Blaming the call handlers is pointless; it's ultimately not their fault. They're given a set of instructions and things they can and can't do, and they don't really get discretion. The people that should be blamed are the people writing the policies that the call handlers have to follow.
Good for you Greg. I used to work for a large breakdown company in the office. During my time there, patrols were either seriously injured or killed. There's a memorial garden outside the office. As far as I'm concerned, safety is paramount.
Well done Greg,you stand your groung,especialy when your attendinga family. As an hgv driver,if i see a recovery driver working,i slow down and move over,as soon as i see a lane divert,imout in lane two. Stay safe Greg,Highways Agency want a boot up their arse!!
The policy of deploying a red X by default was replaced with a diversion arrow because independent recovery operators were abusing the system by requesting red X exits and remaining for an hour. This action left a red X unnecessarily active, and took a camera operator from other safety-critical tasks for an extended period.
@@OhLookaClutchPedal I’m not sure I would tar every recovery agent with the same brush. The work is very dangerous and anything that can be done to help make this situation safer has to be a positive, no?
It needs all recovery / breakdown / repairs companies to refuse to do motorway work including RTC clearance - see how long they will take to change their policies. When the roads are not being cleared of broken down or crashed vehicles then they will have to change their policies. In the meantime I suggest everyone writes to their MP to highlight this. We also need to see a Parliamentary petition to call for an end to these dangerous motorways
All down to their stats. Closing a lane reduces there lane availability, making them look 'bad'. Get these managers & politicians to stand on a motorway hard shoulder &they might understand how frightening it is.
I don't see any issues in tracking statistics, but tracking an employee's performance based on how long they activate a safety feature is ridiculous. Safety should be the priority, not traffic volume. And I'm saying that as a motorist who likes to go places quickly - I'd still rather arrive than quickly smash into something.
These Highways people really could not care less about the traveling public. Stick on a red X and allow the public to go safely rather than have the foolish behaviour we saw here. God bless Mr. GDB for caring so much about others. Thank you.
Exactly! The vast majority of people would prefer 30-60 seconds of mild inconvenience than to end up with their car destroyed, months in a hospital bed.... Or worse.
Still worth a punt and shows willing to do the right thing. Imagine a petition to them from all the local recovery & tyre fitting companies in that county, forces an MPs hand to respond to something like that
@@MrPete81 A petition may be a good idea, if even a fifth of Greg's subscribers signed it would go before parliament add in all the other groups I have seen talking about how dangerous these roads are it should stand a good chance of getting heard. Most annoying thing is national highways is publicly funded yet they risk the lives of the public everyday.
I dread driving on the M6 with my young family when we visit Leek to see family because it's a death trap and your life is in someone else's hands. Really pleased you're highlighting this!
Trust me after going back through videos and playlist I want to give highways a call and my local MP to get try and get this changed not just in Scotland England and UK wide
I think the problem with a lane diverge is a lot of people think it means the next sign is displaying a X so they don't hurry to move over as they think they still have time but like everything they will wait till someone gets killed and the shit hits the fan.
"but like everything they will wait till someone gets killed and the shit hits the fan." The trouble is the shit wont hit the fan. National Highways will just say how sad then carry on as normal. Why would they give a damn that somebody died.
@@kevinrayner5812 Exactly. Just posted that in reply to someone talking about compensation for the victims... There's no compensation when they claim its a massive accident no one could have predicted.
When they initially proposed the introduction of "Smart Motorways" they promoted how Safe they would be due to the CCTV and Gantries, I think they have forgotten that a 30-60 second Red-X can make the difference between Life, Death or a Life Changing accident to individuals and their families.
Smart motorway = oxymoron, the people who thought up smart motorways should be charged with murder for the deaths so far! End the madness bring back hard shoulders on all motorways NOW! Stop the Russian roulette. Your spot on Greg, respect to ya, you save lives.
Well done for standing your ground, being professional, and not losing your rag. Highways are totally incompetent, and they need investigating. Clearly states on their website they will put a red X up, for you to safely return to lane one. About time they dug up all the smart motorways, and out them back to how they were before any of this nonsense started. Keep up with the good videos. All the best. 👍
Watching this makes me happy I no longer work in the recovery sector. I was when the M25 J8 went "smart". Trying to rejoin in a 7.5 ton truck was ni on impossible. This was before the red X became mandatory. It won't get changed until people are killed. I agree the highway agency needs investigating!
Thank you for everything you do for us. You put your life on the line whenever you help, most don't realise how quickly a job can become fatal 😢 National Highways should be ashamed.
I hold my hands up, I stay in the lane until I see a red x in the distance, I thought the arrow was a warning of an upcoming lane closure. You’ve opened my eyes and I will in future move out of a lane with an arrow in it, even if a**holes start undertaking me.
I still think the stopping bays should have a bunch of red LED lights embedded into the road showing Xs for several hundred metres leading up to the bay. The little X on the gantry could be missed for several reasons, but a huge X on the road would be difficult to miss and obvious in meaning even to foreign drivers.
But Greg you are forgetting that lane closures are a performance metric, a closed lane may affect a highways employees performance review or even worse reduce a manager's bonus. Oh the horror😮 National highways are a disgrace and it really looks like they are putting statistics ahead of safety.
@@kevinrayner5812 of course there isn't, how would that have data point? If it can't be measured in software then why would that matter. 'You want to report a near miss? Computer says No.'
Why on earth would placing a red X, which is entirely dependent on something outside of their control - a vehicle breaking down - be a performance metric?? But there's no other explanation. Just because vehicles are "complying" to something they legally don't need to one minute, has no relevance to whether another vehicle will or not the next.
@@deadlymarkham You can only assume that because it is a quantifiable event that could be interpreted as a reduction in traffic flow or road capacity then a certain corporate mindset would want to reduce it. It's statistics vs common sense.
100% totally agree with everything you said and done in this video. Something needs to be done not only about this , but also how dangerous these so called Smart motorways are. Stay safe Greg.
@JustRupes >>> Well they are a private company remember, they don't have a remit to serve the public - they call the shots no legal direction to serve the public. Did you hear when they said ....'company' 'offer a lane divert only' 'manager instructions' but never said their name - you wonder why arh? You can sue the gits! Just like so call courts but only are processing bulk centers with no legal powers! Printing off fines & worthless warrants that powerless 3rd party debt collectors like wave around in clueless people faces to seal & rob them.
