Anyone driving on the M3 last week may not have realised it but they were taking part in a secret test of variable speed limits. Highways England said that though it didn’t publicise the fact, it was testing an increase from 50mph to 55mph on the new smart motorway section in Surrey and Hampshire.
Highways England is trialling different variable speed limits for certain road conditions, such as roadworks, traffic congestion and accidents. If the tests are successful, we could be seeing more variety than the standard 50 mph usually imposed as a traffic speed management measure.
Secret tests
The test took place after the government asked Highways England to observe the impact of increasing the daytime speed limits on motorways, as drivers continue to complain that they are slow and causing delays that are often unnecessary.
The agency confirmed that the speed signs were changed from 50 to 55 mph for a short time as part of a new review of speed limits taking place around the country. Construction unions, however, are concerned by the move, saying that higher speeds could lead to more accidents involving road workers, especially at night.
Not so smart motorway
This was also the first sign that the new smart motorway was operating in its designed manner, after initially being opened as a smart motorway that wasn’t so smart – with the technology being switched on ‘shortly afterwards.’ The upgrade to a 13.4-mile section of the motorway from the M25 to Farnborough has added an extra lane and work was completed on time, with the extra lane operating for traffic as scheduled. However, the smart element of the motorway was running a little behind. This led to a 50mph speed limit being kept in place.
The smart motorway concept is said to give drivers better information about road conditions ahead of them and allow everyone to enjoy a smoother journey. It is also designed to add extra capacity, thereby improving journey times and making the motorways safer.
Cynics argue that smart motorways are “money-making roads” that contain speed cameras every few hundred yards to catch out drivers who break variable speed limits or the national speed limit. The government earned £1.1 million from smart motorway fines alone in 2015. That figure is growing by 20% annually as the smart motorway network expands and is estimated to reach £2 million a year in earnings by 2018.
Benefits of variable speed limits
This isn’t the first time variable speed limits have been trialled on UK roads – a well publicised test on the M1 that limited the speed to 60mph is one example of a trial of the idea that has been paired with smart motorway technology.
One of the potential benefits of variable speed limits is the reduction in air pollution and therefore the easing of harmful emissions in the air from cars. The move is part of a series of steps that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has suggested to reduce the effects of air pollution on health across the UK.
There are around 25,000 deaths every year in England that cite air pollution as a contributing factor – around 5% of all deaths. The health watchdog has offered a series of measures it believes will help reduce this number.
Reducing pollution
Alongside variable speed limits on motorways, NICE also suggests promoting smoother driving, building homes further away from the road and adding hedgerows to help protect cyclists on cycle paths.
Speed bumps, a current favourite with local authorities, are less favourable, as there is a chance they increase emissions rather than reduce them. Another issue is the idea of ‘no-idling’ zones around schools to stop parents leaving their cars running while waiting to pick up children.
The idea of variable speed limits is that, in traffic, cars are accelerating and decelerating. This increases the amount of emissions. However, by limiting everything to 50-60mph, cars ideally proceed at a steady rate. Suggested times and locations for the measures include all the time on the M25, Sunday on the M4 and Friday evenings on the M1.
It seems that on the surface these changes are part of a wider plan to control traffic not only to ease congestion but to help the environment at the same time.
What do you think of measures such as a 50-60 mph speed limit on the M25 ALL the time? Is this the beginning of a move to align UK speed limits with an EU-wide speed limit of 100 kilometres an hour (62 mph) on UK motorways? Let us know in the comments below.
In Oxfordshire we have speed limits that change frequently on the same road so one sign a driver may miss because his attention is fixed on where he/she is going or a sign that maybe obscured by foliage (frequent) then an ‘offence’ is committed.I am not arguing with the intentions of this programme but technology has not reached the average car on the road to ensure compliance. Mark one Eyeball has its limitations!
“Construction Unions are afraid of more accidents involging road workers, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT” – common guys… get real. When was the last time you see road worker working at night? There are highway agency workers sometimes blocking off outside lanes to clean middle of the road e.g. on M25… but I have never seen road worker at night fixing the actual road, ever. What a joke!
All the time round here actually, it’s a bloody nuisance having to put up with their noise during the night, but at least they keep the roads open during the day by shutting them at night to work on them.
But more to the point, the article stated ….
‘after the government asked Highways England to observe the impact of increasing the daytime speed limits on motorways’
… from which I would conclude the Construction Unions concerns are unfounded.
