"Smart" Motorway CARNAGE! : Crash causes Police to go off road!

[@Technaudio]

The amount of drivers that got out of the way, then put themselves back in the way was quite astounding.

[@MrPDoff]

Madness baring in mind the No of Police cars already on scene couldn't one of the later cars just tagging on dealt with the drivers that pulled back into the lane behind them

[@jeffharris4558]

Exactly, that’s because people are stupid, selfish or both. Totally agree that rather than the traffic wombles racing ahead so they can cone off lanes (basically all they’re good for) they should have stuck at the back and directed traffic out of lane one/exit slip. I guess the excitement of deploying their precious cone cargo and seeing a juicy crash was all too much for them.

[@dontuno]

But what we don't know is whether that lane was x'd off. Perhaps I need to watch the video again?

[@iamnotthemuffinman]

The silver mini which started to come back alongside the ambulance car was my favourite 👌

[@douglastodd1947]

OPEFULLY THE CAMERAS GOT ALL THEIR REG NO'S , AND THEY GET FIXED PENALTY NOTICES FOR OBSTRUCTING PASSAGE OF EMERGENCY VEHICLES.

[@garyminion9610]

The trouble with smart motorways is they rely on people actually being smart, which is obviously not the case.

[@CycolacFan]

And getting a clear indication of what to do.

[@unclefranko2452]

People are only interested in getting further along the queue, not interested in keeping the way clear for the emergency services. ME ME ME ,Attitude!

[@rob_e_g8723]

You could have a million lane motorway, you'll still get everyone sitting in the middle, and leaving to exit until the very last moment.

[@mrbotan5416]

All the time I’ve used smart motorways, if there’s an X on the lane, Everyone obeys. I’m not sure what caused the patrol car to bring two lanes worth of traffic, but this has nothing to do with smart motorways. This is mismanagement of the smart motorway. Up until that highway patrol, the smart motorway worked perfectly.

[@stephenhollinrake916]

No the problem is no hard shoulder simple,, , ive seen loads of smashes on slip roads on to main motorways a single car brakedown causing serious issues,, and the automated speed limit sighns have everyone looked up instead of infront,, just a money 💰 scam and they Don't give a shit of a few die .

[@robp1316]

We need to adopt the German practice of moving to the sides where there is no hard shoulder and leaving space down the middle as soon as traffic starts to back up. What is stupid here is people move for one emergency vehicle and then don't have the common sense to think others may be coming too so move back out again. People have and will continue to die on these so called smart motorways not just because of no hard shoulder but also because of idiotic drivers just wanting get further down the road with no consideration for emergency vehicles.

[@MidwayGermany]

Hi. I'm from Germany. The principle is good, but unfortunately it doesn't work that well thanks to the many egoists who keep making the rescue lane. What urgently needs to come are very harsh penalties, which are also implemented. Unfortunately, threats alone are not enough.

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

@@MidwayGermany most of the time we can't really complain about how drivers react in highway traffic jams, but one has to admit that Germans absolutely love to complain on a high level

[@hypergolic8468]

I would say that on two lane Autobahn's (and the Dutch have numerous signs reminding people of this too) then the rules easy to follow and it works well, when you get to three lanes it becomes harder, and on four lane sections, it's just a mess. That said the hard shoulder helps keep a clear emergency lane. I would also point out, that the Germany Driving licence takes considerably longer to gain, and had a separate Autobahn section so German drivers were better prepared, in my opinion. It took many years for the UK to adopted a smaller subset of the German learner driving training on fast roads. It was amazing that in the UK learner drivers (like myself) were prohibited from the Motorway whilst under tuition, but after you passed your test you were allowed to drive on the one section of road you had never driven on. One final point too, anyone in Europe can purchase a car and drive it for quite some time with their original driving licence and on the number plate of the country that they live in. Therefore some of that bad driving by "German" cars may not be the case either.

[@EndstyleGG]

Absolutely, here in Slovenia, there was (and to some extent still is) a massive movement called Reševalni Pas (rescue lane) which is exactly that and people had these stickers everywhere and there were advertisements on tv. I don't drive at busy times often, but both times I was stuck in

[@volkerolles1529]

@@hypergolic8468 In the case of Germany and the European Union in general, the rule also applies to motorways with multiple lanes. The "rescue lane" is always to be kept clear between the leftmost lane and all other lanes, regardless of their number. That means that drivers on the leftmost lane pull over to the left, and those on all other lanes to the right.

[@robertwalker1742]

Wonder who thought of this , closing hard shoulder must be stopped NOW, I’m a ex recovery driver and we need to be protected in some way.

[@paulwilliams5013]

Agree with you.....thought up by, evidently nobody who has had a total loss of power while overtaking in the outside lane! I have and thank God for the virtually continuous hard shoulder. It's not just tyres and cooling system faults that occur, is it?

[@exodus6104]

this is why we need hard shoulders most people said no to this bad ider but it still happened bring back hard shoulders for everyones safety

[@barbaragibson6756]

You think they listen to us

[@aquanick2001]

Nah we need smart motorways, they reduce congestion and that’s for everyone’s benefit….

[@chrishar110]

There is a hard shoulder every time they need it. They mark one lane with X, that means YOU CAN NOT ENTER IN THAT LANE. If there are so many stupid drivers they can use the cameras, and revoke their driving licenses.

[@CheapBastard1988]

The same people who ignore a red cross, would drive on the hard shoulder. The problem isn't the concept, it's the idiots that abuse them.

[@GBPaddling]

You think they care about your welfare? Let me do my big Skeletor laugh..........BW HA HA..........

[@jessgibson4790]

Enforcing the lane closures was working until Highways chose to fill the empty lanes with their rolling roadblock. Footage shows clearly that hard shoulders are needed and smart motorways will lead to a loss of life.

[@THEDOGHOUSECUSTOMMOTORCYCLES]

At least 38 deaths caused by smart motorways, That figure has probably already gone up. Ive had a very lucky escape at night on a section of the M1 with no street lights, it was a dark coloured van that was very hard to see broken down blocking the inside lane, luckily I had nothing coming up the outside of me so I was able to swerve and avoid hitting it. Sadly a lot more people will lose their life because of this insane idea.