@@gettogo0159 They are not a private company. National Highways is run as a Ltd company but they are 100% owned by the exchequer, effectively the UK taxpayer. They are accountable to Parliament. This is the same as Network Rail.
@@OhLookaClutchPedal what a brain dead comment for you to make... as if it makes a difference to the fact that the way highways treat people on smart motorways factually endangers them when they are broken down... 25 deaths have occurred on smart motorways involving people broken down including of people who were helping to recover those broken down as is documented in numerous news articles you yourself could read if you bothered to spend 5 minuets on Google... Bottom line is you should be smarter than to waffle points in support of the halfwits who created the smart motorways and whom manage them because factually no matter how yourself wants to spin it there vastly more dangerous than non smart motorways and do factually endanger recovery people and civilians as is widely documented...
What a genuinely lovely lad you are Greg. You are of course 100% correct, this only scratches the surface of what you face as an honourable man. If you knew, and if your viewers knew just how bad our governmental system is, they would burn the system to the ground. If you want to hear just some of what us are doing to right these wrongs, I can tell you some very strange things these 'Public Servants' are getting away with. Anyways, you are quite clearly a decent bloke, and my hat is doffed to you, for at least trying to do the right thing. You are a rare gem amongst the crowds. ;-)
Smart motorways were obviously thought up by someone with mental health issues. Traffic police should be totally in charge of safety on motorways and highways should be instructed to obey their commands. National Highways is just a money saving exercise, they don’t have the skills or the training. I would imagine they are on 50% of a traffic officer’s salary and traffic police numbers have been cut. I personally would take any alternative route to avoid using a smart motorway, regardless of extra distance and time. Great work you’re doing Greg.
I wonder how the highways would stand legally in a crash? Particularly if it’s a fatality, it will happen, it’s not “if”. The compensation should be massive!!!
Thanks, Greg. This is just for the algorithm, as many others here have voiced my concerns. A red X, backed by a penalty for noncompliance, is much safer.
In Scotland there is amey vans sitting all along the motorway and they attend every breakdown and have electronic signs on there vans to keep you safe until help arrives
Scotland doesn’t have any “smart motorways” all motorways in Scotland run with a hard shoulder. Only three exceptions, 8 miles of the M90 due to that section being built in the 1960s when regulations did not require them. And it has frequent lay-bys. And the A823(M) and M898 which are just over a mile long. Again regulations didn’t require them at the time there were built because they were short motorways. All the major motorways in Scotland, M8, M9, M74, M77, M80, M74(A) all have hard shoulders. Thankfully the “all lane running” “smart motorway” madness hasn’t reached north of the border yet!
@@arod9998 Elements of the M90 north of the bridge don't have a hard shoulder, and the same with the Edinburgh bypass. Not Motorways perhaps, but still busy, high speed roads with zero safety spots.
Trouble is you can argue as much as you like, but the law states a different opinion. I agree though trying to pull out of these bays in a truck or big van is stupid without a lane closure. They’ve no doubt calculated how much it’ll cost to lose lives before changing their policy back.
Well done - If it were me and I take my hat off to you for endangering yourself along with so many other responders I would simply state that your 3.5 tonne van cannot leave the refuge safely to rejoin at the then current average speed of 70mph PLUS - you will cause traffic in lane 1 to brake abruptly and very likely cause an accident for obvious reasons? Bless you sir - KBO as Winston Churchill said - you have my support
I was on the M6 between junctions 16&17 heading north, there was a stranded vehicle in the outside lane 3 people stood next to the central reservation. Arrow signs to move over and guess where the red X was??? Yep on the gantry after the vehicle.........
Working myself on Safety, you are having the wrigth attitude, 2minutes for couple of miles closure does not affect statistics and will save lives. Keep on the good work.
If you start a petition im willing to sign it even though i live in Wales and ive had my fair shares with Traffic Wales as well i rather have a safe motorway than a dangerous smart motorway luckily where i live the lanes are just a normal motorway as well. ive been following a while now and the amount of things ive heard with highways is unreal. and with the fine contest that in court and take Highways to court they hate lawsuits against them i found that out with Traffic Wales myself when i told their officers im gonna take them to court they backed off from me.
Start up a National Petition if you get enough people to sign you will get questions in Parliament. Also, contact GB News and ask them for a petition for questions in parliament.
@@user-fq8tt2tm6q So why did they want to tow it to the refuge area. Highways are a joke and if Gregg was not following the rules why was the case dismissed. Guess you must work for Highways.
I am totally with you Greg. I'm a HGV driver, driving nights, and I am forever seeing people on the motorways ignoring the lane divert signs to avoid queuing like everyone else. You see 2 lanes with lane divert and they still come flying down those lanes at 50mph, but then as soon as there is a red X then they are all pushing their way in.
They are not 'pushing their way in' they are using all available road space up until the closure, exactly as you are supposed to do. That's exactly the issue with this new 'policy' from highways, an arrow is not a closure.
and as a follow trucker, that's exactly what i do, for the reasons ryan said above. about 80% of the time there is no closure or reason to move over anyway, because either a) the cone laying truck due to start at 8pm still has the van crews putting out the lane closure signs 2 miles back up the road which I've just passed, or b) the crash that happened 2 hours ago has long since been cleared but they've forgotten to turn the signs off. The same happens when the overnight roadworks finish early and the cone crews collect all the cones at 3.30am and have the road reopened 1.5 hours ahead of schedule, but the HA muppets leave 3 out of 4 lanes red Xd for nothing, causing pointless and unnecessary queues.
Got some more names: Siwan Puw - Head of Strategy and Campaigns Joanna Goulding - Head of Health & Safety, Risk, Standards and Assurance Tim Ward - Head of Regional and Corporate Communications Paul Hill - Head of Customer Service Development All publicly available on NH websites/FOIs so anyone could find them if they look deep enough before anyone accuses me of publishing personal data.
Greg this is disgusting behaviour from the highways. My car went into limp mode when I had a caravan on the back. I stopped in one of them refuge spots. The car then corrected the fault and I had to drive out of there with no lane closures. It was scary stuff. Keep up the good work mate, and give them hell.
@@aggrodriver And worse - if the fault returns as you approach the end of the bay, with your foot hard on the accelerator, halfway moved into the live lane.... You're basically screwed. You're going to slow suddenly, but run out of space to pull back off the road.