I travel alot on roads i find that alot of roads works nothing is happing on them at all, yet it still 50 mph and go on for some 4 juctions, would it not be better, if only one juction at a time can road works.
on accidents on motorway, one finds that sign of 50 are put up only to find no accident at all, added to if the road is closed down for some time, one is not told to go off the motorway, , with most people having satnav it should find anothervway around or read map.
taffic lights that highways manage don,t take to council one and tafffic jams happen goverment did say better traffic lightd working they need to work together better.
diseal car, with people health, alot of the health are people who have smoked in first place, so how i diseal car, truck fault, they should not of somked in first place
I recently drove up the M1 when a very long stretch in the South Yorkshire area was subject to 60 mph. The result was synthetically created bunching and congestion with inevitable, commensurate intimidation by HGV drivers. To suggest that the magic figure of 60 mph results in a constant speed for all traffic is ludicrous as, for example, lane changes for overtaking or exiting the motorway create deceleration and acceleration. Does this situation result in reduced emissions? Why is the government concentrating so much on pollution created by traffic and not other sources? This country has enough problems with the movement of traffic without creating more. Over the past however many years, 5 years or whatever, the M1 has seen enormous stretches of carriageway, 20+ miles, subjected to 50 mph for years at a time due to roadworks. At one time my regular journey from Leeds to Northampton had around 50% of the distance with roadworks at anyone time. Progress was so slow with no workers or equipment at all to be seen for very long lengths, that I thought, and still do, that the works were operated in such a way as to subject the road to a 50 mph limit as much as possible for as long as possible. I sympathise with those whose work requires them to drive on our roads on a daily basis, the stress and frustration must be mind bending. It would be interesting to know what this is doing to our economy in these increasingly testing times. Someone in the government/Highways Agency needs to rethink.
What is this intimidation by HGV’s you talk about as they are digitally restricted to 56 MPH?
‘Why is the government concentrating so much on pollution created by traffic and not other sources?’
Firstly, there is also a huge effort to reduce pollution caused by residential energy use – look at current building regulations and you will see a raft of measures that make homes more energy efficient.
Secondly, traffic is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, so of course it should be targeted.
So just got home from a weekend away drove on the M1 and M25 could someone explain to me why we even have a 70 MPH on our motorways when we have variable limits from 60,50,40 no accidents but signs saying congestion ahead when the reason was the variable speed limits actually causing the congestion as the lanes were running smoothly up until this point people having to break in every lane for miles as the limits change it seems this is a permanent thing but why, I think it’s dangerous anyone else have an opinion.
The planned speed reductions will be really irritating and potentially dangerous. The potential danger arises from drivers becoming bored and losing concentration. One other thing that really bugs me is when the HA post speed restrictions on gantries for no reason and very often it can be only for a short very unnecessary stretch, the HA don’t seem to be answerable to anyone.
First I do not like or agree with so called smart m/ways, with no hard shoulder i say it is an accident waiting to happen & i will not drive on what was the hard shoulder of a smart m/way, also I am feed up of so many speed limits, it used to be 30mph in town,60mph out of town & 70mph on m/ways now their are far too many differant speed limits it is near imposible to know what speed you should be doing or has this been done to catch more drivers out so they can be give out more tickets.
‘ an EU-wide speed limit of 100 kilometres an hour (62 mph) on UK motorways?’
Speed limits for the majority of Europe are anything but 60mph. In most cases and most parts of Europe, the speed limit is 120kmh (75mph). In parts of France and the Netherlands, it’s 130kmh (81mph) and in a large portion of Germany it’s completely unrestricted.
Whilst the speed limits on European motorways are 120 and 130 KPH the majority of drivers do not feel compelled to drive at these speeds. I lived in Germany for 15 years and now live in Spain. On my journeys to and from these countries to the UK I always travel at the maximum as set by the signage on the motorways and I am always the one overtaking, whilst most seem to be content with 100 KMH. Sometimes I will get overtaken by the occasion higher speed driver but not anywhere near as often as in the UK.
Obviously there will be some variables to this but in general this is the case, and now I will probably get a lot of replies to say that I am talking rot, but as someone who lives and drives through Germany, Spain and France that is how I see it.
It is certainly true that very few British drivers regard the speed limit as a maximum. Most regard it as a target speed (and usually drive slightly faster, as if travelling below the limit is an offense) and a significant number have no regard for it at all, unless there is a camera.
I travel the M25 at least twice a week. The only motorway gantry sign that is always true is Pay dart charge by midnight. MOST of the other signs are incorrect and misleading showing out of date info or completely wrong.
