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The introduction of the ‘all lane
running’ smart motorway has
increased the importance of
motorists’ compliance with red X
signs and variable speed limits in
order to protect the safety of road
users involved in incidents on live
running lanes. The vast majority
of motorists (90%) say they
always comply with the red X
signs indicating a lane closure on
motorways, while slightly fewer
(83%) say they always comply
with speed restrictions that are,
from time to time, imposed due to
accidents, bad weather or volume
of traffic.
More than four in 10 drivers (41%)
claim to have been delayed by
45 minutes or more as the result
of a major incident in the past
12 months. But while the figures
given above suggest that motorists
have high levels of confidence in
information displayed on roadside
variable message signs, radio
traffic news remains the most
common way for drivers to get
information about delays.
Almost four in 10 (38%) of those who
have suffered a long delay in the
past five years say they found out the
reasons for the hold-up by listening
to radio traffic reports (compared
with 18% who found out from
variable message signs), while
a third (32%) say they discovered
how long a delay was likely to last
via the radio (24% from signs).
A clear majority (72%) say they
would expect to receive details of
incidents and delays via the radio,
compared with 47% from signs and
36% from live traffic information
on their satnav.
3.0
The state of our roads
60
RAC Report on Motoring 2016
“I am surprised by the high level of dependence
on the radio to find out about traffic problems.
Today’s motorists have the likes of variable
message signs and live traffic information on their
satnavs, but it appears radio is still king.”
DAVID BIZLEY
Chief Engineer
RAC