I have no words, none at all. It's turned from policy to personal now, I reckon. Where I live in Derbyshire, we have a normal domestic road that meets with a junction on the A52 (no roundabout, no traffic lights) and it requires you to take your life in your hands getting out there. You have my full support in getting this barmy rule altered, you're not being unreasonable, you're ensuring the safety of your clients.
If they're reluctant to close the lane with a red X, is there a compromise to request a speed limit reduction for a few minutes, along with their "lane divert" ? Of course, you shouldn't need to compromise on safety, but i'm thinking it might be better than just the "lane divert". If this is a no go, then maybe the local MP can arrange a "funding divert" away from their department. Great channel by the way.
You are totally correct in your hate of Smart motorways. How do you get to a safety bay if your gearbox explodes as happened to my brother? It could not be towed and would not roll. I would not trust an arrow. The red X is the only slightly safer way. Keep pushing in your beliefs, you definitely are not alone. Cannot believe you are in trouble for loading on a slip road, I would attend court just to piss them off.
It really is time for all recovery firms to boycott jobs on these stupid not so smart motorways until the idiots in charge see sense and enable a red ❌. The arrogance from Highway’s and Police really is unbelievable! 😡
This needs to stop... THEY MUST CHANGE THIS POLICY NOW. I work on the roads, not motorways and there is no way i could contain my rage. I would of told them a few choice words. Everyone write to your MP NOW!!
This seriously needs to change. Whoever made this decision to make their department look good on paper needs jail time. This is a criminally negligent decision that will result in even more deaths on the Smart Motorway. KPIs have been valued above lives. Disgusting.
Re-joining the motorway or even just being on the side of the road is so dangerous with traffic whizzing by at that speed, especially knowing theirs a bunch or speeding drivers hurtling past listening to music, chatting away with their vehicles on cruise control, let alone trying to re-enter a highway with a less than performance vehicle. Given the fact that they can simply close a lane remotely at the click of a button it really does begs to question why they're pushing back so hard to not want protect the public to the safe safest possible level, that shit seems sinister to me. For what other reason other than to meet some internal quota or statistic which may negatively highlight certain flaws in the National Highways smart system is their to not want to click a button?
You are 100% right in what your saying and doing I pray it dosent happen but someone is going to loss there life if highways carry on like this there putting statistics before people's life's 🤬🤬🤬
Greg you 1000% doing the right thing national highways are discusting playing with people life we all have a family to get home to and why should national highways be able to put are lives in danger like this something needs to be done now this is wrong
I wonder what the call handler would want if he or she was in a era bay with there son or daughter thay would want a red x to leave safely something needs to be done now I’m behind u all the way with this Greg there is nothing smart about this motorway at all
I’ve often have to exit an emergency refuge area before on a motorway and it’s no problem without a Red X. But when I do, I’m in a decent enough car. The motorway isn’t especially busy. I won’t say what I do a living, but my car is covered in bright yellow stickers which usually cause people to slam on their anchors. I’m also trained in operating safely on a strategic road. Doing it in a slow, 7.5T + recovery truck with a member of the public who doesn’t know what they’re doing on one of the busiest motorways in the country? Yeah, I’d want a Red X too. Keep at it Greg.
@geko7844 Exactly, in my personal car, an automatic volvo xc60 d6 , put it into sports mode, wait for a gap in traffic, floor it, and very quickly up to motorway speed. In my mercedes sprinter work van, running fully loaded or my double cab pick up nothing close to the acceleration even when exiting with a suitable traffic gap not a pleasant or very safe experience in these vehicles. I should be entitled to have the cover of a red x to reejoin the traffic flow safely both for my safety and that of other road users. It only takes someone exiting the ERA in a vehicle with limited/ standard acceleration and someone else either exceeding the speed limit or simply not paying attention, and it's a recipe for an accident.
Just take a step back and think about this. A man trying to work his living and a family trying to use the roads to travel home - both unable to use the country's infrastructure safely because of some dystopian highway "policy". Not only that but when the highways agents are explained what the issue is they seemingly lie about what they can see on cameras? Then the police getting involved and spending their resources... Clown world
You have more power than politicians. Especially when you can get your point spread to tens if not hundreds of of thousands of people in just one video. And with more videos you will reach more people. The thing that will get things changing is finding out who set the work instructions and naming and shaming. Whilst they fear no consequences, then you will get abuses like what happened with the Post Office. Make them fear public opinion.
Your not wrong at all Greg the safety of you and your customers are a priority. Shame on highways for not seeing this. Well done with out you guys we be buggered
Thank you for all your efforts to keep your customers and yourself safe. I am ashamed that National Highways ,a public body in this country can have such policies that put the people who pay their wages at such risk. Perhaps a Key Performance Indicator should be set which measures the no of times they do not make it as safe 😅
@@marksapollo Most of the TH-cam lawyers own firms that employ half a dozen lawyers or more to do the actual legal work. They still charge for their name, but you speak to their employees.
THEY should spend the day driving up and down the motorways spending 15mins in an "emergency refuge" then leave with no lane closures- i suspect they may have a different opinion whilst in the car- BUT back at the office itd be "i dont know what his problem is, we were fine" It wont take just one life before they change the "rules"
The problem with the lane change is that they set it for 5 miles before roadworks so people get used to not moving over right away. They need to use the red x when it is needed like this!
This video is a scary eye opener, can’t believe they wouldn’t put a ❌ on for a couple of minutes. That’s taking jobs worth to a whole new level of shittynes. What vile folk in that office would not have the heart to warrant it, putting statistics over people’s lives. It’s disgusting. Fantastic video mate
Hi Greg.just done some idiotic periodic dcpc today.the trainer was telling us highways will be getting more powers and eventually motorway police will be defunct.just saying
Greg…..this needs to go on National tv…..these lay-by’s are a f death trap….working alongside a live motorway is absolutely the most dangerous job now in the U.K….😐👍🇮🇲 ps we need the same law as some states in the US , Slow Down & Move Over …. Ron Pratt is such an advocate of that policy….it saves lives.The End .PPs I really felt for you in this video…it’s not fair….😐
I’m a roadside working for a breakdown company myself used a era up near Keele and requested a lane closures by using the phone in the era bay and the guy I spoke to was happy to close the lane for me and my customer to leave. I guess the moral of the story is that it depends on the person you get when calling to get a lane closure or some highways reps are just going and doing as they please 😡😡😡
I think you are right doing what you are doing ,Its Ok for them sitting in their air conditioned office ,It would do them good to be with you and be stuck in a Refuge and see how dangerous it really is .Contact your local MP show them the video footage and see what they have to say .
all the smart motorways used to have a hard shoulder or emergency lane, but millions was spent converting it into a 4th lane for live traffic because a study or survey said it made traffic flow better.