I have often wondered why we have stationary signage to notify speed limits. It would not be high tech to use a “running light” system that could be infinitely variable depending on road conditions. This would also address the problems, mentioned above, of not seeing a road sign and if seen distracted from the road ahead to scrutinise the instrements. Speed cameras could be simple CCTV since the reletive speed of the vehicle to the aparent speed of the lights could be used to determin overspeed.
I have never read so much stupidity in my life, now I must get back to Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
I spend a lot of time on the motorways and those that have variable speed limits are usually the most congested roads I travel. In my opinion so called SMART motorways are anything but. As previously stated by several people already the information given is usually out of date by several hours if not days and just causes a domino effect of people braking then speeding up then braking again if they’re not at a total standstill. If this is a plan to reduce emissions I’ve no idea how its working because its having the opposite effect.
On a decent run I get anything between 65 – 80 mpg out of my car. Whenever I have to travel on a SMART motorway this drops to 38 – 45 mpg because of all the stop start involved.
The M62 is one of the biggest jokes. The speed limits tend to change between gantries so nobody knows what speed they should be doing. One gantry is 60 then down to 40 at the next then 50 then 40 then 60 all with no rhyme nor reason for it.
God forbid there’s an accident or a car breaks down either because that just brings the whole thing to a standstill with everybody sat there with their engines running as there’s no hardshoulder to move people onto. They cause congestion, raise the emissions and increase road rage in my opinion, the total opposite of what they’re supposed to do.
Does anyone know why the many truck drivers seemingly ignore variable speed limits of 50 mph?
Truck speedometers are more accurate than cars. They have to be due to the tachograph. When you think you are doing 50 in your car, you might well only be going 47 as car speedos tend to be optimisitic. Also many car drivers tend be very cautious through say m/way roadworks and will often sit at slightly under 50. Take into consideration the above and many are doing a true 45.
Foreign trucks are not always limited to 56mph. I get flashed at sometimes by these trucks when I’m doing 50mph in the slow lane where a limit is in place.
So called SMART motorways are in theory a good idea if they smooth traffic flow at congested times, but as you expect, they are operated by brain dead morons pandering to corrupt politicians. One particularly bad example is the M62 south of Leeds. I don’t think I have EVER travelled that section of motorway without completely unjustified and changing speed restrictions in place….. yes every single occasion these is very light traffic and we’re forced to crawl along at 50 or 60. There is a point at which the momentum built up reaches an optimum and the energy (therefore fuel required) to maintain a speed is at it’s most advantageous. My car, with a very efficient euro6 diesel, is more fuel efficient at 70 than it is at 50, particularly on undulating roads. Don’t try and argue it’s a health issue, that section of the M62 does not go though built up areas!!
If the government is serious about reducing emmisions why don’t they incentivise haulage companies to get off the roads and use our rail network. I’m pretty sure that many commodities could be moved at off peak times when the network is quiet. This would also lead to a reduction in accidents which very often involve artics.
Jim have you been on a major route motorway at night and observed the high volume of freight traffic doing night trunk runs? Have you sat by a main train line at night and observed the amount of freight being moved by rail during the night? It might surprise you.
I do wish they would stop calling these motorways smart as there appears to be nothing smart about them. When I asked some years ago why they were spending so many millions on making the M3 smart I was told it would save 3-4 mins on the journey time! I’m not sure about anyone else but I don’t think £174m, which is £50m more than the original cost, to save a few minutes is money well spent! With the varible speed limits not sure those minutes would be gained anyway. If the speed was limited to 50-60 mph what would be the point of motorways at all.I am still not convinced about not having a hard shoulder either.
As far as concerns regarding increasing the speed limit whilst road works are in operation not sure there are any concerns if everywhere else is the M3 has been for the past two years never a worker in sight!!
I also don’t think Highways England are being very geniune in stating that the M3 smart motorway has opened on time; well yes if you conveniently forget this was the third date they quoted…..
The nanny state acts again before long it’ll take 3 times longer to get anywhere.It wasn’t long ago that the government hit out at the highways agency for still applying speed limits on roads that no one was working on.All money making.
Part of the A1 is only two lanes and the stop start and such variable changes of speed is horrendous you can guarantee lorries overtaking on the hills. This is causing more emissions and accidents. I think and a lot of people I’ve spoken too agree with me that on that strech the lorries should have to stay in the left hand lane.
I agree with that Diane.
We’ve had variable limits on the M1 in South Yorkshire for a bit now. They’ve obviously existed around the M25 for years. The only people I’ve heard complaints from are people who seem not to have being paying attention while driving fast and think that this wasn’t a problem but a camera was.
