bad driving. Keeping you and everyone else safe. You’re welcome.
If you do the maths, those cameras couldn’t hope to make back the cost of a smart motorway.
Nightly on the M6 I would phone highways and inform them that the “caution queue 40” was still on south past j16 and had been for two weeks solid . Phantom pedestrians/animals /fog/congestion/debris in road were a nightly occurrence. One excuse was there was a problem and they couldn’t switch the sign off, I had thus excuse 3 nights running .
Told them simple turn the computer off and on again fixes most problems 🤣. Absolute muppets!
@@tonyford7987 the sign that makes me laugh is anything to do with 'Report of...' So basically I could ring them up from being on holiday in Australia and report pedestrians on the m6 and they'd then put a matrix up saying 'Report of perdestrians' with no evidence at all and just my 'report'? 🤣🤣🤣
You are aware people, congestion, animals, fog, debris etc MOVE right? So you pass a sign at 60 and know all the answers? It hasn’t occurred to you that the animal or person or fog may have moved? Good job the drivers that can’t drive without crashing aren’t muppets right? Oh wait!!
The number of times I have seen "END" on matrix signs and have never been aware that anything previously had begun!!
That’s because the signs came on behind you after you’d passed the last sign thus you see an END, simple huh.
It was ever thus, I remember a trip down the M6 years ago - phantom accidents, invisible fog, runaway animals that had run away etc. all the way from Knutsford to Birmingham, then once on the elevated section nearly drove into an accident with cars all over the road without any warning, even though the police were in attendance and it was very close to the traffic police compound.
Just another benefit to the smart motorway system. They open an extra lane on the cheap, to the determent of road safety, and then have the excuse to install speed cameras to fleece the British motorist
Tell me again, WHO is driving into a stationary object in front of them that they have failed to see??? WHO.!!!
I travel regularly on the M42 between junction 6 (M6 ) and junction 2 and back, the amount of times I have seen the gantry matrix signs that are on but no congestion or breakdowns or road works. What infuriates me is that the sign will say 60 the next gantry 50 then the next gantry will be back up to 60 then out of nowhere the next one drops down to 40 up and down like a yoyo. You then have to break hard to get to the right speed, this then has a knock on effect all vehicles behind start breaking until miles behind that traffic comes to a crawl or a stop. Do they do this on purpose to annoy drivers like you and me.
That section has always been the same since it went 'smart'....I think they pre-program the limits against predicted flow rather than reacting to live situations.
Can't believe travelled exact stretch Saturday morning about same time this is definitely nothing to do with road safety but cars were braking hard and bunching up getting closer to each other causing congestion so glad your covering this money making scam
National Highways have zero credibility. Each of these "incorrect settings" simply reinforces that. Reducing the speed limit when there's nothing happening on the road to justify it is dangerous.
Not too long ago after 11pm we drove from birmingham up to crewe on the m6, all te way the signs were set to 50mph becsuse of (non existent) congestion. Took use a lot longer than normal. Its stupid
You only have to look down the comments on my video to realise how mad this all is!
I see it all the time on the m1
Vehicle stranded when there was no vehicle at all
Pedestrian in road which there was none
I seen fire in lane where there was not one at all mile down the motorway and it says end with nothing wrong
Totally agree ! Highway deception ! Money grabbing at it's extreme ! ...Congestion, Debris in the road , Pedestrian's in the road, Animals in the road, ...at least give us a good target ! Starmer in the road, Rayner in the road & Reeves in the road & probably the worst Miliband in the road !
Many times I've driven along the M6 with gantry signs warning of congestion and set to 40MPH on a free running road. Over 5 miles after the "all clear" has been given is when the avarge speed of the traffic drops to less than 15MPH without a junction or accident in sight.
Do you know what they'll say to you? They'll say they are managing the traffic flow and the fact that you didn't see a queue means they are doing a super job. They don't mention the queue 3 miles ago that they engineered with their slower speeds!
As a professional driver I did my own very non scientific study of the speed limit warning signs on the motorway (not managed motorway) and the conclusion was that 90% of the time the hazard was over or never existed.
The problem with the nanny state is that I like most people do not trust and therefore disregard the signs.
Obviously managed motorways now force obedience but the need probably isn’t any higher than before.
I like your scientific study and trust it more than I trust most matrix signs on the motorway!
Cool, you’re the guys we see on the news than that assume they know all the facts as the pass then slam into whatever the issues is. Well done you.
