Driving on the busy highways of England

[Enceladus]

My partner and I holidayed in England’s green and pleasant land for 9 days in late June. We had planned this for a long time and really enjoyed our stay. Based ourselves near Oxford and visited Oxford, Bath, Bristol, Gloucester, Stratford upon Avon, Norwich, Derby, Nottingham, Cambridge and St Albans also taking in splendid Blenheim Palace, Woburn Abbey, Windsor Castle and Chatsworth. Didn’t bother with London this time as we’ve both been there more times than we care to remember.

We rented a car to get around - it has been over a decade since I drove in Britain - and I have a few observations on the extensive driving we did:

1) The motorways are even busier than the last time I drove here. The traffic is dense but most of the time, it does move. Cars do tend to change lanes a lot and weave and pull in front of you very quickly. I found I had to give the motorway driving 120% focus and concentration which made long drives pretty tiring.

2) We saw the new Smart Motorway ALR on quite a few sections of motorway - they do seem to work pretty well and add needed extra capacity but of course what happens when there is a serious accident? How do emergency vehicles reach the accident scene?

3) Variable speed limits seem to be very common now on the motorways. You have to be careful to ensure that you are in the correct lane for the posted speed on the overhead electronic gantries. We don’t yet have variable speed limits in Ireland. Do you think they work well?

4) When I drove in Britain last the norm was a metal type central crash barrier on motorways and DCs - this time I saw a lot of concrete central barriers on the motorways. Will these eventually replace all the metal barriers?

5) Many interchange roundabouts now seem to have the “hamburger” layout with lanes running right through the centre of the roundabout. Do they work well? I initially found them a bit disconcerting.

6) For many English towns that we visited - and we visited quite a few - there are now Park and Ride facilities that motorists driving into these towns are encouraged to use. I used the ones for Oxford and Norwich. They are pretty good value for money but have they achieved their goal of cutting down on traffic in the centres of these cities/towns?

7) The number of Starbucks and McDonalds drive thru places we saw along the English road network was a sight to behold! There seems to be one or the other at or near every significant junction!

[Berk]

Well, you certainly seem to have visited the nicer parts of England, definitely ones I’d recommend. Another time, try and find somewhere a bit quieter. I can definitely recommend Dorset, and Cornwall. Sussex is also nice, and I’m going to Kent in a few weeks. If you wanted somewhere up north, try the Lake District.

I’ll try and have a stab at these, from my own observations...

1: Bang on. There does seem to be a lot of weaving/scissor movements. It goes a bit like this. I am in lane 2/3/4 (doing anything between 75-85). Bloke in a BMW/Merc/Audi comes absolutely flying up from nowhere, indicates to (me to) move over, which I do. He then blasts past at 100 back to lane 1.

Sometimes the same thing happens, only he also approaches from lane 1, moves to lane 2/3/4 purely to overtake, and moves straight back again. Making you ask what the point of that was, even if it is technically the correct procedure.

If you wish to overtake (at a considerably faster speed), fine, but if the lanes are clear, why expect both of us to engage in a weaving movement?? If Lane 1 is clear, why not just blast past?? You’re going to do it anyway.

3: I’m not fully sold on variable speed limits, mainly because my experience of them has been pretty poor. They’re just too haphazard and not just variable, but unpredictable. They often seem to go 60/40/20 then up to 60, and back to 20 again. And this is between each gantry, not even a longer section of motorway.

I also observe that the “incident(s)” has usually taken place many hours beforehand (usually only discovered when I stop for coffee and wonder what’s been going on). If it was in the last 3 hours, fine. But if you’re still applying variable limits for an incident that happened this morning, and it’s now 6 in the evening, you do have to question why.

Maybe HE need more staff, and more sophisticated observation techniques, but you’d think they’d already have developed these by now.

4: Yes, the concrete barrier is starting to become ubiquitous on the major motorways. Less so on the expressways (hopefully it’ll stay that way). I’m actually more afraid of hitting one by accident (particularly if I’m abroad, and driving on the right). I don’t have those sorts of fears with an Armco, or wire barrier. And they look very, very ugly, even if they do protect traffic on the other carriageway.

5: There are a few more hamburger setups, but still pretty rare. Maybe in more of the places you visited?? I think they’re great, they allow the roundabout to maximise its potential. I’d like to see many more of them, even closer to home.