The sooner manual speed control on motorways is removed, the sooner congestion will be solved. People driving too far above and below the statute is the real cause of our congested motorways.
Well I am in favour of adjustable speed limits. A few years back I was seconded to a major neuro surgery hospital and had to travel through motoway roadworks for part of the journey, at 50mph. Prior to that it was 70mph limit and was always clogged up because of idiots changing lanes, for junctions, at the last minute and causing braking by others that immediately radiated backwards to grind traffic to a stop. The 50 limit slowed cars so that the changes of lane were slowed and they were more inclined to find a suitable space carefully. The traffic hardly ever came to a halt.
For the most part, that is my experience of variable speed limits too.
I regularly travel on the M1 between Sheffield and Nottingham, and most of the time there seems to be speed restrictions for no apparent reason – sometimes 25 miles continuously at 60 MPH with the 2 outside lanes almost empty. Also the speed limit changes up and down too frequently so you’re never sure what speed limit applies. I recently got a £100 fine and 3 points when the speed limit changed from 70 to 60 to 50 to 40 in the space of a couple of miles and just didn’t slow down quickly enough – I was doing 45 when I got zapped by the camera! Just seems to be money making scheme to me.
I regularly travel on the M1 between Sheffield and Nottingham, and most of the time there seems to be speed restrictions for no apparent reason – sometimes 25 miles continuously at 60 MPH with the 2 outside lanes almost empty. Also the speed limit changes up and down too frequently so you’re never sure what speed limit applies. I recently got a £100 fine and 3 points when the speed limit changed from 70 to 60 to 50 to 40 in the space of a couple of miles and just didn’t slow down quickly enough – I was doing 45 when I got zapped by the camera! Just seems to be money making scheme to me.
Over a ‘couple of miles’ you didn’t manage to decrease your speed by 30 mph? When were your brakes last checked? Or your eyesight? If you can’t remember what speed limit you’re in, perhaps you shouldn’t be driving anymore. When you get behind the wheel of a car, you are taking other people’s lives in your hands and should be paying attention to what you are doing. If you want to zone out whilst travelling, you should travel as a passenger.
Over a ‘couple of miles’ you didn’t manage to decrease your speed by 30 mph? When were your brakes last checked? Or your eyesight? If you can’t remember what speed limit you’re in, perhaps you shouldn’t be driving anymore. When you get behind the wheel of a car, you are taking other people’s lives in your hands and should be paying attention to what you are doing. If you want to zone out whilst travelling, you should travel as a passenger.
The system will only be truly “smart” if the roads increase speed limits during times of very low congestion. If every single innovation is about getting us to go slower, we can’t conclude anything else other than that they’d have us driving around in golf carts if they could, and there are quite a few deluded people on here who I’m sure would relish it.
I’m becoming a bit fed up with the constant assertion that the roadworks on the M3 were “completed on time”. The truth is that when they started in the Autumn of 2014, they were due to be completed by December 2016. In the Summer of 2016 it was then quietly announced that due to “extra work” they would not be completed until June 2017. The cones were removed in the last week of June but there is still a 50mph speed restriction in place for “testing”. Does this count as completed? Not in my book as I can travel no faster now than when the cones were there.
I use the M3 every week day – never mind smart, this will have to be a genius motorway to compensate for the horrendous inconvenience over a period of two and a half years.
I recognise the comments regarding smart motorways becoming an easy way of raising revenue through speeding fines but I have a bigger concern. Surely, following the installation of the smart technology, it would only take the flick of a switch to turn a smart motorway into a toll motorway under the pretext of reducing emissions?
There is no plan for a EU wide 100km/h limit. Various countries have 110 or 120 limits. Stop trying to wind up the Brexiteers and get them moaning about Brussels/Strasbourg. Stick to fuel prices not politics
If the idea is to ease congestion on the M25 then they should run a campaign to ‘keep left unless overtaking’ and enforce it.
Lanes 3 and 4 are regularly occupied with vehicles travelling at the same speed – usually under the speed limit, with lanes 1 and 2 virtually empty.
We need to get away from the concept of a ‘fast lane’ and use the motorways correctly.
This is just a way of the Govermnet making money from us drivers, if the govermnet wants to lower/stop pollution they should scrap all the traffic lights and go back to roundabouts? Then there would be less than 20% traffic congestion.
Keeping everybody bunched up next to and on top of each other is an idiotic idea.