[@RedHat2023]

There's a reason for the rolling block. Lane 2/part of lane 3 there was a good sized bunch of debris in the lanes. They used the RRB so that they coulf clear that debris without endangering other road users and staff on scene.

[@thefreedomguyuk]

@@THEDOGHOUSECUSTOMMOTORCYCLES I believe it's now over 85....

[@neildavies2783]

The problem is not smart motorways... it is the very un-smart drivers that we see daily on our roads, especially any kind of motorway... they join then go in to a zombie like state... hogging middle and outside lanes... or they drive tied and play with phones. Dual carriageways have no hard shoulder and 70mph limits... we don't argue that they are dangerous in the way we do smart motorways.

[@jessgibson4790]

@@neildavies2783 My argument was that, having cleared the debris, surely it would've made more sense to leave it free for responders vehicles rather than use it and deny them access to the crash site. Although I do agree that people seem to have other things on their minds than actually driving their vehicles.

[@kal9001]

Two lanes were empty at the start, clearly drivers obeying the lane closures. EVERY single driver that entered lanes 1 and 2 in this video needs prosecuting. This isn't a failure of the system, but of people to follow the rules of the system.

[@gepwxaqdfsidsesg1548]

Was the lane actually closed though? If they didn't put signs on closing the lane then it isn't really the drivers fault. Also it appears to be a lane dedicated to exiting the motorway so maybe there is no way to close it.

[@cg-nz7jf]

@@gepwxaqdfsidsesg1548 If you actually look, there's a variable message display clearly displaying a red X in the left two lanes and it's highly likely that displays before the incident would also have displayed the same. It is absolutely the fault of the drivers flouting the red X. You say there could've been no way to close it yet you can literally see a closure in place by HETOs? I completely agree with kal that all the drivers seen in these lanes should be issued with fixed penalty notices or traffic offence reports, using the dashcam of the responding police vehicles and HETO vehicles to gather all the necessary information.

[@tomharper2709]

@@cg-nz7jf I’m with you on this. It’s so infuriating to see these brainless idiots somehow managing to be allowed to drive after doing things like this. Driving license is something you earn and doing stuff like this just shows how thick a great proportion of UK motorists really are. EMERGENCY VEHICLE GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY

[@ultra_vires]

It isn't that simple. With traffic becoming completely static in lanes 3 and 4, the traffic joining at onslips are already in the red X's with no gaps to move into lane 3. Even the flowing traffic approaching BEFORE the red X's then see the X's ahead but there's nowhere to pull into either, as it's all stopped. When the traffic is held, there has to be a complete blockage somewhere because traffic doesn't just disappear. You therefore cannot blanket ticket everybody for being within a red X. Only those who disregard it and fail to move over where there's space should receive the penalties.

[@tomharper2709]

@@ultra_vires I hadn’t thought of that. I guess the only solution would be to have extended slip roads and hold traffic there in one lane, or have slip roads for x distance after an entry slip road. To be honest the lack of a Hard shoulder is my only gripe with smart motorways, my experience on them has overall been very positive. Overall though, they were a very badly designed idea. They work for controlling flow of congested traffic and reducing speeding and that’s it.

[@darrell190967]

ditching the hard shoulder on some motorways was, is now, and always will be a very bad idea...it was done to create extra capacity "on the cheap" by often not actually widening a motorway, this video here shows just one reason why...permanently closing the outside lane on all motorways where there's no hard shoulder will help, also cameras nearby every matrix / gantry to capture drivers whom flout lane closures, where a matrix sign shows a red X, with flashing reds should be treated exactly the same as jumping a red traffic light or running red "wig wam" light by fire stations...every single reg number of offending vehicles should be ticketed with a nasty postal surprise

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

A jumping red X is a nine point offence now in 2022, with new Traffic Regs 2022, with upto £2700 fine. Motorways do have these lane fine cameras, been told the M25 has a lot of them. New in 2022, normal simple cctv type cameras, since 2020 to 2021 trials now can do speeding, lane hogging, ANPR, tailgating. UK Gov in Feb 2022 gave Gatso UK (Serco) to start making them non trial live, to start fines. This means a speed camera will now also do other areas not just speeding. Also it does not have to be in a yellow box. It can just be a normal black / white cctv camera that you see on a simple lamp post / pole. They use AI for calibration, so no line marmings on road is needed. Also Council's can start using the new software to turn town centre cctv cameras, into all these new fines listed above, and Council can apply to Central Government to start issuing themselves speeding fines, lane hogging, tailgating, red x. So it does not just have to be the police. Also 2025, Ford started with new cars in UK and EU April 2022 .... ECU's are fitted with some new software and mobile access to report you for speeding. From 2025 - cars (your car or van) are to report you for speeding, insurance & licence & MOT etc, rec.drugs and alc.

[@mark1trucker]

Making motorways wider to take more vehicles was never needed and won't be needed, the reason being that the three lanes we had are never used correctly. If we look what is happening we will see that a high percentage of the lanes are actually not being used. Need more traffic police out there constantly pulling bad driving habits and large fines which would pay for more patrols to stop bad drivers. Ignore the moaners, let's have some actual enforcement out there and rid this ferral driver attitude.

[@barrymayson2492]

I got stuck on the M2 completely shut just after a junction. I was at the front. The police officer was sorting out the mess on his own! It was early Sunday morning. I saw in my mirror a load of cars coming down the hard shoulder to sneak up to the junction. The copper saw them went over stopped the first car. Then got on the radio and walked up the row of cars shouting the reg numbers over the radio so they would get a ticket in the post! He held them there for a while and released the other lanes. A rare case of thinking by the copper and I did feel sorry for him as he was on his own dealing with an accident and then knob heads appear. I think he got his quoter of tickets.

[@Groot-zc5rz]

I've seen people try to jump queues and end up blocking the hard shoulder. They need to fine every single driver breaking the law by using a lane with a red X. They will learn eventually.

[@CDB8939]

@@mark1trucker Since they changed the M1 near me to 4 lanes and made it all lane running, I find that 3 lanes are taken up by LGV's overtaking each other at 56mph and the outside lane being used by everyone else. It took over 10 miles to get by a group of LGV's the other week just using the outside lane.