Until the darkness hit and I saw that curb, I just now realized how small that pocket is... Unless you are in a GDB Impreza and you do a hard 4WD launch, you are not making it out of that little pocket to fit in the semi compliance gaps that the public gives you. In your case, you are in a sluggish van, with a lot more weight than a sports car, and no option to do a heavy launch, there is no way you are fitting in there. All it takes is one sleepy head / texting driver and you will have created a natural X for all 3 lanes, requiring police, fire and ambulance to show up.
You shouldn't even have to phone up for the lane closures.... The phone box should have a button that just does it... They've got cameras all over to prevent misuse of it. Press the button, the red X comes on, and stays on for 45 seconds or until the operator watching sees the bay is successfully vacated. It should NOT require an hour of arguing to get a safety feature to ve used.
You are not on your own, you have 55.6K subscribers behind you. If we all contacted our MP or Mr Starmer or the Roads Minister then perhaps someone would take notice. After all, it must be cheaper to put a red X than to deal with carnage on the motorway. Perhaps it needs a fatality for them to take action? Keep strong Greg and thank you for your stress.
A red x lane closure for 5 minutes will cause less chaos and problems than the motorway being closed for multiple hours whilst the police investigate a serious accident involving fatalities or serious injury. Smart motorways scare me
I saw this policy in action recently on my way home from work and I moved over straight away and the amount of people that stayed in lane 1 was mind boggling not to mention when they finally put a red x on one or two vehicles were still in lane 1 I’m with you on 100% on this Greg they don’t care about people’s lives maybe the bosses who make these stupid policy changes should stand on a hard shoulder or in an era bay and see how dangerous it is whoever came up with the stupid idea of removing the hard shoulder wants firing or shooting because making motorways have four lanes has not helped traffic congestion at all and people have been killed on smart motorways because they couldn’t make it to an era bay it’s alright having them provided you have enough power left to creep into it and I don’t think this policy will change until there’s a serious accident and people are killed but by then it’s too late but I’m with you 100% Greg 👍😊
You are absolutely correct. A 'Lane Divert' means the lane is still live. So it's perfectly okay for you and your customer to pull out into speeding traffic at little more than walking speed. Disgusting.
That was disgusting to watch and it’s all about KPIs so someone can get a bonus, unbelievable they are happy to risk peoples lives for their own egos. This needs to get to parliament and politicians need to get involved
Quite right I never though these refuge bays were long enough too safely rejoin the Motorway, and a temporary lane closure is the only safe way out of them.
I broke down on M 602 junction 1 West, Salford on hard shoulder with hazardous goods truck, i called the police and got a 40 limit for lane 1 beside me, sunny day , good visibility and medium traffic, and Highway officer to check on my breakdown progress ( coolant line leak) , still not the best but i feel main danger is less observant drivers and traffic management on road nowadays.
In Australia and New Zealand when there is a accident, breakdown, and/or traffic jam on a Smart Motorway the operators will dynamically change the speed limit to safely slow down traffic down to 40 KM/H with flashing amber lights across all lanes and will also close lane 1 with a red X along the section where the breakdown and/or accident has occured.
They outright shut lanes without needing to ring and they automatically have adequate highway officers stationed at busy motorway routes to assist automatically without a call needed.
The call handlers must be getting paid a bonus every time they don’t use a red ❌
@@johnp6636 nothing would surprise me at all.
I fear it may go much further than that.
Watching a few episodes I fear you may be right.....Gulp!
Blaming the call handlers is pointless; it's ultimately not their fault. They're given a set of instructions and things they can and can't do, and they don't really get discretion.
The people that should be blamed are the people writing the policies that the call handlers have to follow.
Did you send them the video Greg? You wanna get the transport secretary to swap places with you for an hour he would shit himself
Good for you Greg. I used to work for a large breakdown company in the office. During my time there, patrols were either seriously injured or killed. There's a memorial garden outside the office. As far as I'm concerned, safety is paramount.
Well done Greg,you stand your groung,especialy when your attendinga family. As an hgv driver,if i see a recovery driver working,i slow down and move over,as soon as i see a lane divert,imout in lane two. Stay safe Greg,Highways Agency want a boot up their arse!!
He’s the reason red X is no longer used by default.
Wrong.
@@OhLookaClutchPedalsquare that circle for me.
The policy of deploying a red X by default was replaced with a diversion arrow because independent recovery operators were abusing the system by requesting red X exits and remaining for an hour. This action left a red X unnecessarily active, and took a camera operator from other safety-critical tasks for an extended period.
@@OhLookaClutchPedal I’m not sure I would tar every recovery agent with the same brush. The work is very dangerous and anything that can be done to help make this situation safer has to be a positive, no?
It needs all recovery / breakdown / repairs companies to refuse to do motorway work including RTC clearance - see how long they will take to change their policies.
When the roads are not being cleared of broken down or crashed vehicles then they will have to change their policies.
In the meantime I suggest everyone writes to their MP to highlight this.
We also need to see a Parliamentary petition to call for an end to these dangerous motorways
All down to their stats. Closing a lane reduces there lane availability, making them look 'bad'.
Get these managers & politicians to stand on a motorway hard shoulder &they might understand how frightening it is.
If you set a target, people will do stupid things to meet it. Having "lanes open" percentage is a KPI, but should NEVER be a target.
I don't see any issues in tracking statistics, but tracking an employee's performance based on how long they activate a safety feature is ridiculous.
Safety should be the priority, not traffic volume. And I'm saying that as a motorist who likes to go places quickly - I'd still rather arrive than quickly smash into something.
These Highways people really could not care less about the traveling public. Stick on a red X and allow the public to go safely rather than have the foolish behaviour we saw here. God bless Mr. GDB for caring so much about others. Thank you.
M8 smart m way oiffttr😮
This sort treatment public & contract work crazy
Exactly! The vast majority of people would prefer 30-60 seconds of mild inconvenience than to end up with their car destroyed, months in a hospital bed.... Or worse.
Greg, go and see you're local MP with the evidence and ask them to contact the transport secretary for a response
Greg don't contact your local MP!!!! If it's a labour one all they'll be interested in is how much tax you pay 👍😂🤣😂
The new MP is a waste of space, she was parachuted in from Bristol. I wouldn't expect a response.