National Highways will not take criticism for duff info on gantries. Fog warnings on a bright summer's day, pedestrians in carriageway for 40 miles.... who monitors these things?
AI probably.. the same bs utter nonsense computer models these fukwitts seem to use for everything
@@AL-zg5qs haha. I'd love to know if it's someone NOT paying attention and NOT turning the signs off or the technology is just so crap that they can't turn them off!
Seems Highways fuckery, just like cause traffic jams and then accidents,because this is becoming commonplace now, just look back to the roadworks at strensham M5/M50, closedown a perfectly usable lane, forcing all traffic into 2 lanes, then creating a queue back beyond j7 at Worcester, and then create a coned slip road to services and M50. It just makes you wonder if anyone at Highway’s England does actually drive, or is this just what some professor has taught?
The current shambles on the M6 south is another prime example, the damage to the retaining wall just before j5, is now 3 months or more old, no attempt to repair it, put up a temporary barrier, then post 50mph, yet on 3 separate occasions I’ve passed it, the matrix showing 60mph, or the national limit of 70mph, in the day time, yet at 4~30 am, when there’s nothing on the road and no one working in the area, you’ve had the limit set as low as 40mph, which as you’ve said, would probably of been left switched on from the previous evening rush hour.
And let’s not start on why they need 60,000£ + Land rovers, when they seem to spend more time sitting on authorised vehicles only ramps, when a matrix says report of blocked lane, and they sit there , idling the engine, doing what exactly?
Rant over! 😂
@@kevw5557 Highways F**kery 🤣🤣🤣🤣. Those roadworks were set out so stupidly at Strensham. They bottlenecked 3 lanes into 2 before the services instead of letting people get off into the service or off at the M50 because they had no need to queue! They eventually worked it out and altered it all but not before they'd caused hours of delays
Just think of the fun that could be had if three million drivers removed their number plates?
I travel along the M62 every week Monday through to Friday and the number of times the matrix signs give the wrong information is unbelievable, a few times the signs have said Motorway closed at junction 21 or 20 and I thought of the best way to go, but then I just keep going following the rest of the traffic and the Motorway is not closed. 👍👍.
A few years ago, Highways England had a mission statement of "improving journey reliability times". To me, this could mean doing things to improve the flow of traffic at peak times so that journeys at peak times are faster, but in effect, the opposite is true. By adding lower speed limits when the roads are quieter, they are making the average journey time similar to that at peak time, with the added "bonus" of speed camera enforcement.
I hate this stretch of motorway and during my old 80 mile commute from Skem to Rochdale and back, I would often find the smart motorway sections would have no limits showing when traffic was heavy, or they would have random red "X" on the gantries forcing traffic to move from lane one to three, and back again in the space of three gantries and of course, the middle gantry would be the one with the camera on it.
I don't miss the commute, especially now the M6 has been butchered.
M4/M5 near Bristol always has speed restrictions even when traffic is lite.
Exactly! What's going on?
I regularly traverse the M5 round Bristol and usually travel at 60 or less. I was caught out there once running at 58-60 under 60 limit when the limit suddenly flickered and went to 50. I was told that this could 😢.not have happened but I have a clean licence since 1961 and I know what I saw! Having no record of offences, I was able to opt for a speed awareness course, which was interesting, but I was still 100 quid out of pocket for no reason and I still feel bitter about it.
@Roy-gi5ul I've nearly been caught like this it's an absolute joke
To play devils advocate, one of the reasons you might restrict speed is to keep traffic lite.
Traffic is caused when the influx of vehicles into a stretch of road exceeds its outflow capacity.
So let’s say more people are trying to exit at a junction than there is capacity, and that junction is starting to back up. If you do nothing it will back up onto the motorway, effectively closing a lane, and causing problems.
But if you reduce the speed for a few junctions back, well now cars are approaching slower, so less arrive at the junction every minute and it stops backing up.
By restricting the speed you avoid a jam entirely. From the motorists prospective it seems pointless, because they can’t see hypotheticals. But it’s actually helping them.
Went there last week, funny think is, it says use hard shoulder yet no one is! Whose fault is that out of curiosity? Moan there are queues, get a free lane to remove a queue, you don’t use it. Not so smart huh.
I've also noticed this on the M5 around Bristol, where the will slow the traffic down for no apparent reason.
Reducing the speed limit at junctions to aid those who can't join the motorway at a reasonable speed.
Having a red X in lane 4 between 19 & 20 because of so called "surface water" and a 40 mph limit.
It's obviously a money making scam especially on these "smart motorways"!
