Not So Smart Motorways
 

Sadly this crash occurred because the hard shoulder on this smart motorway was in use as a live lane - nowhere to escape for this family.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44329223
The crash occurred within thirty seconds of the car stopping.

Living in Tamworth with the M42 nearby which, as far as I know, was used as the "Trial" for using the hard shoulder as running lane I'm very sadly not surprised.

Desperately sorry for those involved but common sense saw it coming a long time ago.

Was there a lane closure indicated?

If so, what happened to make the lorry driver ignore it?

Maybe he's been through miles and miles of closures with nothing happening and absolutely no reason for the lane closure? I've posted elsewhere about crying wolf.

I've been hunting for the Smart motorway protocols for changing speed limits/closing lanes etc. etc. for some time and guess what.....

I've drawn a complete blank. Nothing anywhere in the public domain that I've been able to find.

Maybe it's time to see them published so we can all understand the process and use that information in our driving?

Thoughts are with the family for their loss in such tragic circumstances.

Andy.

From what I understand, things happened almost instantly, before the closure could be operated, in less that one minute.

I've not seen anything reported that connects the incident with this stretch of the M6 being a smart motorway. Do you have a link to the information?


Could this be a tragic case of lorry driving into a stationary car, which could occur on any high-speed road if the driver of the second vehicle is unable to stop in the distance he/she can see to be clear?

No further link than that originally given.

Smart motorways are a cheap way of increasing the capacity of tge motorway network on the cheap. This particular sttetch is elevated leaving nowhere for stranded motorists to safely stand aeay from the vehicle.
Terribly sad and hopefully will stop this flawed concept.

So sad and as said is a certainty to have from time to time.

I also think this creative and economical use of the inside lane may not be that economical compared to doing a proper job. The delays incurred to the life blood of the UK (roads) is a major factor in the UK PLC's poor productivity and taking a holistic costing may have proved this to be a very poor concept.

I have been told that the signs and speeds are controlled by an algorithm. I drive this area all the time in peak hrs and it seems to make bizarre decisions but of course I cannot see the whole picture.

The use of the hard shoulder seems like the kind of decision the boss of the worst budget airline would make.

cant recall which motorway but the signs say "congestion use hard shoulder", next sign says "use hard shoulder for next exit only". Having moved from lane one to hard shoulder I now have to move back. This I consider dangerous, could be m42 or m1

macaffe2

That's the M42. I've seen it today.

Just stupidly dangerous.

Andy