6: They only seem to have introduced P&R sites in our biggest cities (or most visited). Go to somewhere a bit more off the beaten track, and you won’t even have that choice. It’s probably long overdue now, particularly if people need to start cutting emissions.

7: They seem to have replaced Little Chefs, pretty much!!

[nowster]

1: Bang on. There does seem to be a lot of weaving/scissor movements. It goes a bit like this. I am in lane 2/3/4 (doing anything between 75-85). Bloke in a BMW/Merc/Audi comes absolutely flying up from nowhere, indicates to (me to) move over, which I do. He then blasts past at 100 back to lane 1.

Sometimes the same thing happens, only he also approaches from lane 1, moves to lane 2/3/4 purely to overtake, and moves straight back again. Making you ask what the point of that was, even if it is technically the correct procedure.

If you wish to overtake (at a considerably faster speed), fine, but if the lanes are clear, why expect both of us to engage in a weaving movement?? If Lane 1 is clear, why not just blast past?? You’re going to do it anyway.

If lane 1 is clear, why aren't you in it already?

[Berk]

1: Bang on. There does seem to be a lot of weaving/scissor movements. It goes a bit like this. I am in lane 2/3/4 (doing anything between 75-85). Bloke in a BMW/Merc/Audi comes absolutely flying up from nowhere, indicates to (me to) move over, which I do. He then blasts past at 100 back to lane 1.

Sometimes the same thing happens, only he also approaches from lane 1, moves to lane 2/3/4 purely to overtake, and moves straight back again. Making you ask what the point of that was, even if it is technically the correct procedure.

If you wish to overtake (at a considerably faster speed), fine, but if the lanes are clear, why expect both of us to engage in a weaving movement?? If Lane 1 is clear, why not just blast past?? You’re going to do it anyway.

If lane 1 is clear, why aren't you in it already?

Perhaps I don’t always move back promptly myself. I usually expect (and do) pass numerous vehicles en route. I move back when it’s quieter, or if someone wishes to overtake.

[Enceladus]

So it seems like weaving and cutting across lanes in front of other cars is an issue on British motorways.

We drove down the M1 from Chesterfield to St Albans after staying in Derbyshire and visiting the beautiful Chatsworth house. Traffic on the M1, the spine of England, was pretty heavy between Nottingham and the M69 junction and then seemed to get a good bit lighter between the M69 junction and the M6/A14 junction at Catthorpe and then very busy again after towards London with several hold ups near Milton Keynes.

Lovely to see the original 1959 bridges on the M1. With widening works taking place on this section of M1, will all these structures be demolished and replaced?

We saw an incredibly huge warehouse/distribution building near Milton Keynes. It is absolutely vast. Anyone know what it is?

The new layout at the Catthorpe interchange, whilst looking impressive from the air/satellite, doesn’t seem that imposing from the mainline of the M1.

A lot of the motorway junctions seem to be bursting at the seams with traffic. One that we drove through many times and was always jammed was the M40 junction with the A34 north of Oxford.

[DB617]

If you want a disconcerting hamburger, try the bacon double cheeseburger at M4 J28 for Newport West... Tasty.

The cutting in is particularly irritating to me. If I'm in lane 1 on a D3M I don't expect cars to come up lane 2 maybe 3-4mph faster than myself, then push in 2 car lengths or one quarter of a stopping distance in front of me forcing me to brake gently to quickly assure my distance and avoid the inevitable unjust insurance claim if the muppet brakes for whatever reason. It's senseless, because there's usually nobody waiting for them to move over and if there is faster traffic it's probably in lane 3. On D2M it's slightly more understandable than on D3+ but still, I just wonder sometimes if people have beef mince for brains. I bet for a lot of drivers it still comes down to 'fast lane slow lane' mythology.

I do think fear comes into it - a condition naturally develops on the unrestricted autobahn where left lane drivers move right quickly when faster traffic approaches behind. Because so many people now push 80-100 I think a lot of drivers' controlled aggression runs out very quickly on a slow and painful overtake, when they could have a BMW or for that matter a clapped out Corsa coming at them at 30mph closing speed. I always make sure the vehicle overtaken appears in my interior mirror first when driving a glass back vehicle. Until then the space I'm in is my space unless someone cares to write off my and their cars.

[Alderpoint]

We saw an incredibly huge warehouse/distribution building near Milton Keynes. It is absolutely vast. Anyone know what it is?

There are a number of them. I guess you mean these two, as they are right by the motorway then the left one is H&M, not sure about the right one.

