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Motorways ("freeways" in en-us, I think) are traditionally 3 lanes with a 4th lane as a 'hard shoulder' that is closed to all traffic except those who have brok

Motorways ("freeways" in en-us, I think) are traditionally 3 lanes with a 4th lane as a 'hard shoulder' that is closed to all traffic except those who have broken down and the emergency services. Smart Motorways were a Tory government idea designed to be "car friendly" and increase apparent road capacity without actually costing much money -- by using already-existing lightable signs above the motorway to convert the hard shoulder into another lane of traffic, and adding in "refuge areas" every $[$RANDOM % 5+1] miles. The trouble is, if you're in a motorway where every one of the now four lanes of traffic is going at the speed limit of 70 miles an hour (or, more likely, 80 miles an hour) and your tire explodes, you might not be able to coast the requisite distance to a refuge area, and you might not have the wherewithall to adequately pull into what is in effect a small siding about the size of an articulated lorry. If you break down in a "live lane" the signs are supposed to change to move traffic out behind you, so it doesn't ram into the car. Naturally, this hasn't worked well, and a bunch of people have died. At least one coroner has specifically called out Her Majesty's Government for directly contributing to deaths and blamed the smart motorway concept in general. There's at least one harrowing 999 call I've heard somewhere of someone saying "Help, I've broken down in lane 2 of the M4 and my car has stopped and I couldn't get into lane 1 when <BANG> <sound of young child crying> <no more adult voice>". Some of the "smarts" in smart motorways in doing lane-light switching this have been provided by humans and/or computer vision on the basis of CCTV. The trouble is, they've been ineffective. This announcement states that they're going to replace the previous approach with mmWave radar that I presume can detect changes more rapidly (quite how that works with shadows and reflections -- and cars in front of lorries, I don't know). Fundamentally, this seems to be "papering over the cracks" of the idea -- and I unfortunately don't think it will work. Many, if not most, British people want to go back to the old system of having 3 lanes + a hard shoulder. We don't understand why the Tories really, really love smart motorways: it probably comes out of a combination of 'driver friendly' Manifesto promises combined with economic modelling about the cost of traffic jams.

Veen 6y ago
> Smart Motorways were a Tory government idea Not so. The first smart motorway was introduced in 2006 under the Blair government. They were expanded under Ruth Kelly, Labour Secretary of State for Transport in 2007 when Brown was PM. They were further extended when the coalition came to power in 2010, but smart motorways were not originally a “Tory idea”.
- HeckFeck 6y ago
  Hah, another disaster at the hands of Tony Blair. No wonder they are cursed. Smart™ Motorways are an appalling idea no matter who proposed them. The current government should reverse the idea. Transport is meant to enhance life, not to end lives.
  - tonyedgecombe 6y ago
    >Hah, another disaster at the hands of Tony Blair. I wouldn't be surprised if it came out of the civil service in response to increasing congestion. It's easy to blame the current minister but the reality is much of government goes on with or without them.
bb123 6y ago
This is a great post let down by the need to inject some lame shots at the Tories. A quick Google search shows that smart motorways first came about under a Labour government, and were extended several times during their tenure.
neilalexander 6y ago
> The trouble is, if you're in a motorway where every one of the now four lanes of traffic is going at the speed limit of 70 miles an hour (or, more likely, 80 miles an hour) and your tire explodes This actually happened to a family member of mine on the M1. Tire exploded and rolled straight off across the motorway. It took several minutes for the motorway operators and to close the lane that their car was stranded on. The driver and passengers had to get out of the car onto a live motorway lane just to reach the safety area behind the crash barrier. Thankfully everyone was OK, but it cemented my belief that smart motorways are an utterly, ridiculously and unquestionably stupid idea.
mprev 6y ago
If you want to get party political abut it, smart motorways were introduced under Labour in 2006.
tomatocracy 6y ago
I'm not sure the Tories love them per se, just that they don't really care enough either way to make a difference. The DfT civil servants and Highways England do love them though, largely on cost grounds (it's a lot cheaper to convert existing hard shoulder into a new lane than widen an old style road).
chrisseaton 6y ago
> Smart Motorways were a Tory government idea ... We don't understand why the Tories really, really love smart motorways Wait, aren't they a Labour thing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_motorway#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_motorway#History Why are you talking about Tories?

Veen 6y ago

> Smart Motorways were a Tory government idea Not so. The first smart motorway was introduced in 2006 under the Blair government. They were expanded under Ruth Kelly, Labour Secretary of State for Transport in 2007 when Brown was PM. They were further extended when the coalition came to power in 2010, but smart motorways were not originally a “Tory idea”.

HeckFeck 6y ago
Hah, another disaster at the hands of Tony Blair. No wonder they are cursed. Smart™ Motorways are an appalling idea no matter who proposed them. The current government should reverse the idea. Transport is meant to enhance life, not to end lives.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  >Hah, another disaster at the hands of Tony Blair. I wouldn't be surprised if it came out of the civil service in response to increasing congestion. It's easy to blame the current minister but the reality is much of government goes on with or without them.

bb123 6y ago

This is a great post let down by the need to inject some lame shots at the Tories. A quick Google search shows that smart motorways first came about under a Labour government, and were extended several times during their tenure.

neilalexander 6y ago

> The trouble is, if you're in a motorway where every one of the now four lanes of traffic is going at the speed limit of 70 miles an hour (or, more likely, 80 miles an hour) and your tire explodes This actually happened to a family member of mine on the M1. Tire exploded and rolled straight off across the motorway. It took several minutes for the motorway operators and to close the lane that their car was stranded on. The driver and passengers had to get out of the car onto a live motorway lane just to reach the safety area behind the crash barrier. Thankfully everyone was OK, but it cemented my belief that smart motorways are an utterly, ridiculously and unquestionably stupid idea.

mprev 6y ago

If you want to get party political abut it, smart motorways were introduced under Labour in 2006.

tomatocracy 6y ago

I'm not sure the Tories love them per se, just that they don't really care enough either way to make a difference. The DfT civil servants and Highways England do love them though, largely on cost grounds (it's a lot cheaper to convert existing hard shoulder into a new lane than widen an old style road).

chrisseaton 6y ago

> Smart Motorways were a Tory government idea ... We don't understand why the Tories really, really love smart motorways Wait, aren't they a Labour thing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_motorway#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_motorway#History Why are you talking about Tories?