I just assume that it's incompetence by the Highways Agency!
They're a top organisation. Wash your mouth out (or fingers) lol 🤣🤣🤣
Who are Highways Agency? Can’t even get the name right. That company closed 8 years ago. Yet you complain at them. Smart.
I believe that this is a preset for a standard week day. It is pure laziness on the part of National Highways. I've seen this happen on the M25 and M23 as well.
It's a money making scam. Drove over the M62 towards Manchester and the matrix was showing 60 salt spreading. The road was completely free running with no snow etc.. Was showing the same on the M1 southbound.
The speed limit in my experience always changes on a gantry with a camera, but some gantry’s can come up very fast if the motorway bends or has hill to a dip as M1 south just past jtn 26 I think. I’m ex truck and latterly 65,000 mile a year car driver, I have seen the inception of smart motorways evolve into what I believe is a cash grab in the name of safety. Don’t forget for most points equal higher premiums, which equals more 12.5% insurance premium tax for the government.
This is happening too often.
I don’t drive on motorways much now and, if I do, it’s mainly in the North West. Having reported things to National Highways, like falsely set Matrix, Deer on the Hard Shoulder etc, it seems there is a lack of communication between Birmingham HQ where the 0300 number goes to, and Haydock control centre.
I reported a matrix at Worsley that had been stuck on a “ report of “ for ages and they said it didn’t exist despite me giving the driver locator sign.
Over the summer, virtually every day, Deer on the M61 between J8 and J6. They send a Traffic Officer out but never do anything permanent with the fencing etc.
In terms of the mandatory limits being set like on the video, I’ve seen that at Whitefield and I’ve been flashed at 56 in a 60. I saved the Dashcam footage as evidence but never heard anything.
Makes you wonder why the Traffjc Officers can’t report these false signs. They either dont, they do and nothing happens in the control centre or they don’t care either.
On the smart motorway section of the m6 the speed limits were posted as 60 with very light traffic. As soon as the 4 lane smart mway reverted back to 3 lanes the limit reverted back to 70 still light traffic. What was that all about?
It'a a joke isn't it? 🤣
I agree this is a big problem, and all credibility is lost when the speed limits and messages get left on. I first saw this many years ago on the M1, when roadworks had been torn down of a morning but the gantry displays left on closing lanes, so annoying, and after a few weeks of the same thing you could see what was going on! (this was before 6am).
Same here in Glasgow / West Scotland. The control room for Scotlands Motorways were amalgamated to a point in Edinburgh. It went downhill from there. Can have notices of hazards up for over 2 hours once it is past. They claim it needs the Police to call them to say the hazard has passed. But can't they see it on camera? If a broken down vehicle is spotted, the citrac is activated , however once the vehicle is removed, surly the restriction can be promptly removed to allow traffic to flow again.
@@robertwillis4061 The company I work for don't come to Scotland anymore so I'm going to have to get in the car to make a video I really want to make in Scotland. Basically your authorities up there are as bonkers as ours are, but in a completely different way. Can't say too much as I want to keep the good stuff for my video lol, but part of it is about that new Queensferry crossing. They built that new bridge and it was a brilliant bit of engineering. But it's still only 2 lanes! Why? Why did they not future proof it? 🤣 I know the original bridge provides 2 lanes for local traffic but they really don't look to the future do they!
National Highways are a joke, a bad one at that. Running on the M25 the other week, Matrix signs progressively closed down lanes 1 through three on the clockwise approach to J9 due to an incident. I left by the J9 exit slip, but the gantry then said all lanes open National Speed Limit. However, just further ahead was the incident, AFTER the NSLA matrix! Utterly incompetent and stupidly dangerous.
We had one lane of a carriage way coned off, crusting long queues, coned off for a mile, because a couple of men were working , not on the road,but across the pavement, ten foot of grass , in the entrance to a farmers field. The high kerbstones would have stopped any runaway vehicles, so the workers were in no danger, but hundreds of motorists were inconvenienced for weeks. Why? 1:42 Also, why is the furniture, warning signs etc, not collected and is there for months or years. Waste of taxpayers money.
I'm not a trucker but hat off to those people that do that job ❤
I have been doing quite a lot of travelling at the moment down to my daughter's in Devon from Llandudno North Wales,
When we get on the M5 and the sat nav says 137 miles on this road has become a nightmare,
So we have chosen to start doing this at night time variable speed up and down constantly with no excess traffic or accidents whatsoever,
I believe this is a money generating operation and designed to take people off the road as they do not want you driving anyway ,
and why not make some money out of you in a process.