Amazon also have a huge distribution centre at Rigdgemont, but I don't think that is visible from the M1.

[Stevie D]

Perhaps I don’t always move back promptly myself. I usually expect (and do) pass numerous vehicles en route. I move back when it’s quieter, or if someone wishes to overtake.

So you're just being a lane hog. Don't criticise other people's driving when it's you that is in the wrong.

[Stevie D]

2) We saw the new Smart Motorway ALR on quite a few sections of motorway - they do seem to work pretty well and add needed extra capacity but of course what happens when there is a serious accident? How do emergency vehicles reach the accident scene?

Once an incident has been picked up on the cameras, one or more lanes will be closed using the overhead signs, and most drivers will obey them, creating a route through for emergency vehicles.

3) Variable speed limits seem to be very common now on the motorways. You have to be careful to ensure that you are in the correct lane for the posted speed on the overhead electronic gantries. We don’t yet have variable speed limits in Ireland. Do you think they work well?

It's very rare, verging on unheard of, for different lanes to have different speed limits. It sounds like either a misreading, a malfunction, or the approach to a diverge where the lanes were heading off in different directions. As a general rule, they do seem to work well. By reducing the speed of traffic approaching congestion, it allows it to keep moving at a more steady speed. Some drivers then say "there wasn't any congestion, why did they bother lowering the speed limit?" without realising that the only reason that there was no congestion was because of the reduced limit.

4) When I drove in Britain last the norm was a metal type central crash barrier on motorways and DCs - this time I saw a lot of concrete central barriers on the motorways. Will these eventually replace all the metal barriers?

Concrete barriers are definitely the preferred solution now. I suspect that on quieter motorways that don't have any major works done to them, the metal barriers will remain in place until they need to be replaced.

5) Many interchange roundabouts now seem to have the “hamburger” layout with lanes running right through the centre of the roundabout. Do they work well? I initially found them a bit disconcerting.

I'm not sure I would go as far as "many". There are a handful like that, some of which have been around for a long time! They seem to work a little bit better than a standard roundabout, but obviously not as well as a flyover/underpass.

6) For many English towns that we visited - and we visited quite a few - there are now Park and Ride facilities that motorists driving into these towns are encouraged to use. I used the ones for Oxford and Norwich. They are pretty good value for money but have they achieved their goal of cutting down on traffic in the centres of these cities/towns?

In cities where they are appropriate – historic cities that are not designed for lots of cars, and have commuters and tourists aplenty – they work a treat, and make a massive difference in reducing car usage in the city centre, as well as allowing a lot more people to get into the city centre. Obviously in smaller towns, or places like Milton Keynes where there isn't any congestion or scarcity of parking, they are pretty pointless.

[c2R]

The motorways are even busier than the last time I drove here. The traffic is dense but most of the time, it does move. Cars do tend to change lanes a lot and weave and pull in front of you very quickly. I found I had to give the motorway driving 120% focus and concentration which made long drives pretty tiring

Yes, the only thing to compare it to from Ireland is like driving around Dublin's M50 in rush hour but all the time! The motorways in the London area particularly, but the network more generally in most of England is just subject to enormous demand all the time - I very much prefer driving on the motorways in Ireland - although the lack of moving back to lane 1 if having finished overtaking something there does get frustrating - many drivers just seem to stay out in lane 2 doing about 110kmh...

Perhaps I don’t always move back promptly myself. I usually expect (and do) pass numerous vehicles en route. I move back when it’s quieter, or if someone wishes to overtake.

So you're just being a lane hog. Don't criticise other people's driving when it's you that is in the wrong.

I have to say I agree with Stevie - if you're approaching a middle lane driver, if it's clear surely its better to overtake them on their right, rather than undertaking them, as drivers aren't necessarily going to expect to be undertaken...

We saw the new Smart Motorway ALR on quite a few sections of motorway - they do seem to work pretty well and add needed extra capacity but of course what happens when there is a serious accident? How do emergency vehicles reach the accident scene?

By forcing their way through traffic, or by air ambulance. I was in Birmingham last week where an accident had closed all but lane 1 on the elevated section, but all three lanes + HS were full. It wasn't possible for the HS to be closed in time, and so emergency vehicles had to try and cut through between the lanes - it was chaos; completely helped by some passengers leaving stopped vehicles and walking back towards Spaghetti junction.

Variable speed limits seem to be very common now on the motorways. You have to be careful to ensure that you are in the correct lane for the posted speed on the overhead electronic gantries. We don’t yet have variable speed limits in Ireland. Do you think they work well?

