Newslink May

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The Infamous Red X
On a Smart Motorway, a Red X on the
overhead gantry sign indicates that a lane
is closed to traffic. You must stay out of
that lane; it is illegal to drive in a lane
closed by a Red X sign. If you’re caught,
you could receive a fixed penalty of up to
£100 and three points, and in some cases
more severe penalties or a court
appearance. The police enforce Red X
offences.
If these displays are blank, the national
speed limit applies.
You’ll find it either on an overhead gantry,
or increasingly on cantilever signs at the
side of the road.
Regardless of where you see the sign,
either on a normal traffic lane or on a hard
shoulder on a motorway hard shoulder, it
simply means do not drive in that lane – it
has been closed to traffic.
traffic officers have successfully closed a
lane. “And that’s 37 minutes sitting in a
live traffic lane,” says AA spokesperson
Jack Cousens.
“Highways England’s own research
showed in one case it took an hour to
spot a stopped car in a live lane using
just CCTV.” Cameras can pan, tilt and
zoom and cover the whole of the smart
motorway network, but they can see only
what the eye can see and have a limited
range, says Peter Eccleson – so CCTV
will struggle in thick fog, heavy rain and
at night. And the AA says it could have
blind spots, depending on positioning.
Says Cousens: “We need to ensure
there’s 100 per cent of coverage, 100
per cent of the time and that those
cameras are constantly monitored in the
control centres”.
Several cameras feeds at a time are
monitored in seven Highways England
regional control centres around the
country. If one control centre becomes
overloaded in case of multiple incidents,
other control centres can watch the feeds
instead but it’s not possible to monitor
every camera around the clock.
MIDAS System
A network of road sensors – electromagnetic
induction loops – has been in
use for years in UK’s motorways. This
MIDAS system (motorway incident
detection and automated signalling)
detects the speed and length of a vehicle
and feeds information into outstation
units and automatically sets variable
speed limits on motorways and major
roads. Highways England traffic officers
can also set speed limits.
In theory, MIDAS detects breakdowns
but doesn’t work as well when traffic is
light, as a stopped vehicle might not
affect the speed of others. But it’s then
that cars will be driving faster, potentially
towards a stopped vehicle, says Jack
Cousens. “But the technology is 35 years
old and ultimately will be replaced,” says
Eccleson, whose company represents
Smart micro radars used on the
continent in tolls and for traffic
enforcement. Radars could replace these
carriageway loops more cheaply, he
argues, and potentially with more
functionality. “It could feed straight back
into an office, so if there’s a breakdown it
could prompt human intervention
sooner.” Radar technology used on the
two stretches of the M25 (J5-7 and
J23-27) and being retrofitted on the
stretch of the M3 is made by Navtech
whose award-winning scanning radar
ClearWay monitors a 500m stretch in
each direction. This detects stopped
vehicles and triggers an alert within 10
seconds, giving the exact stoppage
location – and it works in all weather and
lighting. “Radar overcomes a lot of
weather issues, especially in this
country,” says Eccleson.
‘‘
With so much controversy
surrounding Smart Motorways,
it is hard to comprehend the
DfT’s claim that they are as
safe or safer than conventional
motorways
‘‘
Comment and conclusion
With so much controversy surrounding
Smart Motorways, it’s difficult to
comprehend the DfT’s claim that Smart
Motorways are as safe as or safer than
conventional motorways. Smart Motorways
appear anything but smart. Without a
hard shoulder, how does one cope with a
breakdown unless it happens at one of
the emergency refuge areas which
currently can be 1.5 miles apart? How
can the police pull over an errant driver
safely unless there is a hard shoulder or
they can get to an Emergency Refuge
Area?
If there is no hard shoulder and if the
motorway is heavily trafficked, how can
the emergency services get to an incident
quickly without a hard shoulder? In a
lane in which a breakdown has occurred
and even where the lane is closed off,
will other drivers understand the
messages on the overhead gantries? To
date, it appears not.
Obviously, Smart Motorways offer
increased traffic flow and smooth
running, but in view of the recent deaths,
the Government needs to think seriously
about their future use.
But if all-lane running motorways were
implemented with adequate technology
and crucially more safety areas, would
they be as safe as conventional
motorways? Opponents say the concept
is flawed.
But motorist groups agree the
conventional hard shoulder isn’t a safe
place either. One in 12 fatalities occur on
a hard shoulder, and 90 per cent of stops
are unnecessary. Highways England says
a permanent hard shoulder increases
danger – people stop illegally for toilet
breaks, drive into them when their
concentration lapses. They also argue
that removing the hard shoulder removes
these risks. “Motorways are the safest
type of roads,” says transport specialist
Christian Wolmar, who points to the lack
of a hard shoulder on A-roads and dual
-carriageways. “So, anything that
increases capacity – and stops drivers
taking rat runs through cities or even A
roads means, in theory, they are safer.
But unless you have like-for-like
statistics, you can’t compare safety.”
At present Smart Motorways appear to
be a fait accompli and only time will tell
whether the Government will continue to
support them. What is true is that all
motorists need to understand how to use
them safely while they are with us.
But with so much debate and
controversy surrounding Smart
Motorways one has to ask: Are Smart
Motorways a recipe for disaster?
NEWSLINK n MAY 2021
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