If you want to see dangerously close cut-ins, undertakes, middle lane morons and frustration drive in one of these moronic 50mph smart motorway zones. Even nicer to know the truck drivers will be fixated on looking up at gantries to avoid a ticket to the peril of those in front of and to the side of them.
Also makes joining motorway from sliproad more difficult, when there will be some old codger doing at speedo 48mph with a queue of 30 cars behind.
The government should be getting those who paid somebody to take their driving test for them off the roads.
Also the criminals with cloned plates come storming through at 90mph knowing THEY will not receive a fine. Not nice for everybody else.
What is wrong with doing 48 mph in a 50 mph zone? It’s a maximum speed limit, not a target speed. Arguably, in congestion around a slip road everyone should be reducing their speed to account for the additional hazard of cars joining the motorway.
I want a road network that is reliable and you can predict when you will reach your destination.
I recently had to travel from Hertfordshire to Northampton and found whilst it was theoretically quicker to use the M1 in practice it was hit or miss whether you were 10 mins early or 30 minutes later.
I therefore switched to A roads where the variation was only plus or minus 10 minutes.
Lots of people moaning about trucks on here failing to realise without them and the drivers who often have to put up with poor working conditions long hours and rubbish parking facilities the goods people take for granted wouldn’t be available when they want them. As for the issue of 2 trucks over taking each other the trucks limited speed and mentality of some drivers is what causes some of the issues. As for the comment about switching freight to the railway this in many cases is impossible due to the lack of convenient rail heads due to there location and the fact that goods such as perishables and fuel couldn’t be moved in this way and the increased costs of moving the goods from road to rail and back to road for delivery outweighs the cost of moving goods by road. And the comment about moving goods by road at off peak hours this happens in some cases but often goods have to be moved during daylight hours to ensure the customers they are being delivered to are open due to their trading hours. Plus the drivers are human at the end of the day and have families they want to see.
When the idea of using the hard shoulder as a lane was first mooted, I suggested to the Highways Agency or some such organisation once that we should keep the hard shoulder for what it was designed for, i.e. as an emergency facility either for traffic as a refuge if they break down or for emergency vehicles to have a hopefully clear route to travel to emergencies, and introduce an undertaking law that allowed traffic to overtake on either side of a vehicle. It is my firm belief that those who chose to use the middle lane as their driving lane at 50mph causing tailbacks as the road is reduced from 3 to 2 lanes rather than the left hand lane as described in the Highway Code, might soon agree with the proper designation as they face being overtaken on both sides. I was pretty much told I was a fool. So let’s start using the hard shoulder as a 50-70mph lane on these Smart motorways and potentially hit a stationary vehicle at that speed as you round a bend. Will these statistics ever become public I wonder?
As well as the more common congestion, despite assurances it won’t happen, there is also the issue of gaining another running lane from the hard shoulder with only intermittent refuges. Highways England has admitted, but refuses to quantify, the risk of serious injuries and fatal accidents in increased on these Smart/Intelligent. Without publishing the result or the criteria they assure us its Tolerable still.
Motorways are anyway safer than other roads we are told. And UK is in the top 5 of European Nations in safety, though again only on the most serious KSI statistics.
Strangely though despite this position all the pressure groups and parliamentary committees say we need to improve safety, most commonly by speed limits.
I fail to follow the logic.
As stated previously, I am not too sure where the idea of EU-wide speed limit of 100 KPH comes from. For the past 6 years I have driven regularly through France and Spain to the Costa del Sol. The speed limit on the French motorways is 130 kph reducing to 110 kph if it is raining and 120 kph in Spain, often reduced by 20 kph if it rains. This speed reduction in wet weather seems a good idea.
The problem with all speed limits in the UK is the lack of enforcement in so many areas. Cars speeding down the outside lane of a motorway in excess of 80 mph do not realize how dangerous this is. Cruising at 70 mph in lane 2 one checks the mirror, checks again both lane 2 and 3 and as you pull out. A speeding car can then suddenly appear right behind you or even at your side! In my view anyone who is caught speeding (10 mph over the limit) should be suspended for 6 months and re-tested before regaining the licence. On a second offence for this, using a mobile or any other dangerous driving offence should loose the licence permanently. Driving should be a privildge granted to those who are responsible not a right granted to everybody!
As 80mph is equivalent to 130km typical on French & German motorways, I would have thought in the first instance we should raise our limit to 80mph, rather than disproportionatly penalising anyone for driving 10mph over our 70mph speed limit with a 6 month suspension.