There are some teething problems - the gantries aren't supposed to be showing different speed limits per lane, for instance (except at a diverge point where a sliproad goes elsewhere) - so if the former is what you mean by being in the right lane, that shouldn't be an issue. Also, parts of the M25 at least suffer from a "queue on slip road" syndrome which brings the mainline down to 40 and causes queueing there - J20 anticlockwise seems particularly bad for this. However, I think that it probably does help reduce bunching and accident rates, and it looks like TII are following suit on the M50: https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingn ... 76077.html

When I drove in Britain last the norm was a metal type central crash barrier on motorways and DCs - this time I saw a lot of concrete central barriers on the motorways. Will these eventually replace all the metal barriers?

That does seem to be the plan (or at least a lot of them), as per the recent expressways document. While they do look ugly, they do require very little in the way of maintenance or repair after accidents, and therefore reductions in lane closures to fix broken barriers.

Many interchange roundabouts now seem to have the “hamburger” layout with lanes running right through the centre of the roundabout. Do they work well? I initially found them a bit disconcerting.

I think it depends on traffic movement patterns - I'm not sure whether these or simply a large flat signalised junction would be better

[KeithW]

That does seem to be the plan (or at least a lot of them), as per the recent expressways document. While they do look ugly, they do require very little in the way of maintenance or repair after accidents, and therefore reductions in lane closures to fix broken barriers.

As I recall the main reason for their use is that Armco is not able to deflect a runaway HGV trying to crash through onto the opposite carriageway and concrete barriers are better in that regard.

<Edited to fix quotation>

[Richard_Fairhurst]

6) For many English towns that we visited - and we visited quite a few - there are now Park and Ride facilities that motorists driving into these towns are encouraged to use. I used the ones for Oxford and Norwich. They are pretty good value for money but have they achieved their goal of cutting down on traffic in the centres of these cities/towns?

Yes and no. Oxford is still utterly hogged with traffic and parking there is a nightmare, but it doesn't bear thinking about without the P&R.

It's a historic city with a limited number of river crossings, so there's very little opportunity (and even less appetite) for increasing car capacity within the city. The future is almost certainly a combination of more P&R and more efficient cycle infrastructure.

[djw1981]

So it seems like weaving and cutting across lanes in front of other cars is an issue on British motorways.

It's a feature. Whether it is an issue or not depends upon perspective!

[NICK 647063]

I think your observations are pretty spot on, I’ve driven in Ireland often and it reminds me of England many years ago, it’s certainly more relaxed....

As for England the roads are much busier now, I’m always on the roads and find the M25 not pleasant, the M62 Manchster to Leeds congested and very prone to accidents and incidents leading to long delays, the M1 I now find far more reliable with the ALR although it’s handling far more traffic, Leeds to London is normally busy the only section that still really resembles the old school M1 is the M69 to A14/M6 as you say traffic is slightly lighter and it’s still very much untouched by the smart motorway roll out.

I would say for another visit I would recommend

The Lake District as once north of Preston the M6 gets quieter

Yorkshire of course but personally the Yorkshire coast then you would get a ride along the A64 that’s certainly an interesting road, it will give you an idea of a road that’s over capacity and lacked investment you go from decent D2 to congested S2, also York is lovely and has 5 very successful park and rides.

Devon and Cornwall, once off the A30 the roads seem more pleasant Cornwall is a long way from the motorways so is a little like going back in time.

And yes fast food outlets and coffee shops are everywhere in England.

[trickstat]

1: Bang on. There does seem to be a lot of weaving/scissor movements. It goes a bit like this. I am in lane 2/3/4 (doing anything between 75-85). Bloke in a BMW/Merc/Audi comes absolutely flying up from nowhere, indicates to (me to) move over, which I do. He then blasts past at 100 back to lane 1.

Sometimes the same thing happens, only he also approaches from lane 1, moves to lane 2/3/4 purely to overtake, and moves straight back again. Making you ask what the point of that was, even if it is technically the correct procedure.

If you wish to overtake (at a considerably faster speed), fine, but if the lanes are clear, why expect both of us to engage in a weaving movement?? If Lane 1 is clear, why not just blast past?? You’re going to do it anyway.

IME, the BMW/Merc/Audi tends to be in whatever the outside lane is all the time anyway.