If his MP who I think it is , good luck with that .
Still worth a punt and shows willing to do the right thing. Imagine a petition to them from all the local recovery & tyre fitting companies in that county, forces an MPs hand to respond to something like that
@@MrPete81 A petition may be a good idea, if even a fifth of Greg's subscribers signed it would go before parliament add in all the other groups I have seen talking about how dangerous these roads are it should stand a good chance of getting heard. Most annoying thing is national highways is publicly funded yet they risk the lives of the public everyday.
I dread driving on the M6 with my young family when we visit Leek to see family because it's a death trap and your life is in someone else's hands. Really pleased you're highlighting this!
I am very tempted to ring highways and give them a piece of my mind.
I have already emailed my MP.
Me too….disgrace
Trust me after going back through videos and playlist I want to give highways a call and my local MP to get try and get this changed not just in Scotland England and UK wide
I think the problem with a lane diverge is a lot of people think it means the next sign is displaying a X so they don't hurry to move over as they think they still have time but like everything they will wait till someone gets killed and the shit hits the fan.
and what ever it is not going right under the red X, still time change lane at that point,
"but like everything they will wait till someone gets killed and the shit hits the fan." The trouble is the shit wont hit the fan. National Highways will just say how sad then carry on as normal. Why would they give a damn that somebody died.
@@kevinrayner5812
Exactly. Just posted that in reply to someone talking about compensation for the victims... There's no compensation when they claim its a massive accident no one could have predicted.
When they initially proposed the introduction of "Smart Motorways" they promoted how Safe they would be due to the CCTV and Gantries, I think they have forgotten that a 30-60 second Red-X can make the difference between Life, Death or a Life Changing accident to individuals and their families.
They wouldn't be too bad if they were managed properly.
Shocking and dangerous. Well done for exposing this.
Smart motorway = oxymoron, the people who thought up smart motorways should be charged with murder for the deaths so far! End the madness bring back hard shoulders on all motorways NOW! Stop the Russian roulette. Your spot on Greg, respect to ya, you save lives.
Well done for standing your ground, being professional, and not losing your rag. Highways are totally incompetent, and they need investigating. Clearly states on their website they will put a red X up, for you to safely return to lane one. About time they dug up all the smart motorways, and out them back to how they were before any of this nonsense started. Keep up with the good videos. All the best. 👍
Life is more important than money and vans, they know this but don't respect it, well done greg
Watching this makes me happy I no longer work in the recovery sector. I was when the M25 J8 went "smart".
Trying to rejoin in a 7.5 ton truck was ni on impossible. This was before the red X became mandatory.
It won't get changed until people are killed.
I agree the highway agency needs investigating!
Thank you for everything you do for us. You put your life on the line whenever you help, most don't realise how quickly a job can become fatal 😢 National Highways should be ashamed.
I hold my hands up, I stay in the lane until I see a red x in the distance, I thought the arrow was a warning of an upcoming lane closure. You’ve opened my eyes and I will in future move out of a lane with an arrow in it, even if a**holes start undertaking me.
Exactly my point people know a red x is a no go. Where an arrow the lane is still legally open.
GDB
I like the way you keep eye on traffic behind you. Will save your life one day.
I still think the stopping bays should have a bunch of red LED lights embedded into the road showing Xs for several hundred metres leading up to the bay.
The little X on the gantry could be missed for several reasons, but a huge X on the road would be difficult to miss and obvious in meaning even to foreign drivers.
But Greg you are forgetting that lane closures are a performance metric, a closed lane may affect a highways employees performance review or even worse reduce a manager's bonus. Oh the horror😮 National highways are a disgrace and it really looks like they are putting statistics ahead of safety.
But is there a metric for how many people nearly killed due National Highways failures?
@@kevinrayner5812 of course there isn't, how would that have data point? If it can't be measured in software then why would that matter. 'You want to report a near miss? Computer says No.'
Why on earth would placing a red X, which is entirely dependent on something outside of their control - a vehicle breaking down - be a performance metric?? But there's no other explanation. Just because vehicles are "complying" to something they legally don't need to one minute, has no relevance to whether another vehicle will or not the next.
@@deadlymarkham You can only assume that because it is a quantifiable event that could be interpreted as a reduction in traffic flow or road capacity then a certain corporate mindset would want to reduce it. It's statistics vs common sense.
Feels like we all need to write to our local MPs.....
🤣🤣🤣 - Outro = Unbelievable - See if you can get in touch Ashley Neal on this one - 🤣🤣🤣 - Mr Neil did note this incident the other week.
100% totally agree with everything you said and done in this video.
Something needs to be done not only about this , but also how dangerous these so called Smart motorways are. Stay safe Greg.
Disgusted by National Highways, behind you 100% Greg.
@JustRupes >>> Well they are a private company remember, they don't have a remit to serve the public - they call the shots no legal direction to serve the public. Did you hear when they said ....'company' 'offer a lane divert only' 'manager instructions' but never said their name - you wonder why arh? You can sue the gits! Just like so call courts but only are processing bulk centers with no legal powers! Printing off fines & worthless warrants that powerless 3rd party debt collectors like wave around in clueless people faces to seal & rob them.
@@gettogo0159 They are not a private company. National Highways is run as a Ltd company but they are 100% owned by the exchequer, effectively the UK taxpayer. They are accountable to Parliament. This is the same as Network Rail.
Write to Edmund King, president of the AA, concerns their breakdown operators too.
Do you know how many breakdown operators have died on smart motorways?
@@OhLookaClutchPedal I don't know off hand, but it's one too many.
@@mhdphotographys9031you won’t find one.
@@mhdphotographys9031 there hasn’t been one. You’ve been misled.
@@OhLookaClutchPedal what a brain dead comment for you to make... as if it makes a difference to the fact that the way highways treat people on smart motorways factually endangers them when they are broken down...
25 deaths have occurred on smart motorways involving people broken down including of people who were helping to recover those broken down as is documented in numerous news articles you yourself could read if you bothered to spend 5 minuets on Google...
Bottom line is you should be smarter than to waffle points in support of the halfwits who created the smart motorways and whom manage them because factually no matter how yourself wants to spin it there vastly more dangerous than non smart motorways and do factually endanger recovery people and civilians as is widely documented...
