SMART MOTORWAY ?

[Pausim]

It seems lots of people are confusing Smart Motorways with All Lane Running Motorways. A Smart Motorway will have traffic management systems such as variable speed limits but it may still have a continuous hard shoulder e.g. parts of the M25. Some Smart Motorways also have All Lane Running where the hard shoulder has become a running lane with emergency refuge areas e.g. parts of the M3. The More or Less radio programme mentioned above is well worth listening to.

Seems that the data suggests they are safer than you might think - for a multitude of reasons:

More or Less - Third wave fears, smart motorways and bra sizes - BBC Sounds

Should we worry about Covid-19 cases rising? Plus are smart motorways safe?

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[busby]

I really don't understand why so many ofthem have barriers along the nearside. How is wife, granny, children etc supposed to get out? And how are physically disabled people supposed to get over them?

Agree,,there are many places where the barrier could be erected a couple of metres in from the carriageway thus giving room to pull off.It doesn't have to be tarmac to be safe.BUSBY.

 

[Markman]

Never forget your merely a slave with a price tag.
Economics before your safety.

I disagree, and so does the Health and Safety Executive. Please start with the guidance they wrote in 2002, Reducing Risk and Protecting People (R2P2). Their concept is that risk exists and can never be avoided. What society wants to do is to reduce the risks gradually and overall. We don't want to spend "grossly disproportionate" sums reducing risk in one area because those funds can be better spent elsewhere. So not "economics before your safety" but rather "economics to reduce the safety for all"

Risk management: Expert guidance - Reducing risks, protecting people - R2P2

www.hse.gov.uk

 

[patricia the newbie]

I wish I could set my satnav to avoid smart motorway, but unfortunately there is no settings, so I will give up all motorway driving , because it frightenes me so much

 

[Markman]

I wish I could set my satnav to avoid smart motorway, but unfortunately there is no settings, so I will give up all motorway driving , because it frightenes me so much

But, as per the really good R&D cited above, the number of deaths on the same stretches of motorways was LOWER after they had been converted to Smart motorways than in the years before the conversion. Patricia, please listen to the BBC's More-or-Less program about this. It should reduce your fear of driving on them.

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