For me, overtaking at a high closing speed on the inside is extremely dangerous as there is a far greater danger that the drivers you are overtaking are unaware that you are actually there and therefore there is an increased chance that they may pull across just in front of or into you. In fact, a few years ago, I was driving over the Medway viduct on the M2 heading towards the M25. I was in lane 2 because there was a lane drop for the next junction and I got the fright of my life as a 'hot' Seat Ibiza overtook me in lane 1 doing what was, at the very least, 120mph (I suspect it was more). I look in my rear-view mirror every few seconds on motorways but the first time I was aware of 'him' was when I heard him pass me (I was probably doing about 70).

[Micro The Maniac]

3) Variable speed limits seem to be very common now on the motorways. You have to be careful to ensure that you are in the correct lane for the posted speed on the overhead electronic gantries. We don’t yet have variable speed limits in Ireland. Do you think they work well?

It's very rare, verging on unheard of, for different lanes to have different speed limits. It sounds like either a misreading, a malfunction, or the approach to a diverge where the lanes were heading off in different directions. As a general rule, they do seem to work well. By reducing the speed of traffic approaching congestion, it allows it to keep moving at a more steady speed. Some drivers then say "there wasn't any congestion, why did they bother lowering the speed limit?" without realising that the only reason that there was no congestion was because of the reduced limit.

On my recent Motorway Speed Awareness Course, we were told that the ONLY time that there may be different speed limits for different lanes is at a junction diverge... the off-slip may be different from the main-line.

Observation suggests that this may extend onto the main carriageway pre-diverge, especially if there is a queue on the off-slip.

I have not seen it away from junctions, but YMMV

[Ruperts Trooper]

3) Variable speed limits seem to be very common now on the motorways. You have to be careful to ensure that you are in the correct lane for the posted speed on the overhead electronic gantries. We don’t yet have variable speed limits in Ireland. Do you think they work well?

It's very rare, verging on unheard of, for different lanes to have different speed limits. It sounds like either a misreading, a malfunction, or the approach to a diverge where the lanes were heading off in different directions. As a general rule, they do seem to work well. By reducing the speed of traffic approaching congestion, it allows it to keep moving at a more steady speed. Some drivers then say "there wasn't any congestion, why did they bother lowering the speed limit?" without realising that the only reason that there was no congestion was because of the reduced limit.

On my recent Motorway Speed Awareness Course, we were told that the ONLY time that there may be different speed limits for different lanes is at a junction diverge... the off-slip may be different from the main-line.

Observation suggests that this may extend onto the main carriageway pre-diverge, especially if there is a queue on the off-slip.

I have not seen it away from junctions, but YMMV

I have seen it recently at a GSJ, can't remember where - it was confusing as the 40 sign at the diverge point applied to the slip road, not the main carriageway.

[roadtester]

1) The motorways are even busier than the last time I drove here. The traffic is dense but most of the time, it does move. Cars do tend to change lanes a lot and weave and pull in front of you very quickly. I found I had to give the motorway driving 120% focus and concentration which made long drives pretty tiring.

Interesting observations, especially this one.

I think the standard of driving in the UK isn't actually that bad - it's not necessarily a question of high levels of skill, more that most people are fairly patient, courteous and sensible. And most people seem to know how to tackle even complex roundabouts, for example, which are a source of some bafflement to a lot of visitors.

But motorway driving has always seemed to be an exception to this. Lane discipline has always been poor, and the number of ridiculous and unsafe maneouvres with people swooping in and out, tailgating, speeding inappropriately and so on seems to be on the increase.

I'm not sure what the reasons for this are. Motorways came relatively late to the UK, and our network still isn't very extensive compared with most comparable countries, so maybe good habits were never established in the first place. On top of that, there seems to be almost no active motorway policing at all, more so since the introduction of HATOs/HETOs to do some of the ore routine stuff, so the chances of being caught while engaging in dangerous/wallyish behaviour is more or less zero, although I suppose the chances of being nabbed by a dash cam must have increased.

Perhaps the authorities are happy to rely on the fact that motorways are inherently safe, and making them safer still is not a priority compared with all of the other pressures they face. There also seems to be a high degree of faith in systems (motorway smartification) to enforce safety by keeping speeds down, rather than concentrating instead on the standard of driving itself. Perhaps a bit less money on smart motorways (although I am not anti them in principle) and a bit more on big, highly visible police patrol vehicles is the answer.

Like c2r, I like driving on the Irish motorways which mostly seem to be a lot less stressful!