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Smart Motorways Catch More Than 1,000 Speeding Drivers a Week

posted by CoolHand on Monday November 07 2016, @10:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the big-bro-on-the-road dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

More than 1,000 motorists a week are being caught speeding on the UK's smart motorways, police figures suggest.

Last year, 52,516 fixed penalties were issued on 11 smart sections, including on stretches of the M1, M25 and M6.

This compared to 2,023 on the same stretches in 2010-11, before they were upgraded to smart motorways - which use the hard shoulder and variable speed limits to control traffic flow.

The government says they are used to improve capacity, not generate revenue.

Smart motorways are operated by Highways England, which uses overhead gantries - also containing speed cameras - to direct traffic into open lanes and change speed limits depending on the volume of traffic.

Ticket revenue has increased tenfold over 5 years. Have British drivers experienced the "improved capacity" that the government uses to justify the smart highways?

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  • (Score: 2) by Whoever on Tuesday November 08 2016, @02:58AM

    by Whoever (4524) on Tuesday November 08 2016, @02:58AM (#423907) Journal

    Probably worth mentioning that we also have another system of cameras that works on average speed - you typically get these as temporary installs at major roadworks rather than as fixed VSL setups like those in TFA though

    I know of one permanent average speed setup. The speed limit is 60mph for a perfectly good dual carriageway (would normally be 70mph). Entirely coincidentally, the road runs parallel to the M6 Toll (which has a 70mph limit and less enforcement), providing an additional incentive to pay the toll. But I am sure this an unintended consequence.

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  • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:00AM

    by zocalo (302) on Tuesday November 08 2016, @09:00AM (#423984)
    Thanks for that. I was aware that they existed - hence the "typically" - but didn't know where one of them was until now. I've driven past that road on the Toll loads of times too (I used to drive from the NW to the SE and back once a week), so I guess that the unintended consequence wasn't needed in my case. :)
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