Spot on mate, the smartest way to operate a smart motorway would be to switch the matrix signs off.
Good and informative video. I am an HGV Class 1 driver and working nights. This warning are seen almost every night M1,M40 and so on. Who is watching? How do they justify their pay?🤣🤣🤣🤣 Clearly most of them do not check the cameras. All this are dangerous . Was driving on M42 southbound with really thick fog and not even one sign to mention it. Ridiculous
I bet you see it far more than most people! I'm sure they go home about 6 and then the night shifts are busy doing other things
or the OTHER distraction aiding to the already lead of being vigilant on the road. When the signage reads : REPORT OF AN OBSTRUCTION. What ....... How is that going to alter/ affect my journey, driving ? I will follow the advice from the overhead signage. But '' report of obstruction '' ? Then see to the obstruction. Informing me, changes nothing. Pointless.
Like I said to someone yesterday. Can I phone up from Australia and report a cyclist on tbe M6 for example, and will they illuminate the matrix without any evidence? They probably would 🤣
Grow up man. Does it occur to your evident super brain that people might be on their way to move it? God, people. 🙄
@@thetruckerseyeand if they don’t and you hit it, you’ll want to sue as they knew but didn’t tell you. You should be better than this pal.
One thing I've often wondered with these: what would happen if the speed was lowered when you're right by the gantry and have no time to brake?
I actually have a video of that happening to me but never heard anything. I was doing about 46 in a 60 and then the 60 changed to 40 as Inwent through, i saved the video incase I needed evidence lol
You are right. Gantry info has not often anything to do wirh real world.
I often see info relating ro an incidemt on OPPOSITE CARRIAGEWAY . Seems apprentices in operations room cannot get direction of motorway correct😅
@@JurivonStolzenberg14 There was a breakdown in the inside lane (no hard shoulder) last week and they brilliantly had all the signs up telling you of a report of blocked lane....only problem that all of the gantries telling you this were AFTER the position of the car 🤣
@thetruckerseye yes, I cannot wait for all autonomous vehicles on M 62 to start DRIVING BACKWARDS lol
Most of the smart motorways have the default limits pre-set at certain times of day, regardless of the live traffic situation. On a weekday at the same time the road will be busier, but for some reason they don't seem to factor the weekend into the system....happens so often when travelling the motorways at the weekend during 'rush hour'.
I've noticed this on certain stretches too. Tell you something else too... the radio traffic bulletins do the same through the week. They'll tell you that there's queuing traffic at somewhere where there is usually queuing traffic at the same time you are driving through the same place thinking it's bloody quiet here today 🤣🤣
They think they are (or claim) to be erring on the side of safety when this behaviour creates danger through causing erratic behaviour in drivers, loss of faith in the warnings and even speeding to make up lost time in the un-monitored sections of the roads. As usual its the common sense that is missing.
I just don't think they know what they are doing haha
It’s nothing to do with “money grabbing”, it’s down to poor training, sloppy attitudes, indifference and a general “mustn’t let my tea go cold” ethos, that pervades many vital services staffed in part by less than professional operatives.
The smart motorway work on the M6 between J21 and J26 is now open so all lanes are used . The gantry signs are set at 50mph for the whole length of the smart motorway. I think this is because of the dangers posed by having no hard shoulder and the issues caused by broken down vehicles. National highways know how dangerous these sections are so are limiting the speed to 50mph to mitigate the problem they have created .
That's a temporary 50mph there so that motorists 'have time' to get used to the new road layout. Makes you laugh!
Two comments.
First there are some parts of the motorway network where the speed limit is reduced not because of the congestion, but to reduce pollution. Engines produce less pollution when not driven as hard, so in areas where air quality is an issue they reduce the motorway speed. There are two that I am aware of, the elevated section of the M1 and M6 through Sheffield and Birmingham. So the congestion warning is actually wrong.
The second comment is about the technology behind these signs. When they were introduced they were supposed to be automated. Sensors on the motorway were supposed to detect slowing traffic and automatically adjust the speed limit approaching the congestion to smooth out the flow. However, this didn't work. I believe that there were technical reasons, but there was also a certain amount of cockup by national highways because of the way that they split control across regions rather than them being a national system. So they switched them into manual control and as we all know humans make mistakes. This particularly a true where the splits between regions occur and the limits change up or down for no apparent reason.