[@270687carl]

ironic whoever thought a "SMART" motorway would be a smart idea - the loss of a Hard shoulder like in this instance and I'm very sure loads of others why it's needed, Emergency vehicles having to go off the highway to get past is beyond rediculous and imagine how much longer it will take to attend a scene such as an urgent medical attention or serious fire not to mention a breakdown and couldn't reach the next services.

[@howardchambers9679]

This government introduced them. Morons kept voting them in.

[@cjfeather]

The hard shoulder does not get used 99.9% of they time but the hard shoulder was put there for the 1% of the time it is needed,, this could all have gone a lot smoother with a free hard shoulder…. No need for a smart motorway without a hard shoulder, just add more lanes but keep the hard shoulder, add another 10 lanes making the road super wide but keep the hard shoulder free always just in case and that is the smart way to do it lol

[@CDB8939]

@@cjfeather The reason they used the hard shoulder is to save Billions of pounds of Taxpayers money in adding new lanes, If they widened the road they would need to purchase the land on both sides of the road, sometimes taking years to do by compulsory purchase orders if the landowners refused to sell, then all of the Bridges would have to be replaced to accommodate the wider carriageways

[@cjfeather]

@@CDB8939 have you seen how the government uses tax payer money? At this point forget saving money needs must so just do it,,..

[@Craig-wp3pz]

Yep, smart motorway is the DUMBEST thing I've ever seen....... I weigh 32,000kgs , if I gotta swerve ( cos at 32 tonne, I cannot stop like a car!!) and I go on grass, game over 🎮!, at speed it will roll, slow speed, will sink!!!! Used to love the hard shoulder at my left side, an option in an emergency..... .. Now I've got mabey 2 foot, and cones, then concrete barrier, or un-stabilised soil, for a chance in the roll-over lotto!!!! So instead of heading for the hard shoulder, from now on I WILL be hitting the vehicle in front!!! , unlucky for me if its a truck 🚚 😥 Unlucky for a car if it puts itself in the way 😥 🚗 👪 😕 ⚰ ⚰ ⚰ ⚰ ⚰

[@TheAlllseeeingFish]

Smart motorways are laughably misnamed!

[@limyrob1383]

Really appreciate you posting this. I live right near this stretch of the M4 and there are constant accidents. The "Smart" system clearly does not work and the design of the East bound M4 slip for the M25 is just dangerous.

[@mrbachittarsingh9243]

There was always accidents on the slip for the m25 before smart motorways, I can only imagine the carnage now the hard shoulder is gone

[@colinnewton5254]

Anything with the name smart is dangerous, as witness smart motorways, smart meters etc.

[@Comet-Real]

I live at the wales part of the M4, and there’s already works going on for the “smart” motorways. This is utterly dangerous when the hard shoulder is gone.

[@AgentSquash]

@@Comet-RealThere’s no Smart Motorways in Wales.

[@midge225]

Its bound to happen with no emergency lane , hard shoulders save lives so lets get them back as they were intended

[@cameronbrown4616]

Lane 1 is emergency lane when needed as they can close it with the signs

[@Biffo1262]

@@cameronbrown4616 Often not quick enough to prevent an accident. There is ALWAYS some delay actuating it and you have vehicles that pass gantries before they are actuated. The system was always flawed and that's why they aren't doing any more. They have proved to be fatal.

[@desirefusion532]

@@cameronbrown4616 if you breakdown and have to stop in lane one, you’d then have to ring someone for the lane to be closed whilst you had traffic behind you doing at least 50mph who would then likely have to swerve into the faster lanes. Closing them takes too long, a hard shoulder is 10000000x safer

[@RozzerMildred97]

I can guarantee you hard shoulders don’t save lives. They are actually one of the most dangerous places on a motorway. People misuse them all of the time and there have been a number of incidents in the past year where people have been killed on then

[@midge225]

@@RozzerMildred97 so lets say that the hard shoulder is being used as a live lane , your car brakes down and you have nowhere to pull over because the hard shoulder is being used as a live lane , it could take minutes before the lane is cleared of traffic because its not picked up by the cameras straight away , in that time your vehicle could be wiped out by a 44ton truck from romania , sounds like a safe lane now i bet

[@virginiafry9854]

I can’t understand the mentality of drivers who pull in behind a response vehicle, especially when several response vehicles have already gone past!!! Don’t they realise that there must be a major problem ahead!!

[@vangard6562]

It's got nothing to do with it being a "Smart Motorway" but everything to do with completely dumb & selfish drivers!

[@dontuno]

So what would have happened if there were still a hard shoulder, just answer the question please.

[@vangard6562]

@@dontuno The dumb & selfish drivers would have used it to get ahead of the rest of the traffic, I've witnessed it myself.!!

[@NitroNuggetTV]

@@dontuno Its as simple as that. the overwhelming majority of drivers would never use the hard shoulder vs a significant proportion of drivers that would use what otherwise looks like two open and useable lanes. smart motorways are profoundly dumb and need to be removed.

[@dontuno]

@@NitroNuggetTV Precisely! Whoever dreamt up or advocated that "Smart" motorways were a sensible solution to a perceived problem should be held accountable for their consequences. I get really annoyed by the self-righteous who start calling drivers dumb when in reality had the hard shoulder still been there the conversation wouldn't even have got started!

[@dontuno]

@@vangard6562 Sorry but I have travelled up and down all the UK motorways over the last 40 plus years, and frankly you are talking rubbish! The vast majority of drivers recognised that a hard shoulder was a no-go area and knew it was there for safety reasons.

[@emyrdavies5295]

These motorways are the dumbest idea of any infrastructure planner ever…

[@williambeesley9224]

Yeah, especially when all the cost involved and extra danger levels are for absolutely nothing, as most drivers now just sit in the 3rd lane doing 55mph instead of the middle lane, totally nullifying any advantage, and are seemingly just allowed to do so!

[@tosspot1305]

@@williambeesley9224 they shouldn't even sit in the middle lane. Kept left unless overtaking

[@williambeesley9224]

@@tosspot1305 absolutely, that's my point, standard of driving on motorways is atrocious, and unless your doing 5mph over the speed limit the police arnt interested in changing it, probably because most of the culprits didn't even pass their test in this country!