If Government are honestly trying to control pollution, what about the thousands of push button pelican crossings, how many cumulative hours are spent by motorists chugging fumes into the air as they stand waiting for invisible pedestrians, having to wait until the red light turns green when pedestrians have long gone, the congestion these lights cause, especially close to major road traffic lights at peak times is absolutely ridiculous. What was/is wrong with zebra crossings?
Never mind the pollution aspect, the cost of the installation of these lights, the control software, computerisation plus maintenance must be phenomenal. They’re cropping up everywhere. Even on roundabouts where lights might be needed at peak times, but not at any other time, yet they’re on 24/7. Every city and town must have the same problem.
What about someone looking into the congestion caused by reducing purpose built dual carriageways to single lanes for the none existent cyclists, anybody driving at peak times in massive queues at traffic lights, caused by single lane traffic, can vouch for the frustration felt trying to get home after a long day at work.
Call me sceptical but I think the 31 million registered car owners in this country are paying for everything, all the benefits that Government pay out has to come from somewhere & it’s from the motorists by way of taxes and fines. Thus police and councils are constantly looking for ways to milk the motorist, using either safety or environment as their argument to do so. Motorists are the only people who are fined without much redress, Look at the instant fines being handed out on camera evidence alone, You just get a fine through the post you’re blackmailed into just accepting a fine or going to court risking a hefty penalty and more points, disgraceful victimisation of the motorist.
Instead of wasting money on these cameras, just add the the technology (that already exists) to recognise the speed limit on all roads and then just hard limit all the cars to that speed limit.
Easy to help the “environment” and also this ensures that no cars can speed even if they tried!
Much cheaper than adding these cameras…
Or will this reduce the revenue the government will receive from already heavily taxed people?
I agree, although no doubt people would find ways to disable such restrictors. Also, I imagine drivers would come a cropper trying to overtake on single carriage way roads. Average speed cameras could be more effective, particularly in built up areas where drivers routinely exceed speed limits with absolutely no regard for vulnerable road users.
How about banning lorries from lane 3, as well as 4, on 4 lane motorways. This would certainly help traffic flow, particularly on long uphill sections such as J7 – J8 on the M25.
I have not heard of an EU wide limit of 100km applied to motorways but perhaps this is the latest interference in our lives by an out of control bureaucracy.
A maximum speed limit should be about what is safe for that road at that timen & not what is considered better for the environment. Indeed if we are all to be driving electric cars soon, the speed we travel at will not impct the environment anyway.
Whatever happened to hydrogen technology? Clean for the environment & east to produce from water but more important able to give the required range [depending size of tank] & the required speed/convenience when it comes to filling up.
I disagree: travelling at a speed ‘that is safe for that road at that time’ is about short term gain for individuals; travelling at a speed that is ‘considered better for the environment’ is about long term benefits for everyone. Also, electric cars will still need more power the faster they go and unless all that power is generated from renewables then faster speeds, rapid acceleration, etc will still be detrimental to the environment.
I have commented many times about the ridiculous use of overhead gantry speed limits. From my own observations as a motorist the constant increase and decrease of limits don’t allow traffic to flow smoothly, in fact it’s appears to be a major factor in bunching and static traffic. Even when traffic is heavy and no speed limits applied the flow of traffic appears to keep moving although at a slower pace. There will always be the occasional idiot who for some reason believes they have God give right to do the unthinkable to gain one or two spaces more by lane dodging or traveling down the outside of a slip road que and turn in at the last minute causing others to take avoiding action because their back end is still in the inside lane. Static traffic is not only a waste of fuel it’s a major air pollution problem, very few switch off their engines. Sometimes it’s impossible to switch off the engine as traffic is constantly inching forward for miles, then all of a sudden everything is off like a rocket again for no logical reason.
I cover around 30000 miles a year mostly on motorways and used the M25 before the variable speed limit was introduced. I noticed an immediate improvement in traffic flow once the system went live with the 50mph limit in place. The stop start of traffic is the result of constantly adjusting speed and changing lanes which is eliminated if everybody stays in the same lane at the same speed. The speed limit is set depending on the traffic flow at any one time so all they are doing is adjusting the algorithm slightly. The maximum is currently 60mph and the minimum is 40mph. So maybe 55mph would be a better compromise?
Variable speed limits seem a good idea but nobody has mentioned the 40 MPH limits on the M25, these cause everyone to slow down to a stop for no apparent reason. I don`t think that is environmentally friendly
“Construction unions, however, are concerned by the move, saying that higher speeds could lead to more accidents involving road workers, especially at night.”
