How not to get caught on a 'smart' motorway
Published: Tue, 10/02/18
Last Tuesday I had to spend nearly two and a half hours on a course which was the alternative to getting three points on my license. No, it wasn’t a speed awareness course. My speed at the time of the ‘offence’ was 71 mph on a motorway. There were no roadworks or any other issues, just a variable speed which had apparently just changed to 60 mph from 70mph on that particular section of ‘smart motorway’ of the M1. The course I was given the option of attending was entitled a ‘motorway awareness’ course. There must have been 30 of us in the room and none of us had been speeding in the sense of exceeding the mandatory speed limits on the roads we had been driving on. All of us had been caught out by a change in speed limit which may have only been indicated a matter of seconds before the cameras start operating. Or in some cases lanes had been closed with only a matter of seconds to change to another lane before an ‘offence’ is
recorded.
The gentlemen delivering the course were tasked with explaining how smart motorways are supposed to work, why they are apparently so important and how we were supposed to avoid getting caught again. All three of them were friendly, did their best to answer our questions and did their best to justify the system which had put us all in that room. Smart motorways are supposed to reduce noise and pollution, keep the traffic moving freely and make driving safer. They do this by changing the rules of the road at a moment’s notice and then penalising drivers honest enough to display a traceable registration. That probably includes you and me but an unknown number of vehicles are driving around on untraceable plates and those drivers have nothing to fear from traffic enforcement cameras. I am all in favour of enforcing reasonable laws relating to roads, vehicles and driving. But I do have a bit of a problem with law enforcement which
depends entirely upon law abiding citizens being willing to incriminate themselves. When I received the first notification of my ‘offence’ on the smart motorway I was not even informed where the crime actually occurred. All that I was told was that it was between junctions 26 and 25 of the M1. Half way between the two there is a services where Venetia and I had changed drivers, yet there was still a warning of dire consequences if the driver was not promptly named. I asked for clarification including the exact location of the camera and photographic evidence to show who was driving. I got a reply, again reminding me that it was my responsibility to know who was driving my vehicle and a specific location for the camera which enabled us to decide that it probably was me driving. So, I returned the form and booked on the course I attended last week.
I will share a couple of things that were explained on the course and this may save you some hassle and money. So far only a relatively small part of the motorway network is ‘smart’. The best indicator that you are joining the smart section is that is will say ‘variable speed limits in force’. There should also be a sign saying ‘variable speed limit ends’ which indicates that the smart section is finished. The speed signs on the gantrys over smart motorways have a red circle around them which means that they are mandatory, not advisory. If the speed limit displayed in 40mph you need to get your speed down to that speed as you go under the gantry. I know that it takes time and space to slow down but the variable legal limit trumps the laws of physics in this case. If the lane you are driving in suddenly displays a big red X you need to get out of that lane immediately. If there is no room to pull over? Again, law of road trumps
law of physics. Or you could take the train as I do to get to London these days.
Apart from what I have written above I am trying not to draw too many conclusions from my experience. I don’t think that there is much doubt that we are moving towards a road system where only cars which are capable of being controlled by a centralised ‘road traffic control’ system (a terrestrial version of air traffic control) will be allowed on the motorway network. As a driver you will surrender control of your vehicle to the ‘smart’ road system. Any older cars that are not compatible with such a system will be prevented from using the smart roads. If you have an older vehicle and can’t afford to replace it then tough luck. This process has already started in that for the past couple of years older diesel vehicles are barred from entering London.
I guess this is progress of a kind. I am just glad that I had 40 years of motoring before the computers took over, or maybe that is just me being a grumpy old man.
On the other hand there is a point in every culture when those in authority overstep their credibility and lose the confidence of those who are supposed to do their bidding. I have a suspicion that ‘smart’ motorways are an indication we have reached that point. The rather pathetic attempts to justify the new system presented on the awareness course didn’t do much to help either.
Does this have anything to do with Stav? Perhaps not directly, but I have long had a sense that a practice like Stav has a timeless benefit and will always have a place in the world. However I presently have a sense that the best has been and gone and the world, is not getting any better. Even a practice which could enable people to cope better with life no longer has much effect because no one seems to have the time or concentration to learn and practice anything. But maybe I am just becoming cynical.
Either way I am no quite ready to give up so I am going to trial the next programme. At the moment I am calling it the Self-reliance Programme. The theme will be coping with the modern world without losing your freedom and independence. Interdependence is good, dependence is another thing. Watch this space.
regards
Graham
PS I have also updated the page for Stav training in Beverley over the next three months. Dates and other details here http://iceandfire.org.uk/train.html