[@tosspot1305]

@@williambeesley9224 I second that!

[@suecharnock9369]

and all those who have lost loved ones on them should sue the crap out the local planners, highway agency and Government. Of course, because it is 'government' no-one will be held accountable, but at least they might finally realise that we, the voting public, dont want these death-traps to drive on!

[@richardlaw5737]

This is caused by impatient arseholes who ignore the overhead signs - I assume red x ❌ would have been on the gantry. All those who continued in the closed lanes need 6 points and a large fine!!!

[@derekbuxton8728]

this is because smart is stupid u can see

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

Since Feb 2022, Traffic Regs 2022 update, its now nine points and upto £2700 fine.

[@EdgeOfInsanityOffical]

Yup Lane 1 & 2 Red X on the video

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

@@EdgeOfInsanityOffical Then the cameras need high power lasers aimed at their tyres.

[@jaybooth555]

@@pqrstzxerty1296 Its 3 points and £100 fine now unless it goes to court then its higher penalties

[@CDB8939]

All was going well until that Highway's Traffic Car drove down leading 2 lanes of traffic which effectively blocked all 4 lanes.

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

Yep, saw that too. Highways should have force closed one lane, to be used as a blue light lane. Also why no red X closure ?

[@michaelsowerby8198]

The red 'x' matrix signs were lit up for the left lane. What grates me is the callous attitudes of those who chose to ignore the signs and break the law. 😐

[@bluesky4733]

Geniuses

[@rogueuniversities6866]

@@michaelsowerby8198 I think it's a case of them thinking they know better. They saw the signs, then saw the vehicle in the refuge area, and moronically assume that MUST be the incident, so they could ignore the signs now. Utter stupidity. I've seen a video where the driver was annoyed that the signs still closed the left lane after, as far as he was concerned, he'd gone past the incident. In reality he had no idea whether there had been another incident ahead.

[@MrPDoff]

Dont know why they had to be at the incident and I have often wondered why so many Police cars need to be there too. Surely HA could be better used to keep the lane clear

[@9832700]

A very good (well caught) example of the ridiculous decision to remove the hard shoulder. I myself saw an incident back at Slough/Windsor, unfortunately fatal as the "Smart" NOT lanes were being installed and the police were having to chuck road cones of the road ,as you pointed out vital seconds/minutes are being lost.

[@pdtech4524]

A perfect example of how smart motorways are ridiculously dangerous⚠️😲🤔😳 I completely avoid travelling on them⚠️😳

[@vinylseat]

Madness! I can't believe the so called 'SMART] motorway was ever sanctioned. Reverse the situation. We have had smart motorways for years causing untold accidents. The tea lady at the DOT comes up with the idea of a hard shoulder to allow emergency vehicles to attend accidents. Brilliant they all say! This to say nothing of the incredible costs involved.

[@ianhandforth5672]

bloke in charge get 500 thousand a year,,been an idiot does pay,its all corruption,

[@anakinskywalker4113]

These smart motorways are an absolute joke nothing smart about them at all. They are fatality flawed. Never ever should have been allows to remove the hard shoulder. Couldn’t care less about saving some stuck up driver a few mins driving time. Emergency vehicles must come first.

[@John-tx2ry]

The motorway isn’t the problem as it doesn’t move or interfere with traffic, but it’s down drivers competency, common sense and compliance to drive according to road / traffic conditions. Even where there is a hard shoulder, vehicles will use it as they are too impatient to wait in traffic. Remember when the variable speed limits were introduced? Many drivers said it wouldn’t work, but it has as traffic flows better at a lower speed, as opposed to the start/stop routine that it replaced. I for one, dislike Smart motorways but only for the fact that too many drivers are not smart enough to adhere to how they work.

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

that's why more and more countries swtich to emergency corridors instead ...

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

Yep, M3 M4 M1 M25 M1, last week, I must have swerved from lane zero (open smart lane) to lane 1, over 14 times due to parked brokendown vehicles, with no red X showing on overhead signs. Even Google maps was getting fedup with me marking them.... giving me a waiting time to report the next one. I also notice people just won't use the lane zero when open, even HGV's as they may have to return to lane 1 ( directed in and out like on M1, or by swearving and no pre red X displayed ). Smart motorways that allow the use of lane zero for general use is never going to work.

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

@@pqrstzxerty1296 "Smart motorways that allow the use of lane zero for general use is never going to work. " why does it work in places outside the UK, but not in the UK? In my area we have a section like that as well and it works very well ...

[@D5DRIFT]

Love seeing things like this where people's clever ideas turns things into a nightmare

[@BigDavie2000]

I have often wondered why when the police have stopped the traffic from passing an accident the ambulances and fire services don't approach the accident from the opposing direction drive the wrong way up a now empty motorway but rather battle through traffic that has bunched up and has little room to help the emergency services proceed.

[@adamwarburton5572]

Too far out-of the box for these idiots to grasp that master plan 😂😂

[@mrbachittarsingh9243]

That sounds dangerously like common sense!

[@TheBlueskythoughts]

The fire service would only approach against the flow of traffic (even if stopped) with a police escort tying up even more resources.

[@iainjones5002]

Emergency Services generally do NOT use that format. A Traffic Officer friend of mine said a few years ago to do that could mean having to deploy additional police officers to close off any potential Slip Roads or Junction connections to traffic wishing to access the carriageway, when additional manpower may not be necessarily available in what can be a time critical period. Instead, it's safer to have Emergency Service vehicles approach the accident scene from behind and through the traffic backlog, even if it does mean taking a bit longer to reach the scene.

[@CDB8939]

@@iainjones5002 From the Fire Service perspective. We alway have a dual approach on Motorways and Duel Carriageways, appliances will attend the location on both carriageways North/South or East/West. Then the appliances on the non incident side will continue to the next junction and return on the incident side, unless there has been an encroachment of the central barrier. With the smart motorways the HA will know exactly where it is and what is happening from the cameras and will set a Red X to close one lane to make an access corridor for any emergency vehicles.The problem is the tailback from a complete blockage forms very quickly and lanes may already be blocked with vehicles before the red x was set. There is a way of approaching by travelling the wrong way on a carriageway but the criteria for that is horrendous, I have never done it in over 30 years of service.

