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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?
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday November 08 2016, @02:33PM
but people who stop, when the car in front of theirs hasn't, deserve a lot more scorn than their get. /pet_peeve
Those of us who drive manual transmissions and want to keep our clutch intact have an issue with this during rush hour. I *can't* creep along at 2 mph.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday November 08 2016, @03:13PM
I *can't* creep along at 2 mph.
Maybe not 2 mph, but that's rarely necessary. Even relatively heavy stop-and-go traffic often moves at average speeds more like 5-10 mph, which (depending on the transmission) you can often just coast in 1st to maintain constant speed (or maybe 2nd, if the average speed is a little higher). Truckers somehow have managed to do this with manual transmissions for decades.
The more common problem is that this traffic frequently will accelerate to 15-20 mph (or even higher) for a few seconds, then slow to a crawl for a while, then stop, and then repeat. If you just keep at the steady 5-10mph the whole time, there's less wear and tear on your clutch, your brakes, your transmission, and less fuel use. Most people, though, simply can't help themselves and feel an irrational NEED to catch up with that car in front... which then leads to being stuck in the "crawl" before stop or whatever. Instead, if you go slow and constant, by the time you catch up, you don't need to crawl at all, but can keep going at the 5-10 mph you've been at all along.
I know this isn't always possible (and some cars are more likely to stall out than others at low speeds), but I find it's much more typical than a stretch of road creeping along at 2 mph for an extended period.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday November 08 2016, @03:45PM
Maybe not 2 mph, but that's rarely necessary. Even relatively heavy stop-and-go traffic often
You obviously haven't driven my commute before :P
As for the rest of your comment, yeah I try to minimize the amount of shifting I have to do, which naturally results in the driving pattern you're advocating.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"