So why are “Construction area Speed Limits” still in force on those roads where/when no repair/construction work is actually taking place?
I agree that a lowered speed limit may be warranted when road workers are actively working but if they are not working through the night, why are the limits still in force?
On a related but slightly different tack, many 20 mph limits increase the pollution in an area by requiring vehicles to travel at speeds at which their engines are less efficient, and at times of the night when there are few, if any, people around. Why? Why not have “time variable” speed limits? Smart signs?
On another related, but slightly different, tack, around here it is very obvious that large percentages of drivers haven’t a clue what the National speed limit is. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that after passing a ‘Derestricted’ sign they then proceed to drive, on a main road (60 mph limit) at 50 mph, or even 40 mph!!
The idea of variable speed limits to control traffic flow is a fantastic concept. However, much like communism, it’s failure is in the inability of those enacting the policy to do it in the manner it was intended.
Instead of variable limits which increase the throughput of traffic and reduce the occurrence of traffic jams, what we end up with is limits imposed for no reason (find me any point in the working week that the M4/M5 area isn’t set to 60mph regardless of the weight of traffic) or sudden drops in the limit causing concertina traffic, limits put in place for an accident that happened hours before but was cleared ages ago and someone forgot to turn them off, the list goes on.
I’d like to see some hard evidence that the variable limits around the M5/M6 interchange have increased traffic throughput, because in the years I have been using that junction, before and after the “smart” motorway was implemented I have detected zero change in traffic flow.
Smart Motorways are a fair idea but they will never work because people cannot use 3 lane motorways correctly so they have no chance with 4 or 5 lanes!! It is an offence nowadays to “hog” the centre lane but it is never enforced and on 4 lane motorways they even “hog” the third lane so spending all that money on upgrading is just quite frankly a complete waste of time and that money. The cameras should be better used in catching these drivers?
Totally agree. I think many drivers only think of themselves and have no consideration for other road users. They think that they are more important and stuff all other drivers!! I’m staying put, is their view!!!!!
The number of times I have practically been in a position to undertake (illegal, I know) because I can’t get out to a further right hand lane as my speedo/nav says I am doing 50 mph (or whatever the immediate limit is displayed) and the other driver is doing, say, 48 mph and will not move left into empty lanes. Maybe government advisory films, like in the “old days” is required….. And it’s not just the M3, which I was on recently, it happens everywhere, England, Scotland, Wales and NI.
‘Smart’ is a comical misnomer for any stretch similar to that between J28 & J29 of the M1, where you have the genius combination of a variable speed limit and standard (i.e. not averaging) speed cameras. The result is dangerous panic-braking and the resulting concertina traffic as the speed limit suddenly drops by 20mph and all of the vehicles who are about to pass a speed camera at that point in time slam on their brakes through fear of being snapped doing 20mph over what was the speed limit a second before.
It may well be that there’s a deliberate delay between the speed limit signs updating and the trigger speed on the cameras being decreased, but if that’s the case it’s far from a reasonable assumption and given the penalties involved for making an incorrect assumption, obviously nobody wants to take the risk.
How do we reduce pollution from vehicles (apart from banning them altogether)? Road vehicles are most efficient at steady speeds – so smart motorways need to keep us at steady speeds consistent with the road environment. I notice that this is exactly what happens with smart motorways with all their cameras and paraphernalia. Traffic slows going into the smart motorway no matter what is on the gantry. There is a steady speed with little start and stop. Pollution reduced!
Off the motorways there seems to be a determination to start and stop or speed and slow traffic at all times! We have traffic lights – not sequenced; we have road humps, we have road tables which pedestrians think are part of the pavement; we have pedestrian crossing which stop the traffic when there are no pedestrians; we have 20mph outside schools at 3am as well as 3pm – more slow down and speed up. All this gives more pollution.
Let’s be consistent and deal with all aspects of the problem and not pick one or two things … … or is this too hard.
In Oxfordshire we have speed limits that change frequently on the same road so one sign a driver may miss because his attention is fixed on where he/she is going or a sign that maybe obscured by foliage (frequent) then an ‘offence’ is committed.I am not arguing with the intentions of this programme but technology has not reached the average car on the road to ensure compliance. Mark one Eyeball has its limitations!
“Construction Unions are afraid of more accidents involging road workers, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT” – common guys… get real. When was the last time you see road worker working at night? There are highway agency workers sometimes blocking off outside lanes to clean middle of the road e.g. on M25… but I have never seen road worker at night fixing the actual road, ever. What a joke!