What a genuinely lovely lad you are Greg. You are of course 100% correct, this only scratches the surface of what you face as an honourable man. If you knew, and if your viewers knew just how bad our governmental system is, they would burn the system to the ground. If you want to hear just some of what us are doing to right these wrongs, I can tell you some very strange things these 'Public Servants' are getting away with. Anyways, you are quite clearly a decent bloke, and my hat is doffed to you, for at least trying to do the right thing. You are a rare gem amongst the crowds.
;-)
Smart motorways were obviously thought up by someone with mental health issues. Traffic police should be totally in charge of safety on motorways and highways should be instructed to obey their commands. National Highways is just a money saving exercise, they don’t have the skills or the training. I would imagine they are on 50% of a traffic officer’s salary and traffic police numbers have been cut. I personally would take any alternative route to avoid using a smart motorway, regardless of extra distance and time. Great work you’re doing Greg.
Everyone in direct line of hierarchy from that call handler to CEO should be taken to court for that policy and the way "smart motorways" work.
I think you need to get a petition started, I am sure you'll get thousands to sign it. KPIs Vs Peoples Lives! I know what I would pick...
I wonder how the highways would stand legally in a crash? Particularly if it’s a fatality, it will happen, it’s not “if”. The compensation should be massive!!!
They'd pay the compensation without it going to court, that's what'd happen. Wouldn't necessarily change policy
Compensation? They'd just say "it's a tragic accident that no one could have predicted"
Keep up the good work Greg
I think people see a lane divert and are then waiting to see a red X before they move over
Action is needed by recovery company's to protest at highways HQ
Thanks, Greg. This is just for the algorithm, as many others here have voiced my concerns. A red X, backed by a penalty for noncompliance, is much safer.
Do they want it shut down for hours and a life lost because they can't be bothered
In Scotland there is amey vans sitting all along the motorway and they attend every breakdown and have electronic signs on there vans to keep you safe until help arrives
Scotland doesn’t have any “smart motorways” all motorways in Scotland run with a hard shoulder. Only three exceptions, 8 miles of the M90 due to that section being built in the 1960s when regulations did not require them. And it has frequent lay-bys. And the A823(M) and M898 which are just over a mile long. Again regulations didn’t require them at the time there were built because they were short motorways. All the major motorways in Scotland, M8, M9, M74, M77, M80, M74(A) all have hard shoulders. Thankfully the “all lane running” “smart motorway” madness hasn’t reached north of the border yet!
@@arod9998 Elements of the M90 north of the bridge don't have a hard shoulder, and the same with the Edinburgh bypass. Not Motorways perhaps, but still busy, high speed roads with zero safety spots.
Trouble is you can argue as much as you like, but the law states a different opinion. I agree though trying to pull out of these bays in a truck or big van is stupid without a lane closure. They’ve no doubt calculated how much it’ll cost to lose lives before changing their policy back.
Nothing labeled "SMART" by the government is smart as we think...
Well done - If it were me and I take my hat off to you for endangering yourself along with so many other responders I would simply state that your 3.5 tonne van cannot leave the refuge safely to rejoin at the then current average speed of 70mph PLUS - you will cause traffic in lane 1 to brake abruptly and very likely cause an accident for obvious reasons? Bless you sir - KBO as Winston Churchill said - you have my support
As an ex truck driver I’ve seen how bad so called smart motorways are, and how bad hiways is and other civil servants are. They have zero clue.
I was on the M6 between junctions 16&17 heading north, there was a stranded vehicle in the outside lane 3 people stood next to the central reservation. Arrow signs to move over and guess where the red X was??? Yep on the gantry after the vehicle.........
Working myself on Safety, you are having the wrigth attitude, 2minutes for couple of miles closure does not affect statistics and will save lives.
Keep on the good work.
on top, Policy does not trump the Law
If you start a petition im willing to sign it even though i live in Wales and ive had my fair shares with Traffic Wales as well i rather have a safe motorway than a dangerous smart motorway luckily where i live the lanes are just a normal motorway as well. ive been following a while now and the amount of things ive heard with highways is unreal. and with the fine contest that in court and take Highways to court they hate lawsuits against them i found that out with Traffic Wales myself when i told their officers im gonna take them to court they backed off from me.
Start up a National Petition if you get enough people to sign you will get questions in Parliament. Also, contact GB News and ask them for a petition for questions in parliament.
Maybe when recovery personal refuse to do motorway call outs and its left to highways they may do something about it.
Highways have access to proper recovery agents who follow the law/rules unlike this clown...
@@user-fq8tt2tm6q So why did they want to tow it to the refuge area. Highways are a joke and if Gregg was not following the rules why was the case dismissed. Guess you must work for Highways.
I am totally with you Greg. I'm a HGV driver, driving nights, and I am forever seeing people on the motorways ignoring the lane divert signs to avoid queuing like everyone else. You see 2 lanes with lane divert and they still come flying down those lanes at 50mph, but then as soon as there is a red X then they are all pushing their way in.
They are not 'pushing their way in' they are using all available road space up until the closure, exactly as you are supposed to do. That's exactly the issue with this new 'policy' from highways, an arrow is not a closure.
and as a follow trucker, that's exactly what i do, for the reasons ryan said above. about 80% of the time there is no closure or reason to move over anyway, because either a) the cone laying truck due to start at 8pm still has the van crews putting out the lane closure signs 2 miles back up the road which I've just passed, or b) the crash that happened 2 hours ago has long since been cleared but they've forgotten to turn the signs off. The same happens when the overnight roadworks finish early and the cone crews collect all the cones at 3.30am and have the road reopened 1.5 hours ahead of schedule, but the HA muppets leave 3 out of 4 lanes red Xd for nothing, causing pointless and unnecessary queues.
Send a letter to this guy ask for a meeting, Nick Harris, CEO, National Highways.
In the process!! GDB
Got some more names:
Siwan Puw - Head of Strategy and Campaigns
Joanna Goulding - Head of Health & Safety, Risk, Standards and Assurance
Tim Ward - Head of Regional and Corporate Communications
Paul Hill - Head of Customer Service Development
All publicly available on NH websites/FOIs so anyone could find them if they look deep enough before anyone accuses me of publishing personal data.
Greg this is disgusting behaviour from the highways. My car went into limp mode when I had a caravan on the back. I stopped in one of them refuge spots. The car then corrected the fault and I had to drive out of there with no lane closures. It was scary stuff. Keep up the good work mate, and give them hell.
that must have been bloody awful! slow enough when you dont have a rolling house on your back!
