May 21, 2019
NEWS If you are a driver you will likely have found yourself on a smart motorway in and around the UK. A smart motorway is one that uses overhead electronic signs to control the flow of traffic. From opening the hard shoulder as an extra lane, to advising of speed changes and to closing lanes, the aim of a smart motorway is to “*increase capacity and reduce congestion in particularly busy areas.” Smart motorways are also about safety. One of the issues with smart motorways is that they rely on drivers observing the signs and if the 180,000 warning letters issued to drivers who have ignored lane closure signs over the past 2 years are anything to go by, many drivers are ignoring the instruction. To combat this it has been announced that from June 10th 2019 drivers who ignore lane closures on motorways marked with a red ‘X’ will receive a Fixed Penalty Notice of a £100 fine and three penalty points. The enforcement will be administrated in the same way as motorway speeding offences where the local police force will issue the penalty. The red ‘X’ is a particularly dangerous sign to ignore because it indicates a blockage in that lane – perhaps a broken down car or an accident – and to ignore it can be dangerous for all concerned. *source, the RAC
