I read this article on the BBC today...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37888207
...and thought I’d share my views on smart motorways and the speeding fine income that has been generated as a result of their introduction.
What a surprise, variable speed limits and associated speed cameras have turned into a money spinner! Who would have seen that coming?
Obviously I am being facetious, we all know that the generation of fine income was as important in the introduction of smart motorways as any efforts to regulate traffic flow.
Personally I think that variable limits are massively frustrating, I prefer average speed cameras (though it pains me to admit it). Average speed cameras work and slow the traffic to the posted speeds. Variable speed limits concertina traffic between gantries as drivers speed up and slow down and, in my experience, make the motorways feel less safe.
On numerous occasions I have experienced annoyance when the posted speed limits go up and down like a yoyo and it genuinely feels like someone (in charge of some software somewhere) has a penalties target to meet.
Most commonly, the M1 is the source of my angst, it has large swathes of variable limits between 13 and seven going south (from Daventry) and from Leicester to Leeds going north.
Getting caught out is not linked to driving safely at all anymore. You can leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front and you can be moving at the speed of rest of the traffic but, if you don’t break needlessly for a variable limit, you risk being penalised. And once condemned, there is no argument because safety is irrelevant, it’s all about the limit (and the money).
The simplest thing of course is never to speed anywhere but that doesn’t necessarily aid motorway safety either. I have seen some appalling driving behaviours (tailgating, light flashing, undertaking) from drivers that get stuck behind others on the motorways that resolutely stick to 70 mph and then won’t budge from the middle or fast lanes.
Central government’s coffers have benefitted to the tune of £1.1 million so far in fine income and the smart money has to be on that sum getting higher and higher in the future (at least to the point that too many drivers lose their licence altogether or we all have vehicles that drive themselves).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37888207
...and thought I’d share my views on smart motorways and the speeding fine income that has been generated as a result of their introduction.
What a surprise, variable speed limits and associated speed cameras have turned into a money spinner! Who would have seen that coming?
Obviously I am being facetious, we all know that the generation of fine income was as important in the introduction of smart motorways as any efforts to regulate traffic flow.
Personally I think that variable limits are massively frustrating, I prefer average speed cameras (though it pains me to admit it). Average speed cameras work and slow the traffic to the posted speeds. Variable speed limits concertina traffic between gantries as drivers speed up and slow down and, in my experience, make the motorways feel less safe.
On numerous occasions I have experienced annoyance when the posted speed limits go up and down like a yoyo and it genuinely feels like someone (in charge of some software somewhere) has a penalties target to meet.
Most commonly, the M1 is the source of my angst, it has large swathes of variable limits between 13 and seven going south (from Daventry) and from Leicester to Leeds going north.
- I have experienced reduced speed limits when there is little traffic to speak of (like someone forgot to turn the variable limit signs off).
- I have observed posted limits that go from 60 to 40 and back up to 60 within three gantries (and not even near a junction). In these instances, I have found myself breaking fairly hard to lose the 20 miles per hour (mph) whilst glancing in my rear view mirror for a potential rear end shunt. I have been overtaken by articulated trucks that just ignore the posted limit change.
- I have been within 50 metres of a gantry when its posted speed limit has dropped and I have only had a split second to decide what to do about it.
- I have been sat in standstill traffic whilst the variable limit posted is 60mph.
- In roadworks, it is typical to see the traffic slowed long in advance of the roadwork area. Late at night on the M1 around St. Albans/Hemel Hempstead I have found limits posted as low as 40mph. The road is quiet, the traffic is light and yet for miles in advance of the bridge repair or lane closure, you have to coast along or risk a fine.
- I have read that in Bedfordshire, camera over-speed tolerances are set really low because more people will get fined as a result. There might be some truth in that too, M1 Jncts. 13-10 have the highest volume of fines in the UK.
Getting caught out is not linked to driving safely at all anymore. You can leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front and you can be moving at the speed of rest of the traffic but, if you don’t break needlessly for a variable limit, you risk being penalised. And once condemned, there is no argument because safety is irrelevant, it’s all about the limit (and the money).
The simplest thing of course is never to speed anywhere but that doesn’t necessarily aid motorway safety either. I have seen some appalling driving behaviours (tailgating, light flashing, undertaking) from drivers that get stuck behind others on the motorways that resolutely stick to 70 mph and then won’t budge from the middle or fast lanes.
Central government’s coffers have benefitted to the tune of £1.1 million so far in fine income and the smart money has to be on that sum getting higher and higher in the future (at least to the point that too many drivers lose their licence altogether or we all have vehicles that drive themselves).
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