[@ykdoodlefr]

this is why hard shoulders exist, if our government had realised this, this wouldn't be a problem.

[@chrisgell9052]

In France and Germany, where folk have a bit more common sense, traffic will all stop tight to one side of a lane to leave an access corridor for the emergency services.

[@duncanpenfold5793]

That would involve patient drivers willing to put others forts sadly something lacking in the UK

[@scottuk66]

They drive like morons in Germany, alot more accidents on their motorway

[@JALC-x]

yes I'm sure there's never been a situation like this in either france nor germany

[@EnglishLaw]

Yes, create a space here and a selfish sod will fill it.

[@CanemanCaneman]

Oui en France la "BAU" bande arrêt urgence doit rester libre pour les secours et personnes n'oserait dépasser par la BAU. Merci pour la vidéo 🇫🇷

[@Badger-w8u]

" smart " motorways are not that smart . With nowhere to go for safety , they are more of a life thretning hazard than smart . Even the motorways with , hard shoulders are not a safe place to find yourself as idiots sometimes drive up them . Even worse is when the red X is lite and drivers STILL drive in the RED X lane .

[@cheriecollins3848]

Why would they do this if it endangers life govt ??

[@Biffo1262]

@@cheriecollins3848 Because it is cheaper than widening the motorways. It's as simple as that. Government doesn't give a fig for public safety. Cost cutting is the only thing that matters. In many respects we, the public are also to blame as the money has to comes from somewhere but the public doesn't want to pay it. You can't have your cake AND eat it!

[@cheriecollins3848]

@@Biffo1262 Duty of care and Health and safety,also public servants to us,most have walked out past couple of days now Boris.Public deserve better,no hard shoulder endangers life,they have plenty of money in pot as we have all seen..

[@SN3Productions]

If only they reviewed the footage off of the highway cameras and ticketed every car that chose to ignore the lane closure.

[@Felix-rising]

The people turning on and off the signs are worse than useless , there would be wrongful fines flying everywhere

[@steve5772]

You're assuming there was one, it takes them ages to press the button to close the lane, I know, I've been sat roadside waiting for it to happen before, they've probably just done it now.

[@Felix-rising]

@@steve5772 same as

[@BionicRusty]

@@Felix-rising There’d have to be photographic evidence. An easy thing to do but as we all know, the operators of these signs are less than reactive and not very bright. I’ve driven under consecutive gantry’s that had, 70-40-🚫-70-40-🚫 They probably caused the incident in the first place. I hope no one was seriously injured wrt this video 😔

[@Felix-rising]

@@BionicRusty yes but the weak link would be the cameras and speed signs being synchronised

[@warweezil2802]

The guys who designed motorways put in a hard shoulder for a good reason. This is just cutting corners instead of spending some of the huge amount of vehicle related taxation we pay every year on improving motorways.

[@More-Space-In-Ear]

This is why taking the hard shoulder away was a bad thing..

[@ElliottRodgers]

Good example of why Smart Motorways aren't a smart idea.

[@John-tx2ry]

At the start both inside lanes are clear as traffic is obeying the red crosses on the gantry. The not so smart drivers ignoring the signs are the problem, not the smart motorway. A Red Cross on a gantry is basically a red traffic light and drivers are now being prosecuted accordingly.

[@TheReduxGB]

Could do with automatic cameras to enforce it, would stop people for sure from driving in such lanes

[@TheByard]

Highways cars could force vehicle's over and keep the lanes clear instead of racing to the scene to put some cones out. I wonder how many drivers etc. have to die before something is done about having the hard shoulder back, or a training campaign for drivers to leave a lane clear or pull to the side as in Germany. The BBC would be very handy for this champagne The police should also set up sting operations with mock accidents filmed and shown on TV etc. To shame motorist's as well as fining them. This would be a cash cow with some purpose. I do hate ambulance chasers.

[@trytellingthetruth.2068]

So you think a smart motorway isn't a problem. You need to explain that to the families of people killed using them .

[@TheReduxGB]

@@trytellingthetruth.2068 while smart motorways do cause some of the issues, as shown here, drivers can also be the cause. Even if it wasn't a smart motorway, people still decide to bypass traffic with the hard shoulder which, yet again, causes the same problems.

[@duncanpenfold5793]

Problem with this is drivers are not patient and Cameras are bright yellow and everyone knows where they are. Stop warning drivers so they can avoid then and just put cameras on every single gantry. Tailgating. Excessive speed and ignoring lane warning can all raise funds

[@davidedbrooke9324]

Another example Of “experts” screwing things up!

[@jonathanpalmer155]

The trouble with Smart Motorways is that they rely on National Highways crossing their fingers and hoping that there won't be an incident where Emergency Services will have to navigate through every lane blocked with standing traffic. Any poor souls unlucky-enough to suffer a terminal vehicle breakdown should also employed the same "crossed fingers" mantra: pray that their car will roll to the nearest of one of the very widely-spaced Emergency Refuge areas...

[@DracFury]

Smart Motorways need scrapping ASAP. They are causing people to lose their lives , in trade for cheap shortcuts by our MoT.

[@davidparker1821]

There is nothing "smart" about a smart motorway!!

[@simonsays3465]

And i thought American drivers were rude...cheers from USA for the video..

[@neilduran7647]

We live in hope that these smart motorways will be ditched asap before more people injured or die!

[@simonpeterhemingway6801]

this is why we need to bring the hard shoulder back and scrap the smart ,moo=torwat system

[@jamesmarriott3667]

it makes me mad when you get drivers following the emergency vehicles though gaps that they made for them selves

[@JohnSmith-ug7ov]

All the politicians etc responsible for the introduction of smart motorways, should be put on trial and jailed.

[@colingarner6175]

I’ve experienced a similar situation where an accident happened in front of me blocking three lanes and then all the morons parked on the hard shoulder stopping any emergency vehicles getting through 😢

[@grumpyoldgit8254]

I have a friend who is part of the management team for our local Highways, and they told the designers at the very outset that smart motorways would cost lives and were told to get on board or find another job, because they were coming in and that was the end of it. One day all this will come out, and we will have another apology from a government department saying they have learnt the lessons, and it won't happen again ya di ya di ya.