All the time round here actually, it’s a bloody nuisance having to put up with their noise during the night, but at least they keep the roads open during the day by shutting them at night to work on them.
But more to the point, the article stated ….
‘after the government asked Highways England to observe the impact of increasing the daytime speed limits on motorways’
… from which I would conclude the Construction Unions concerns are unfounded.
I travel alot on roads i find that alot of roads works nothing is happing on them at all, yet it still 50 mph and go on for some 4 juctions, would it not be better, if only one juction at a time can road works.
on accidents on motorway, one finds that sign of 50 are put up only to find no accident at all, added to if the road is closed down for some time, one is not told to go off the motorway, , with most people having satnav it should find anothervway around or read map.
taffic lights that highways manage don,t take to council one and tafffic jams happen goverment did say better traffic lightd working they need to work together better.
diseal car, with people health, alot of the health are people who have smoked in first place, so how i diseal car, truck fault, they should not of somked in first place
I recently drove up the M1 when a very long stretch in the South Yorkshire area was subject to 60 mph. The result was synthetically created bunching and congestion with inevitable, commensurate intimidation by HGV drivers. To suggest that the magic figure of 60 mph results in a constant speed for all traffic is ludicrous as, for example, lane changes for overtaking or exiting the motorway create deceleration and acceleration. Does this situation result in reduced emissions? Why is the government concentrating so much on pollution created by traffic and not other sources? This country has enough problems with the movement of traffic without creating more. Over the past however many years, 5 years or whatever, the M1 has seen enormous stretches of carriageway, 20+ miles, subjected to 50 mph for years at a time due to roadworks. At one time my regular journey from Leeds to Northampton had around 50% of the distance with roadworks at anyone time. Progress was so slow with no workers or equipment at all to be seen for very long lengths, that I thought, and still do, that the works were operated in such a way as to subject the road to a 50 mph limit as much as possible for as long as possible. I sympathise with those whose work requires them to drive on our roads on a daily basis, the stress and frustration must be mind bending. It would be interesting to know what this is doing to our economy in these increasingly testing times. Someone in the government/Highways Agency needs to rethink.
What is this intimidation by HGV’s you talk about as they are digitally restricted to 56 MPH?
‘Why is the government concentrating so much on pollution created by traffic and not other sources?’
Firstly, there is also a huge effort to reduce pollution caused by residential energy use – look at current building regulations and you will see a raft of measures that make homes more energy efficient.
Secondly, traffic is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, so of course it should be targeted.
The planned speed reductions will be really irritating and potentially dangerous. The potential danger arises from drivers becoming bored and losing concentration. One other thing that really bugs me is when the HA post speed restrictions on gantries for no reason and very often it can be only for a short very unnecessary stretch, the HA don’t seem to be answerable to anyone.
First I do not like or agree with so called smart m/ways, with no hard shoulder i say it is an accident waiting to happen & i will not drive on what was the hard shoulder of a smart m/way, also I am feed up of so many speed limits, it used to be 30mph in town,60mph out of town & 70mph on m/ways now their are far too many differant speed limits it is near imposible to know what speed you should be doing or has this been done to catch more drivers out so they can be give out more tickets.
‘ an EU-wide speed limit of 100 kilometres an hour (62 mph) on UK motorways?’
Speed limits for the majority of Europe are anything but 60mph. In most cases and most parts of Europe, the speed limit is 120kmh (75mph). In parts of France and the Netherlands, it’s 130kmh (81mph) and in a large portion of Germany it’s completely unrestricted.
Whilst the speed limits on European motorways are 120 and 130 KPH the majority of drivers do not feel compelled to drive at these speeds. I lived in Germany for 15 years and now live in Spain. On my journeys to and from these countries to the UK I always travel at the maximum as set by the signage on the motorways and I am always the one overtaking, whilst most seem to be content with 100 KMH. Sometimes I will get overtaken by the occasion higher speed driver but not anywhere near as often as in the UK.
Obviously there will be some variables to this but in general this is the case, and now I will probably get a lot of replies to say that I am talking rot, but as someone who lives and drives through Germany, Spain and France that is how I see it.
It is certainly true that very few British drivers regard the speed limit as a maximum. Most regard it as a target speed (and usually drive slightly faster, as if travelling below the limit is an offense) and a significant number have no regard for it at all, unless there is a camera.
I travel the M25 at least twice a week. The only motorway gantry sign that is always true is Pay dart charge by midnight. MOST of the other signs are incorrect and misleading showing out of date info or completely wrong.