Drivers are avoiding hard shoulders converted to running lanes

Two fifths (38 per cent) of UK drivers say they will not drive in lane one of a smart motorway where the hard shoulder has been permanently converted into a running lane, according to a survey of more than 18,000 drivers conducted by the AA.
July 4, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Two fifths (38 per cent) of UK drivers say they will not drive in lane one of a smart motorway where the hard shoulder has been permanently converted into a running lane, according to a survey of more than 18,000 drivers conducted by the 1459 AA.

This compares to 85 per cent of drivers who say they would drive in lane one of a motorway with a permanent hard shoulder.

When asked why they avoid using the new running lanes on smart motorways, more than a third said that they wouldn’t use lane one ‘for fear of coming across a broken down vehicle'. One in ten said that they believed lane one was ‘the lorry lane’.

Documents from 8101 Highways England analysing two stretches of M25 smart motorway scheme indicate that traffic flow is significantly lower on lane one than other lanes within the scheme.

Edmund King, AA president, says: “Despite all the talk about improving traffic flow and easing congestion by having more lanes, it seems that drivers are voting with their wheels by avoiding converted hard shoulders and clogging up the other lanes.

“Drivers are fearful that, with the current lack of Emergency Refuge Areas, they will come across broken down vehicles and have little chance to avoiding collisions. We need more education for drivers using smart motorways as clearly they do not trust the schemes in their current state.”

UTC

Related Content

  • October 14, 2015
    FTA calls for greater reliability on road network following improvements at Dartford
    Drivers using the Dartford Crossing at peak times are saving around an hour and a half every week thanks to Dart Charge, according to Highways England. New figures released by Highways England show that journeys over the Dartford Crossing, which cost £62million (US$95 million) to convert to free-flow tolling, are up to 56 per cent faster than before payment barriers were removed. Drivers at peak times save up to 14 minutes southbound and seven minutes northbound.
    Read More
  • May 11, 2017
    Pricing practise for HOT lane operation
    Timothy Compston weighs up the critical elements that keep the wheels of dynamic pricing schemes turning in today's high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. In the drive towards smarter tolling it is perhaps not surprising that sophisticated pricing algorithms are being rolled out to better reflect supply and demand on the roadway. This is the case with high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes which a growing number of DoTs are seeing as a way of smoothing the operation of their existing, and planned, freeway infrastructure
    Read More
  • April 25, 2012
    UK to tackle US$1.6 billion cost of motorway closures
    A UK government strategy to tackle congestion caused by motorway closures and drive down the £1 billion (US$1.6 billion) annual cost to the economy has been unveiled by Roads Minister Mike Penning, who also announced the launch of a £3 million ($4.87 million) fund for police forces to purchase laser scanning technology to speed up of the investigation process and incident clear up times.
    Read More
  • February 1, 2012
    Advanced in-vehicle user interface - future developments
    Dave McNamara and Craig Simonds, Autotechinsider LLC, look at human-machine interface development out to 2015. The US auto industry is going through the worst crisis it has faced since the Great Depression. But it has embraced technologies that will produce the best-possible driving experience for the public. Ford was the first OEM to announce in-car internet radio and SYNC, its signature-branded User Interface (UI), is held up as the shining example of change embracement.
    Read More

Highlighted Content