@@aggrodriver
And worse - if the fault returns as you approach the end of the bay, with your foot hard on the accelerator, halfway moved into the live lane.... You're basically screwed. You're going to slow suddenly, but run out of space to pull back off the road.
Well done dealing with highways, they have to employ box tickers because of policy and endanger the public in doing so, keep up the good work
National high again not doing there job and again the smart motorway not so smart it’s failed once again.
I have no words, none at all. It's turned from policy to personal now, I reckon. Where I live in Derbyshire, we have a normal domestic road that meets with a junction on the A52 (no roundabout, no traffic lights) and it requires you to take your life in your hands getting out there. You have my full support in getting this barmy rule altered, you're not being unreasonable, you're ensuring the safety of your clients.
Is that the one near spondon?
If they're reluctant to close the lane with a red X, is there a compromise to request a speed limit reduction for a few minutes, along with their "lane divert" ? Of course, you shouldn't need to compromise on safety, but i'm thinking it might be better than just the "lane divert". If this is a no go, then maybe the local MP can arrange a "funding divert" away from their department. Great channel by the way.
Well done for asking questions over and over again and making the operators sweat in their seats.
You are totally correct in your hate of Smart motorways. How do you get to a safety bay if your gearbox explodes as happened to my brother? It could not be towed and would not roll. I would not trust an arrow. The red X is the only slightly safer way. Keep pushing in your beliefs, you definitely are not alone. Cannot believe you are in trouble for loading on a slip road, I would attend court just to piss them off.
It really is time for all recovery firms to boycott jobs on these stupid not so smart motorways until the idiots in charge see sense and enable a red ❌. The arrogance from Highway’s and Police really is unbelievable! 😡
This needs to stop... THEY MUST CHANGE THIS POLICY NOW. I work on the roads, not motorways and there is no way i could contain my rage. I would of told them a few choice words. Everyone write to your MP NOW!!
Top man 100% behind you 👍👍👍👍
This seriously needs to change. Whoever made this decision to make their department look good on paper needs jail time. This is a criminally negligent decision that will result in even more deaths on the Smart Motorway.
KPIs have been valued above lives. Disgusting.
Re-joining the motorway or even just being on the side of the road is so dangerous with traffic whizzing by at that speed, especially knowing theirs a bunch or speeding drivers hurtling past listening to music, chatting away with their vehicles on cruise control, let alone trying to re-enter a highway with a less than performance vehicle.
Given the fact that they can simply close a lane remotely at the click of a button it really does begs to question why they're pushing back so hard to not want protect the public to the safe safest possible level, that shit seems sinister to me.
For what other reason other than to meet some internal quota or statistic which may negatively highlight certain flaws in the National Highways smart system is their to not want to click a button?
You are 100% right in what your saying and doing I pray it dosent happen but someone is going to loss there life if highways carry on like this there putting statistics before people's life's 🤬🤬🤬
Greg you 1000% doing the right thing national highways are discusting playing with people life we all have a family to get home to and why should national highways be able to put are lives in danger like this something needs to be done now this is wrong
I wonder what the call handler would want if he or she was in a era bay with there son or daughter thay would want a red x to leave safely something needs to be done now I’m behind u all the way with this Greg there is nothing smart about this motorway at all
I’ve often have to exit an emergency refuge area before on a motorway and it’s no problem without a Red X.
But when I do, I’m in a decent enough car. The motorway isn’t especially busy. I won’t say what I do a living, but my car is covered in bright yellow stickers which usually cause people to slam on their anchors. I’m also trained in operating safely on a strategic road.
Doing it in a slow, 7.5T + recovery truck with a member of the public who doesn’t know what they’re doing on one of the busiest motorways in the country? Yeah, I’d want a Red X too. Keep at it Greg.
Thank you stay safe GDB
@geko7844
Exactly, in my personal car, an automatic volvo xc60 d6 , put it into sports mode, wait for a gap in traffic, floor it, and very quickly up to motorway speed.
In my mercedes sprinter work van, running fully loaded or my double cab pick up nothing close to the acceleration even when exiting with a suitable traffic gap not a pleasant or very safe experience in these vehicles.
I should be entitled to have the cover of a red x to reejoin the traffic flow safely both for my safety and that of other road users.
It only takes someone exiting the ERA in a vehicle with limited/ standard acceleration and someone else either exceeding the speed limit or simply not paying attention, and it's a recipe for an accident.
Just take a step back and think about this. A man trying to work his living and a family trying to use the roads to travel home - both unable to use the country's infrastructure safely because of some dystopian highway "policy". Not only that but when the highways agents are explained what the issue is they seemingly lie about what they can see on cameras? Then the police getting involved and spending their resources... Clown world
You have more power than politicians. Especially when you can get your point spread to tens if not hundreds of of thousands of people in just one video. And with more videos you will reach more people. The thing that will get things changing is finding out who set the work instructions and naming and shaming. Whilst they fear no consequences, then you will get abuses like what happened with the Post Office. Make them fear public opinion.
Your not wrong at all Greg the safety of you and your customers are a priority. Shame on highways for not seeing this. Well done with out you guys we be buggered
I own Meadgate Breakdown Recovery and they are the same on the M4 Bristol it’s a joke they are putting our lives in danger ‼️
Guy in the black car hasn’t a clue 😭
Thank you for all your efforts to keep your customers and yourself safe. I am ashamed that National Highways ,a public body in this country can have such policies that put the people who pay their wages at such risk. Perhaps a Key Performance Indicator should be set which measures the no of times they do not make it as safe 😅
Get onto backbeltbarrister about that fine. I can’t believe you’ve been fined and given points for doing your job!!!
I was about to comment the same, it's the exact sort of thing he'd like to cover
No, he needs a lawyer that doesn’t spend all their time making You Tube videos.
@@marksapollo
Most of the TH-cam lawyers own firms that employ half a dozen lawyers or more to do the actual legal work. They still charge for their name, but you speak to their employees.
THEY should spend the day driving up and down the motorways spending 15mins in an "emergency refuge" then leave with no lane closures- i suspect they may have a different opinion whilst in the car- BUT back at the office itd be "i dont know what his problem is, we were fine"
It wont take just one life before they change the "rules"
The problem with the lane change is that they set it for 5 miles before roadworks so people get used to not moving over right away. They need to use the red x when it is needed like this!
