Slower classics at risk when leaving refuse areas on smart motorways as gantry operators advised to use ‘lane diverts’ over full lane closures
A leading vehicle recovery YouTuber has urged classic car owners to insist on an overhead gantry lane closure when rejoining a so-called ‘smart’ motorway.
Greg Burgher, of Stafford Mobile Tyres, better known as Mr GDB Official, noticed recently when calling in a breakdown via the emergency phone in refuge areas, operators were setting ‘lane diverts’ on the overhead gantries rather than a lane closure, indicated by a red ‘X’. Ignoring a red ‘X’ lane closure sign is punishable with up to a £1000 fine and a 56-day driving ban.
A red ‘X’ is preferable as it allows cars pulling back on to the motorway to exit bays (known as emergency refuse areas, or ERAs) safely allowing them more time to build up speed. This is particularly helpful in the case of historic vehicles, some of which were not designed for motorway speeds and cannot accelerate up to the national speed limit quickly.
Greg, who recovers vehicles across Staffordshire, Shropshire and Derbyshire, found the problem most prevalent on ‘all lane running’ smart motorways, where the hard shoulder is a permanent motorway lane and escape bays run every 500 metres (or just over a mile in case of some stretches of the M25).
It was on the Staffordshire area of the all-lane-running M6 that Greg first noticed a change in operator’s willingness to set lane closures at Highways England. This government-owned, publicly funded company operates the overhead gantries, sends out patrols and answers the SOS calls from phones in refuse areas. Control rooms watch each stretch of smart motorway for incidents and breakdowns, and co-ordinate with drivers, recovery firms, and emergency services.
“They need to just go back to their old process where when you leave a bay; they will close lane one off electronically and they set the other speed limits to 40 mph, just while you leave,” said Greg. “That’s it. And that’s what they used to do. It’s not hard. It’s not rocket science, and if they talk about being safe and smart, why not do it?
“It’s not going to build up massive congestion the traffic; all it allows is for those one or two cars to leave a bay safely. Just because there’s a red “X”, it doesn’t mean everyone’s going to adhere to it, but if there is an incident and we’ve left that lay-by and that lane’s electronically shut, the liability is with that person who has contravened that closed lane.”
Smart motorway lane closure policy update
In recent weeks, Greg told Classics World that he had to threaten to call the police when operators refused to change a lane divert (displayed as a small white arrow on the gantries) to a lane closure. Highways England confirmed that, following a risk assessment, the decision on what to put on the gantries is down to their operators.
“The instructions were updated last November to make it clearer that a lane divert arrow was the recommended initial action,” a Highways England spokesperson said. “The process to enable drivers to leave an emergency area safely is to set signs and signals above the adjacent lane for a ‘lane divert right’ arrow and reduced speeds of 50mph.
“Signs approaching the emergency area will also read ‘Slow vehicle joining ahead’ to alert other road users. We want drivers to be, and feel, safe on our roads which is why we ask that they never exit an emergency area without speaking to us first. We can then set the appropriate signs and signals to warn approaching traffic that a vehicle is about to exit an emergency area.”
Becca Treston, host of the Passenger Seat Podcast, advised enthusiasts travel by slower, more rural routes in older vehicles. “I’d say, where possible, to avoid smart motorways; it’s what I do, because it’s too scary to end up in a situation where you and your beloved car are that unsafe.”
