Rich The Stag:
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
If you pass a vehicle on the inside and do NOT pull back in front then technically you are making use of the available lane and not undertaking. If you pass on the inside and then return to another lane, is this undertaking?
Not sure if plod would book you or not if you explained your actions.
So what are we supposed to do when driving down the hard shoulder and the overhead sign changes to “Hard shoulder for JX only” and we don’t want that junction?
Duhhhh, Move over
Im making a remark about people thinking im undertaking and making it difficult to move into lane 1.
Winseer:
If I can legally potter along in Lane 2 with an open hard shoulder counting as lane 1, then I’m quite happy to do just that. Driving on an opened hard shoulder doesn’t just run a heightened risk of collision with a broken down vehicle - but also getting punctures from nuts, bolts & other bits of debris one finds gathering at the side of the road pretty much on any main road.
People who continue to criticize me for taking this stance, might also be the same plonkers who drive on the limiter through the 50mph roadworks as well. It’s not just enforceable on the bits with the speed cameras, or even between two average speed cameras. Bugger all the job-and-knock idiots fuming behind me.
Where’s the connection between legally and safely making use of the available lanes on a smart motorway and illegally speeding through roadworks
Winseer:
If I can legally potter along in Lane 2 with an open hard shoulder counting as lane 1, then I’m quite happy to do just that. Driving on an opened hard shoulder doesn’t just run a heightened risk of collision with a broken down vehicle - but also getting punctures from nuts, bolts & other bits of debris one finds gathering at the side of the road pretty much on any main road.
People who continue to criticize me for taking this stance, might also be the same plonkers who drive on the limiter through the 50mph roadworks as well. It’s not just enforceable on the bits with the speed cameras, or even between two average speed cameras. Bugger all the job-and-knock idiots fuming behind me.
The hard shoulder stretches in Birmingham are open virtually all of the time during the day, so the debris argument is a bit of a stretch I think. Also, do you carry on in lane 2 in the ‘all lane running’ stretches of smart motorway, like between M6 J12 & J13? If not, your not being consistent.
Personally, I don’t think the system where they open & close the hard shoulder is idiot proof enough. For starters, they are expecting people to ignore a solid white line, it’s a mess. I would scrap it all and just have all lane running in all the smart motorway sections. Large stretches of the M1 are like this now and it works perfectly well.
Birmingham-wise though, I agree with Juddian. Just buy the M6 Toll, or at least look at subsidising it so it’s cheap, even if it’s just for cars.
A lot of it must be habit for some people, to be honest quite happy sailing down the hard shoulder past the morons who drive by habit rather than reading signs.
Almost identical behaviour compared to the approach to j.6 on the m74 South, for ages through the road works the inside lane was dedicated for the exit, so everybody would sit in the right hand lane for miles, one day it changed to both lanes available for southbound. Big yellow signs up but for a good 2 weeks everybody carried on in the right hand lane at 35mph, yet if you could read you were in the left doing best part of 50.
rob22888:
This afternoon like pretty much every time I go up this way, M6 NB & SB J4-J6, the hard shoulder is open and I have the lane to myself as nobody is using it. I know in some places, no sooner have to gone into the hard shoulder you have to move over again, but this is a good 6 mile stretch where you can crack on and it’s never utilised. Trucks all just sat in what is essentially lane 2.
Whats the point in suffering years of roadworks to install these smart motorways if the extra capacity just gets ignored!?
motorists given licences from lucky dip bags, do NOT know how to use/ shouldn’t be on the motorway network. KISS. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. ENDEX.
Winseer:
If I can legally potter along in Lane 2 with an open hard shoulder counting as lane 1, then I’m quite happy to do just that. Driving on an opened hard shoulder doesn’t just run a heightened risk of collision with a broken down vehicle - but also getting punctures from nuts, bolts & other bits of debris one finds gathering at the side of the road pretty much on any main road.
People who continue to criticize me for taking this stance, might also be the same plonkers who drive on the limiter through the 50mph roadworks as well. It’s not just enforceable on the bits with the speed cameras, or even between two average speed cameras. Bugger all the job-and-knock idiots fuming behind me.
The hard shoulder stretches in Birmingham are open virtually all of the time during the day, so the debris argument is a bit of a stretch I think. Also, do you carry on in lane 2 in the ‘all lane running’ stretches of smart motorway, like between M6 J12 & J13? If not, your not being consistent.
Personally, I don’t think the system where they open & close the hard shoulder is idiot proof enough. For starters, they are expecting people to ignore a solid white line, it’s a mess. I would scrap it all and just have all lane running in all the smart motorway sections. Large stretches of the M1 are like this now and it works perfectly well.
Birmingham-wise though, I agree with Juddian. Just buy the M6 Toll, or at least look at subsidising it so it’s cheap, even if it’s just for cars.
I don’t often find myself on the M6, and I’ve yet to drive on the M6 toll at all. The M42 stretch going North from the M40 though, seems to be open hard shoulder during peak periods, and running normally overnight.
The buildup of debris isn’t about what runs on the lane or not - it’s about damaged vehicles not having their entire debris field cleared away. Clearing away happens less often if the Hard Shoulder spends longer and longer as a live lane, as time goes on…
Lane 1 = Slow Lane. Lorries and old ladies.
Lane 2 = Middle Lane. Lorries going 0.1 mph faster than lorries and old ladies in lane 1 plus more old ladies too stupid to stay in lane 1.
Lane 3 = Fast Lane.
Hard shoulder must be even slower then.
These are hard rigid facts and do not change even when the motorway is full. Therefore, every self respecting Audi/BMW/Merc/Insignia driving rep will sit in the outside lane to prove how manly he is at all times.
This leaves us a free shot and undertaking them all down the hard shoulder.
The-Snowman:
I use it all the time
Saves driving around for ages trying to find a ■■■■■■■■■■■■. Its cracking
Exactly, there wouldnt be these threads asking ‘will i get my ■■■ whipped if im 3mins over’ if everyone used the roads correctly, theres plenty of room on the HS/roundabouts/slip roads ect to park up for the night…
KISS. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. ENDEX. 