I have to drive now but I'm going to take you on a little bit about the first comment so I will do it quickly. You're right about them having pollution limits but I think I've noticed they've disappeared a lot lately apart from the fixed ones in Wales on the M4. You are right about the theory they have about lower engine revs etc equalling less emissions but I have another view on it that they don't seem to want to take any notice of... i'll get back to you on it when I have more time if that's OK?
Scam, scam, scam! Utter disgrace!🤦🏻♂️
Very good.
Did the hgv driver get a NIP for this ? or was it white van man who got flashed ? its difficult to make out,.If the hgv was flat out at limited hgv 56mph speed he shouldn't get nicked if the police adhere to the 10%+3mph rule which would allow for a vehicle to pass by at 58mph without getting flashed,. I know 10%+3 isn't set in stone by all forces, i was on the M6 and M42 around birmingham on sunday and the gantry signs were 50/40/30 mph and a car flew past me at a good 70/80 mph and i didn't see any flash, (1) he knows something i dont, (2) the car was on cloned plates, (3)car was stolen, but my guess from speaking to others is that all the gantries warning of speed cameras are telling lies ? Just lately ive been going m6/m5/m42/m40 as that route dosent have any variable gantry speed signs, same as most of m40,.I've also been told by someone that he drove m6/m42 flat out in his car and he never got a ticket, this was a few years ago tho, i tend to push the limits when say 30/40/50/60 is displayed i will pass them @ or slightly above posted limit, as cars speedo's usually read a few mph fast,. Got away with it so far anyway,. But like you say is it a stealthy way of raking in extra revenue ? also to much brake light action on this video, mainly the cars as most trucks brake lights activate when they lift off accelerator due to having auto engine braking, volvos are ok, scanias flashing brake continuously during gear changes,.
There is no 10% plus 3 rule.
Its what some police forces do, some dont.
And since it isnt a rule, they dont need to.
Certain sections of smart motorway near Birmingham have the cameras mounted on the gantries behind the variable speed limits displays and generally speaking, only every second or third gantry has cameras on them.
As for the 10% +3 rule, it's a guideline that the police force responsible for the area can choose to stick to or not. From experience, Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety DOES offer this leeway as they even say so on their website.
As for cloned plates, the camera will still flash, plate or no plate, but of course the criminal will be feeling invincible if they think they can't be caught.
@@cabovermike It looked like the car. As he pulled back in in front od the van he then hit the brakes as the flash went off.
@@RikAindow yeah it's up to each individual force I believe.
Staff levels across the public sector have been cut year on year since the start of austerity under Cameron. This will have lead to fewer staff o the night and weekend shifts to monitor the matrix system and variable speedlimit areas. I met someone who works in a different sector of tge government who works in a teamof 80 that monitors the activities ofover 100,000 organisations spread across the UK.
My other point relates to how the matrix/variable speedlimit systems are set up. Travelling around it appears that these system operate in groups spreadover sevral miles which often means they are still showing restrictions after tge incident sitehas been passed.
May be worth touching base with GDB, the breakdown guy. He gas had run ins with Highways for refusing to close a lane when he & his clients are ready to leave aN SOS bay on a 'smart' motorway.
@@adinigel yes that's ridiculous too. All he wanted was a lane closing to allow them to get out of the SOS layby safely!
There is a whole lot of problems with SMART motorways. I am sure we all can come up with cracking answers for the SMART anagram.
When breakdown crews attending breakdowns ask for a lane closure, they only get a move over that is not enforced as lane closure would, they are furious.
Don't get me started on Motorway closures and the abject failure of diversion signage or prewarn on Council controlled A road motorway feeders.
This is the problem when everything gets centralised, local knowledge goes.
To protect broken down trucks I will not travel on the hard shoulder of a 'not so' SMARtT motorway, as I don't want anyone's death on my shoulders!
Its nanny state controlling your speed...reports of ......looking at google traffic ..road clear ....
I agree,
And who do the reports from from? YOU GUYS!!! and why are signs on for miles? As YOU don’t know where you are. We have to have a nanny states cos everyone is so thick
This is not something new this has been going on for years, its not about points on your licence it's about getting money into the coffers from an easy target, anybody with a driving license is a target, vocational or otherwise. As for these alleged "traffic officers" they are just a waste of space and a burden on the financial budget. I travel across europe and never see this in countries I travel through, I fact to see a police car is a rare thing although I'm sure there are cameras monitoring traffic
Smart motorways??? My arse 😂
They had a go calling them 'digital motorways' recently, they seem to have ditched that now too lol