I drove on M6 at rush hour and saw motorists ignoring one important rule

It was not yet sunrise and we’d hit the M6 on our commute to work. Weeks ago, we’d have been blessed by colourful skies but now our morning commute was plunged into darkness, with summer having all but faded away. The rain was drizzling down and the headlights and taillights were blurry through the windscreen, creating a rather murky scene.

But despite the wet weather conditions , that didn’t slow down the drivers heading to work. There was no surprise there was congestion up ahead, the gantry signs warning of delays between Junction 10a (M54[1]) and Junction 9 (Wednesbury[2]), a usual pinchpoint heading southbound. As a result, the motorway powers that be implemented a 60mph speed limit in a bid to ease congestion.

Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp[4], click the link to join The number appeared in large, red circles above, across all four lanes for a good few miles. Did that slow down motorists though?

Not a chance. Apart from a few cars and a lorry on the inside lane, cars came whizzing past at 70mph or more. They were in a rush, willing to disregard the speed limit and risk getting caught by a camera.

The Highways Code is clear on this.

Its rule 261[5] states: “On some motorways, mandatory motorway signals (which display the speed within a red ring) are used to vary the maximum speed limit to improve traffic flow.

You MUST NOT exceed this speed limit.”

References

1. ^ M54 (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
2. ^ Wednesbury (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
3. ^ I regularly use the most expensive road in the Midlands and this one thing justifies the GBP10 (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
4. ^ BirminghamLive WhatsApp (chat.whatsapp.com)
5. ^ rule 261 (highwaycode.org.uk)