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The main roads in Scotland get some great messages. I saw DRIVE WITH CONSIDERATION on the A1 east of Edinburgh today. I'm not saying that is a pointless message, but it did make me wonder if "consideration" is the longest complete word to be displayed on a permanent variable message display installation.
On the northbound M5, before the M42 split. So, useful if you want to drive past the M42 to the top of the M5 in the afternoon rush, turn right and head through Birmingham and go at least as far as the M42 junction.
Or you could just use the M42 if you wanted.
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the cheesecake man wrote: ↑Thu Nov 04, 2021 12:22
Not pointless but could be improved. On the M1 from junction 40 to 41 this morning "Report of blocked lane"
No lane was blocked. If it had been a clue as to which lane might have been useful. And if HAHE NH think a lane is blocked shouldn't they close it?
Well that's the point really. In this situation, people have called in the Police or National Highways and advised there could have been something. Rather than setting blanket "incident|slow down" they've given a steer as to what may be happening. They cannot close a lane until such time the incident has been confirmed. And if memory serves me right, that section is not hugely well served by CCTV.
Opinion is purely my own and all those other exceptions and excuses.
the cheesecake man wrote: ↑Thu Nov 04, 2021 12:22
Not pointless but could be improved. On the M1 from junction 40 to 41 this morning "Report of blocked lane"
No lane was blocked. If it had been a clue as to which lane might have been useful. And if HAHE NH think a lane is blocked shouldn't they close it?
Well that's the point really. In this situation, people have called in the Police or National Highways and advised there could have been something. Rather than setting blanket "incident|slow down" they've given a steer as to what may be happening. They cannot close a lane until such time the incident has been confirmed. And if memory serves me right, that section is not hugely well served by CCTV.
Yeah - it's clearly hard to immediately action that message, but you can imagine that if you suddenly notice that everyone seems to be avoiding an otherwise empty lane, or see a few sudden brake lights/strange behaviour up ahead, you might react more cautiously or urgently than normal.
the cheesecake man wrote: ↑Thu Nov 04, 2021 12:22
Not pointless but could be improved. On the M1 from junction 40 to 41 this morning "Report of blocked lane"
No lane was blocked. If it had been a clue as to which lane might have been useful. And if HAHE NH think a lane is blocked shouldn't they close it?
Well that's the point really. In this situation, people have called in the Police or National Highways and advised there could have been something. Rather than setting blanket "incident|slow down" they've given a steer as to what may be happening. They cannot close a lane until such time the incident has been confirmed. And if memory serves me right, that section is not hugely well served by CCTV.
Junction 40-41 is a managed motorway, so if it doesn't have adequate coverage that's a matter of concern.
Then-Highways-England published an interim advice note stating that if an event is reported, instead of just saying "Incident", which was the previous advice, the "Report of [event]" message could give more detail.
Though roads may not put a smile on everyone's face, there is one road that always will: the road to home.
EpicChef wrote: ↑Fri Nov 05, 2021 17:19
And if Junction 40-41 is a managed motorway, so if it doesn't have adequate coverage that's a matter of concern.
No, that's an error on my part. It's admittedly been some time since l last viewed that section. My apologies.
Opinion is purely my own and all those other exceptions and excuses.
One VMS showing a reduced speed limit only for it to be never mentioned again on the proceeding VMS’s seems to be a common occurrence on the M1 smart section in Yorkshire/Derbyshire
If VSL signals are on and then the next one is blank, the rule of thumb we follow is to speed back up to NSL if two consecutive gantries/VMS don't show a speed limit.
Though roads may not put a smile on everyone's face, there is one road that always will: the road to home.
Coming up the A74(M) yesterday, I laughed when I saw this sign displaying the words 'DRIVE TO CONDITIONS'. I'd certainly argue that on this dead straight bit of 3 lane motorway, when there's only 2 other cars visible on my side on a clear sunny day that one could 'drive to the conditions' whilst exceeding the 70mph speed limit by a fair margin...
Of course, I didn't, not with the current price of fuel anyway.
jnty wrote: ↑Thu Nov 04, 2021 13:04
Yeah - it's clearly hard to immediately action that message, but you can imagine that if you suddenly notice that everyone seems to be avoiding an otherwise empty lane, or see a few sudden brake lights/strange behaviour up ahead, you might react more cautiously or urgently than normal.
In those situations acting cautiously is valid but urgently can be a problem. If I see that sign and /or brake lights up ahead I will ease off the loud pedal but stamping on the brake pedal can be a very bad idea.
Don't know if it's been mentioned before on this thread but sometimes you will get "Stranded Vehicle" warnings on smart motorways after you've already passed the vehicle in question.
AlexBr967 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 16:16
Don't know if it's been mentioned before on this thread but sometimes you will get "Stranded Vehicle" warnings on smart motorways after you've already passed the vehicle in question.
That isn't directly pointless – collisions with stranded vehicles are very dangerous, so it makes sense to guard against mistakes putting up the signs in the wrong place (especially as it can sometimes be quite hard to establish exactly where the stranded vehicle is).
This was displayed on all the gantries on thet M90 up past Inverkeithing. At face value this seems fine. However just after the fourth gantry a bus had broken down on the hard shoulder and another bus was most likely picking up the stranded passengers. I kind of feel that this was a far more urgent issue than the yellow weather warning.
Might not exactly be pointless but I also saw a great one on the M90 last night.
ROADWORKS A/M90 AFTER FERRYTOLL
I'm guessing that Transport Scotland don't actually know what they call the short bit of non-motorway south of the Queensferry Crossing despite them building it.
AlexBr967 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 16:16
Don't know if it's been mentioned before on this thread but sometimes you will get "Stranded Vehicle" warnings on smart motorways after you've already passed the vehicle in question.
That isn't directly pointless – collisions with stranded vehicles are very dangerous, so it makes sense to guard against mistakes putting up the signs in the wrong place (especially as it can sometimes be quite hard to establish exactly where the stranded vehicle is).
Agreed, wholeheartedly.
If the person reporting doesn't spot the motorway mileage marker, the convention seems to be "alert the entire section between two junctions". Better, in my opinion, to "fail safe" and put everyone on high alert.
Mike Hindson-Evans. Never argue with a conspiracy theorist.
They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Thanks for the insight. I'll admit I didn't even think of that. I just assumed that they always would know where the vehicle exactly is on smart motorways.