[@DanielDare100]

Smart my arse! Fecking Death Trap Motorway is more apt.

[@anntaplin4960]

I was taught that a big fucking red cross means that the lane is CLOSED. Fine all the cars, vans and lorries that use the CLOSED lanes. And fine them HARD. Having been stuck in a traffic jam for over an hour because of AHoles who cannot understand or IGNORE a big fat RED CROSS and drive in the closed lanes and then cut in ahead of waiting traffic is not only annoying but selfish and DANGEROUS. Did I say that they should ALL be heavily FINED?

[@robertwillis4061]

They have video footage of then (not the smartphone) so they can easily charge them. Then put it in the papers and TV so others learn

[@davecooper3238]

If it’s a smart motorway why were non emergency vehicles in the left hand lane. Was it because it had not been closed. Or because drivers were ignoring the signage. If people did ignore the signs would cameras pick them up. Would they be receiving a fine notice through the post.

[@nickeustace9495]

This section of the M4 from Reading to the M25 is "all lane running" to increase capacity.

[@firstman9273]

I think it pretty clear the two left lanes were closed throughout this video. people behaving good at the start but then all the idiots just started to ignore signs. Cops should have booked them all.

[@davecooper3238]

@@firstman9273 Do the cops physically need to book them on a Smart Motorway. Don’t cameras do that automatically ?

[@ShuskiCross]

@@davecooper3238 There's only a few places on all the smart motorways in the country where tickets are issued automatically. Its still all a very manual process. Even turning on the speed limit signs is manually done. The system will tell an operator the traffic rate and advise speeds, to which the operator changes the speed recommended by the system. I think there's a bit of smart motorway on the m4 near Bristol where its mostly automatic, but I don't know which part as the road can often be empty for miles at night and the limit is still set to 50

[@davecooper3238]

@@ShuskiCross Don’t the cameras react to the changed speed limit & lane closed when active. Part of the M4 in South Wales is more or less permanently 50mph. The signs say it’s to cut pollution.

[@fivewindow32]

Nothing 'smart' about the design of this motorway.

[@corby008]

We should adopt the procedure as in Europe where the traffic parts to leave a clear thoroughfare for emergency vehicles instead of the free for all that this shows.

[@ibs5080]

You beat me too it. Great illustrations of this from the Germans if you look up "rettungsgasse". Same concept in Holland.

[@josephrowley2172]

Seem multiple people suggesting this. That’s engraned in drivers heads. Here we used to have the hard shoulder…now we don’t. What have people been taught to do instead?

[@Woodn509]

If only they had a hard shoulder!!

[@jimmy2minutes]

That fact that someone actually came up with the idea of removing the hard shoulder, and then managed to run with the idea and put it into action is beyond stupid. If smart motorways are such a good idea we wouldn't have any hard shoulders.

[@j.wellens5660]

or.... the fact that someone actually repurposed the hard shoulder to be a live lane, gave all drivers ridiculous amounts of signage and notice about how to use those lanes, only for lots of those irresponsible idiots to ignore both the rules and common sense to hinder the emergency services. Probably the same set of idiots who don't know that the left lane is for driving; all other lanes are for passing/overtaking, unless otherwise indicated. ( fwiw these rules do apply to Audis ,Bmws, Mercedes and Teslas)

[@jimmy2minutes]

@@j.wellens5660 OK. I can give you that. But it's all about saving money over safety. And if they are so good, why don't we do away with hard shoulders altogether?. I've an audi and a scooter. And the roads are full of entitled fools. I agree. Nearly got the pine box last week. Luckily l ride and trust no one.

[@probablygraham]

What was clear to see is that most of the drivers had no idea what they wer supposed to do. On German autobahns the rule is very simple - as soon as it is clear that traffic is going to stop (not when it has already happened), drivers in the leftmost lane must move as far left as possible and all other drivers must move as far to the right as possible. This means that a whole lane is created for use by emergency vehicles. All drivers must the stay where they are (no following emergency vehicles) until the jam is cleared and everyone is moving again.

[@pdtech4524]

This is exactly why I avoid 'smart motorways' if at all possible!

[@polystyrene7921]

Smart motorways are anything but smart. Add that to the amount of appalling drivers who are STILL constantly on their phones with zero skill or understanding and this is the result. The UK roads are worse than ever. Too many vehicles, too many idiots.

[@Dosedmonkey]

Impressive how many impatient drivers need fining or losing their license there... 🤐

[@33quantock]

It amazes me with all the cameras and technology they have in the UK....that when there is a motorway accident that the overhead info sign can't close a lane..... "Emergency Vehicles Only" and for any drivers caught in that lane faces a heavy penalty.

[@leumel900]

The missing hard shoulder surely is the biggest problem here, but why don't the emergency vehicles just enter the motorway via the next exit after the incident and drive in the wrong direction? There will always be enough space *after* the incident, especially if it's blocking the motorway completely...🤔 If anyone knows why, please tell those who don't 😅

[@davinci3919]

If this is a smart motorway I would like to see a stupid one.

[@limyrob1383]

I just drove this section and they are claiming to remove all the roadworks. We shall see. What struck me was that this "smart" motorway requires constant monitoring so it has significant operational costs. An effective solution with very ow running cots would be an extra strip of tarmac for broken down vehicles and emergency service. how long before we get on I wonder

[@sebby324]

They should give traffic officers blue lights

[@sapp873]

Who ever thought these were a good idea needs to do tyre changes or recoveries with no hard shoulder 🤦🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

[@djb4069]

What Smart person in the government thought of the smart motorway, was it you Boris!!!!

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

If there only was an option to let emergency vehicles go through motorway traffic jams even if there's no hard shoulder available .... looking towards Austria, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, ... it's called emergency corridor, in between the driving lanes.

[@Dosedmonkey]

That works because they have hard shoulders, so space to move over.

