I drive on the M6 regularly and always see motorists breaking one rule

I’m a regular user of motorways in the West Midlands, particularly the M6. It’s one of the busiest highways in Europe, cutting through the region from northwest to southeast, passing through the Black Country [1] and Birmingham [2] along its way. You’ll often find queues along the M6, not matter what time of day you drive.

As one National Highways traffic officer recently told me:[3] “Rush hour doesn’t seem to exist now,” meaning there’s always traffic. From my experience, there’s certain pinch points. Driving southbound, it’s at J10a where the M54 merges onto the M6.

Then it’s at J10 in Walsall [4], where motorists join from the Black Country Route, and queues can continue past J9, Wednesbury, until J8, where two lanes branch off for the M5. Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp [6], click the link to join And Spaghetti Junction J6 is a nightmare during rush hour, especially for motorists trying to merge onto it from the A38M Aston Expressway.

Driving along the M6, particularly at peak times, I often see motorists breaking one rule. It’s not the usual offences you’d suspect like being on mobile phones or middle lane hogging. Instead, it’s to do with the speed limits on the overhead gantry signs.

There’s often variable speed limits through Birmingham and the Black Country during rush hour. This is usually done to control the flow of traffic or sometimes it can be to reduce emissions. One gantry sign may have a 50mph speed limit, while the next one half-a-mile away has a 60mph limit.

However, I always see motorists adjusting their speed well before passing the next gantry sign. For example, they may be in a 50mph limit but they’ll start accelerating to 60mph after seeing the new speed limit ahead. It may be confusion on their part, or simply impatience or frustration, but National Highways says you shouldn’t do this.

A spokesperson for National Highways said: “As a speed limit remains in place until the new one is displayed, this means you should continue to travel no faster than that displayed speed until you pass the next speed limit sign.

If you are travelling at 50mph as directed by the signs, you stay at a maximum of 50mph until you have passed the 60mph sign.

Then you can start to adjust your speed.”

References

^ Black Country (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
^ Birmingham (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
^ National Highways traffic officer recently told me: (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
^ Walsall (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
^ I spent two hours on the M6 with officers and it took minutes to spot a problem (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
^ BirminghamLive WhatsApp (chat.whatsapp.com)