This video is a scary eye opener, can’t believe they wouldn’t put a ❌ on for a couple of minutes. That’s taking jobs worth to a whole new level of shittynes. What vile folk in that office would not have the heart to warrant it, putting statistics over people’s lives. It’s disgusting. Fantastic video mate
Hi Greg.just done some idiotic periodic dcpc today.the trainer was telling us highways will be getting more powers and eventually motorway police will be defunct.just saying
Absolutely disgusting, can’t believe in this day and age that a human life still doesn’t mean anything to these big corporations.
Greg…..this needs to go on National tv…..these lay-by’s are a f death trap….working alongside a live motorway is absolutely the most dangerous job now in the U.K….😐👍🇮🇲 ps we need the same law as some states in the US , Slow Down & Move Over …. Ron Pratt is such an advocate of that policy….it saves lives.The End .PPs I really felt for you in this video…it’s not fair….😐
Agree. I move over to leave a lane clear when ever someone is on the hard shoulder. Someone needs to loose their job over this.
I’m a roadside working for a breakdown company myself used a era up near Keele and requested a lane closures by using the phone in the era bay and the guy I spoke to was happy to close the lane for me and my customer to leave. I guess the moral of the story is that it depends on the person you get when calling to get a lane closure or some highways reps are just going and doing as they please 😡😡😡
how long would it take to place a red X if it were a member of H A family wanting to leave the ERA ?
I think you are right doing what you are doing ,Its Ok for them sitting in their air conditioned office ,It would do them good to be with you and be stuck in a Refuge and see how dangerous it really is .Contact your local MP show them the video footage and see what they have to say .
I don’t get why they don’t have an emergency lane the full length of the highway + lay-bys for trucks and emergency break down zones?
all the smart motorways used to have a hard shoulder or emergency lane, but millions was spent converting it into a 4th lane for live traffic because a study or survey said it made traffic flow better.
Keep doing this Greg. Why do they not get how dangerous this situation is?
You need to get a petition up and you need to get the breakdown industry behind you all the big breakdown companies.
Until the darkness hit and I saw that curb, I just now realized how small that pocket is...
Unless you are in a GDB Impreza and you do a hard 4WD launch, you are not making it out of that little pocket to fit in the semi compliance gaps that the public gives you.
In your case, you are in a sluggish van, with a lot more weight than a sports car, and no option to do a heavy launch, there is no way you are fitting in there.
All it takes is one sleepy head / texting driver and you will have created a natural X for all 3 lanes, requiring police, fire and ambulance to show up.
Do the 'nationals' like the AA or RAC have the same issue?
You shouldn't even have to phone up for the lane closures.... The phone box should have a button that just does it... They've got cameras all over to prevent misuse of it. Press the button, the red X comes on, and stays on for 45 seconds or until the operator watching sees the bay is successfully vacated.
It should NOT require an hour of arguing to get a safety feature to ve used.
Keep it up mate, hope that changes are made before more lives are lost
In my experience, over 4,500,000 miles of it, they generally close lanes after everything's clear and leave it that way for many hours!
You are not on your own, you have 55.6K subscribers behind you. If we all contacted our MP or Mr Starmer or the Roads Minister then perhaps someone would take notice. After all, it must be cheaper to put a red X than to deal with carnage on the motorway. Perhaps it needs a fatality for them to take action? Keep strong Greg and thank you for your stress.
A red x lane closure for 5 minutes will cause less chaos and problems than the motorway being closed for multiple hours whilst the police investigate a serious accident involving fatalities or serious injury.
Smart motorways scare me
Good for you for standing your ground 👏 👍
i don't understand why we have to fight for our safety ? a temporary X only takes seconds and everyone moves on with their day
I saw this policy in action recently on my way home from work and I moved over straight away and the amount of people that stayed in lane 1 was mind boggling not to mention when they finally put a red x on one or two vehicles were still in lane 1 I’m with you on 100% on this Greg they don’t care about people’s lives maybe the bosses who make these stupid policy changes should stand on a hard shoulder or in an era bay and see how dangerous it is whoever came up with the stupid idea of removing the hard shoulder wants firing or shooting because making motorways have four lanes has not helped traffic congestion at all and people have been killed on smart motorways because they couldn’t make it to an era bay it’s alright having them provided you have enough power left to creep into it and I don’t think this policy will change until there’s a serious accident and people are killed but by then it’s too late but I’m with you 100% Greg 👍😊
How long will it be before lane blocked will only get a divert
start an official petition then when you get the number required it has to be debated in the commons
I love your videos Greg & national highways 🛣️ are absolutely 💯 terrible Pal.
Am a hgv driver I see this every day had plenty of near misses on the M1 keep up the fight.
You are absolutely correct. A 'Lane Divert' means the lane is still live.
So it's perfectly okay for you and your customer to pull out into speeding traffic at little more than walking speed. Disgusting.
Exactly my point
That was disgusting to watch and it’s all about KPIs so someone can get a bonus, unbelievable they are happy to risk peoples lives for their own egos. This needs to get to parliament and politicians need to get involved
Quite right I never though these refuge bays were long enough too safely rejoin the Motorway, and a temporary lane closure is the only safe way out of them.
I broke down on M 602 junction 1 West, Salford on hard shoulder with hazardous goods truck, i called the police and got a 40 limit for lane 1 beside me, sunny day , good visibility and medium traffic, and Highway officer to check on my breakdown progress ( coolant line leak) , still not the best but i feel main danger is less observant drivers and traffic management on road nowadays.
Nothing smart about any motorway,,, just to save money but no thought or consideration for life 💯 🤔
Sadly, families have suffered losses because of the No-so Smart motorways.
@@davidcopplestone6266 Name one family who suffered losses because of a smart motorway.
Motorways are smart, unfortunately most of the drivers are not.
@@davidcopplestone6266 Not a single family has lost anyone because of a smart motorway.
In Australia and New Zealand when there is a accident, breakdown, and/or traffic jam on a Smart Motorway the operators will dynamically change the speed limit to safely slow down traffic down to 40 KM/H with flashing amber lights across all lanes and will also close lane 1 with a red X along the section where the breakdown and/or accident has occured.
They outright shut lanes without needing to ring and they automatically have adequate highway officers stationed at busy motorway routes to assist automatically without a call needed.
Maybe contact Ch5 and give them the other side of the story.
I'm with you 100%, stupid new policy, bad enough when "smart" were introduced 🤔