[@AB-cs7vm]

There is....its called a red x. The traffic was ignoring it. Let's hope plenty of fines and points end up through their letter boxes in the next few days

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

@@Dosedmonkey it works without hard shoulders as well. Many sections of the German motorway network have no hard shoulders at all ... e.g. in tunnels, some bridges, many urban areas, steep inclines at mountains, old sections and those where the existing hard shoulder is temporarily free to use as driving lane and thus leaving no hard shoulder as emergency or breakdown lane

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

@@AB-cs7vm I agree, thed ignored the closed lanes; Luckily it doesn't take any lane closures that far ahead of the actual incident scene with the emergency corridor

[@ricardosmythe2548]

There should always be a hard shoulder available. Removing it is nothing short of incompetence and the authorities should be sued when people are injured as a result

[@andrewdunne1609]

Only an idiot would call these death traps "Smart motorways"

[@John01GM40]

perfect demonstration of why the German system of traffic clearing a middle lane is infinitely better, but sadly beyond the psyche of British drivers to apply

[@radiogramgramophonetoons5802]

The joys of motorway driving, made 100% worse by some planner, that thinks you don’t need a hard shoulder.

[@obtuse1291]

Anything which needs the word ''smart'' in it's description to convince you it really is a good idea should be immediately under suspicion.

[@rafthejaf8789]

Smart by name, deeply unintelligent by nature. Hard shoulders are there for a reason and that reason hasn't gone away. To add to the stupidy of "smart motorways" the emergency laybys are too far apart they need to be every 200 metres or so. The only reason they are not is because of money, money, money!

[@grahamlaidlaw3854]

They should send this video to Grant Shapps

[@JustmeandB]

I will never use a smart motorway…..

[@davecooper3238]

I would have liked the subtitles to have been there long enough for me to read.

[@Zerofightervi]

I hate, with a passion "smart" motorways. They are a terrible idea that do nothing but endanger anyone who has the misfortune to have to stop on one. 40 MPH is a joke of a speed to be doing on a motorway. The signs are often wrong, late or show old information. The highways agency like to close unnecessarily large portions of the motorways for no reason. The old stretch of the M4 is easily better than the new part heading past Reading.

[@MarkFromEastleigh]

There's nothing wrong with smart motorways. It's the people that use them are the problem. Ignore the red X lanes, don't look further than the end of their bonnet, sit in middle lanes. I do a lot of motorway driving and see it so often.

[@davidcopplestone6266]

There's everything wrong with SMART Motorways. They don't work, the system isn't reliable enough. There's plenty of documentaries about them. They are fatally flawed and the flaws have nothing to do with the drivers.

[@nibbles7178]

Jesus, the driving standards in Britain have really gone downhill. I can't believe the response of drivers to the emergency services. Driving in Germany was so much better.

[@redmercury77]

Emergency vehicles struggling to reach incidents is exactly what was predicted would happen after taking away the shoulder, so no surprise whatsoever. You cannot rely on moronic drivers to follow the rules, they know they're doing wrong but couldn't care less.

[@chrishar110]

Do you think that these stupid drivers won't use the hard shoulder to earn 100m? I am not sure it won't happen. I saw that thing a lot of times.

[@nekotranslates]

@@chrishar110 Even if you had people use the hard shoulder, it would only be 1 or 2, not a whole bunch of people including truckers using it

[@nekotranslates]

We need to go back to having 3 lanes and hard shoulder, not 4 lanes and no hard shoulder. What if we have problems like in the video? The problem is due to lack of hard shoulder in the first place. Thank you Margaret Thatcher, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair for this crap anyway.

[@philyew3617]

The question I would like to ask is... "Does the Cretin who came up with the idea of smart motorways actually have a Driving Licence?" It wouldn't be the first time someone who cant drive had made a major change to traffic management based on toy cars on a desktop theory.

[@bigkev7349]

Nothing smart about it, i`v been a trucker for 25 yrs, last 12 yrs on night trunk to birmingham [from carlisle], which ever bas*ard politician signed this off, need`s `it`s` bollocks kicked. Marjorie and chantelle monitoring traffic flow while discussing which tampons they prefer...2 or 3 seconds not concentrating and all hell breaks out.

[@MrHack4never]

8:00 An ambulance with solar panels? Interesting to see, I never really thought about that second option for power generation on an ambulance

[@findthebadger418]

Most ambulances have solar panels on the roof - a lot of the cars have them now also, the auxiliary batteries take a lot of charge!

[@DigBipper188]

The smart motorway system is good in theory... but in practise you're relying on people to do the following; 1: follow basic instructions 2: heed the speed limits 3: heed lane closure warnings and the average British road user seems to lack all three of these simple capabilities. Especially when an incident occurs. A lot of the carnage for the ESVs that happened here would likely have been prevented if people would read the gantries and notice "oh shit - lane one is closed... better move over and stay in lane 2 in good time".

[@fetchstixRHD]

Agreed, this is what makes me hold back on commenting on them. While the drivers who fail to do any of them are irresponsible (and I don't feel sorry if they get punished), in general, it's usually accepted that you need to design systems taking into account who's using them. After all, it's usually not only the rule breakers who suffer consequences (if they even do), it's usually innocent people (and there's the slightly less relevant point about e.g. external influences on behaviour). Don't really have any suggestions I can make that are useful and don't have any objectionable points...

[@Dosedmonkey]

People have certaintly got more selfish since pandemic.

[@calum1741]

What you on about? That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.

[@BigBirdCEO]

I work in Retail. Not just selfish, narcissistic and entitled pretty much covers it. Not to mention when they wipe bogies on our clothes. You don't even want to know what they get up to in the fitting rooms. 🙄

[@falkerhard]

@@BigBirdCEO What the hell do they get up to in the fitting rooms? Farming for Ass boogers?!

[@CXY888]

The problem is all those drivers driving under the red Xs in lanes 1 and 2, not the motorway itself. At the start lanes 1 and 2 were virtually empty suggesting that the lanes had already been X'ed by signs further up. Then the rolling roadblock by the Highways vehicle made the problem worse by stopping the traffic so all the queue jumpers in lanes 1&2 just stacked up there with nowhere to go and completely blocked the lanes. Not to mention that a bunch of vehicles seemed to just follow the Highways vehicle down the closed lanes 1 and 2.

[@Rob2]

yes, blocking the through traffic is the actual cause of the problem. When the through traffic keeps moving a little, people patiently creep forward. when it comes to a complete halt later, people try the closed lanes to see if there is a way out of it.

[@daryllmoreton7131]

This is a classic example of a so called Smart Motorway where emergency vehicles can’t get to the scene without a hard shoulder! Exasperated by impatient motorists refusing to move over ahead of the incident!

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

It's not because of smart motorways, but because emergency vehicles in the UK using the hard shoulder to get through .... take a guess why other countries have figured out that it's better to use an emergency corridor in between the driving lanes.

[@davecooper3238]

If it’s a smart motorway why hadn’t the left hand lane been closed to non emergency traffic ?

[@encoreunefois1X]

UK drivers don't get taught to create an emergency lane by moving to the edge of the lane they occupy BEFORE emergency vehicles potentially arrive. In Germany for example everyone knows to do this.

[@kevinashcroft1977]

Who ever invented these smart motorways wants sacking, this is an example why they dont work this could have been a life or death situatn there is know way through for Emergency Vehicles these motorways should be put back how they where, because Smart they are not

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

take a guess why some other countries go for the concept of the emergency corridor instead of hard shoulders ...

[@Dosedmonkey]

They were sold on a lie. There is no automated lane closures on most the network. No radar. A lot of broken cctv

[@robp1316]

Not helped by car drivers not thinking that having moved out of the way for one emergency vehicle that others may be coming too.

[@-sargntclashroyaleandmore-491]

What an utter shambles... smart motorways shouldn't have been created in the first place! Every minute counts in an emergency situation

[@outlaw6421]

There really smart them smart motorways, more like dangerous

[@tamar5261]

Whoever designed and oked smart motorways should be made to break down on one in the night when it's raining. Then see how smart they are 😖

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

A complex issue, but why didn't Highways red X a lane, and why didn't Highway cars close a lane far up to the last slip road ? Allowing a blue light lane way throu. Also as I seen it happen before, why didn't the police close the up slip road ahead and make it a wrong way down the motorway blue light to scene route only ? Highway cars really do need a blue light in these emergency assistance shouts, so people know to let them pass and that Highways also have some push control and have authority in this emergency case. I not saying Highway car should be allowed to use them on normal patrols, only in emergency multi agency assistance cases, with police control permission.

[@nekotranslates]

There's always a delay from when a red X is displayed to people actually moving over - could be minutes before those already in lane 1 are even aware of the red X till after the gantry that shows it

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

@@nekotranslates Good point, many timed I have gone just that monent going under a gantry display sign and it changed, speeding reduced, or lane closure X. Did I see it did I not, will the gantry cameras apply. I think the gantry camera have a delay in the time to apply. Luckly I have gps dash cam to prove this if I ever get a FPN ticket.

[@urfavouritelittlerat]

The amount of people going back into the slow lane after ems services got past them was appaulling

[@dontuno]

Just wait till this same incident happens in fog and at night, let's see how good an ill advisedly named "smart" motorway is then. Who ever dreamt up and signed off this nonsense should be forced to personally account for the deaths and mayhem they created.

[@nekotranslates]

Margaret Thatcher's government, if I recall

[@999_response]

Great video, good work!!

[@johnrobertbainbridge7667]

No hard shoulder sheer madness 😤.

[@kevh1779]

The amount of people sitting in the third and fourth lanes, then drivers pull out, UNDERTAKE them to get further ahead ! UNBELIEVABLE !

[@2212db]

If only these "smart motorways" had cameras that ensured everyone not obeying lane closure signs were sent FPNs - points and fines

[@Spray_UK]

It was the national highway performing the rolling block rather than just closing the 2 lanes are the ones that caused the issue

[@jedlawmtb09]

They cause many deaths They should be called dum motorways because the technology is shit. And no hard shoulder. I’m from Cornwall there is no motorways down there . When I pass Bristol the M5 is strange because there is no hard shoulder. So in my opinion it’s worth having traffic jams to have a hard shoulder for safety

[@uke4915]

If smart motorway is used correctly and the light up signs showing lane closed telling drivers to move over and selfish ignorant drivers who want to get to the front of the line ignore it then that's where the problem is. Its the same as lane swappers in a traffic jam

[@paulooliveira618]

The creation of a emergency corridor in the middle of the two lanes. I was thought this 26 years ago in driving school (not in the UK). The hard shoulder is not for anyone to travel on, not even emergency services.

[@TaterStructure]

I know everyone’s on here calling these drivers doofuses for not getting out of the way quickly, etc… But as an American I don’t think some of you realize how truly blessed you are. Here a mile long line of degenerates would be following every move the emergency vehicles made to cut ahead in traffic, and other people flat out wouldn’t move over. I long for the day our driving standards are up to par with our European counterparts. P.S - We have “Smart” motorways here where the shoulder becomes a lane and everyone despises them, try changing a tire on the soft shoulder and you will understand 😬

[@jackt5942]

The only issue with smart motorways is people’s inability to read signs! Lanes 1 & 2 have red ‘X’s and should be clear … instead people ignore them, block the entire motorway and drive straight up until they see the cones 😓 even after emergency vehicles have gone past they follow them! 🤯

[@apsert]

We never had this problem before maybe its not the motorist but in fact the er hm "System" Which derives from the Romans then updated during Victorian times and renamed "SEWER" ! Welcome to the Political world of SHIT.

[@CycolacFan]

Doesn’t help that often the Xs are left on for hours after or are in completely the wrong place. I once had to drive on the M4 at 40mph for almost 60 miles because of ‘workforce in the road’ it was a Sunday afternoon and I didn’t see anyone in the road.

[@jackt5942]

@@CycolacFan yep, you’re right. I agree. But as frustrating as that is, obeying those signs works.

[@CycolacFan]

@@jackt5942 if every aspect of it is followed correctly then yes it should work. I wonder if it ever has…?

[@davidcopplestone6266]

The "Smart" motorways are far more flawed than that. Do a little research on how reliable the camera system actually is. It will terrify you. Cameras have been pointing at anything but the motorway. The system has gone down for 30 minutes or more. Just think, it takes less than 30 seconds for truck screaming into a stationary car and wiping out everyone in that car.

[@scottlehuray7062]

Smart means cameras, big brother, track and trace no matter where.