Smart motorways may have been scrapped but there’s another serious safety issue on the M1
It is about as major as a road can get. The M1 motorway[1] runs from London to Leeds, via our part of the world. Living just south of Sheffield and less than a mile from it means I use it almost every day.
Given how close I am to it, the motorway is the quickest route to most destinations, even those within a few miles. I have written before about the so-called smart motorway changes[2] implemented on the M1 but a recent trip to Birmingham Airport highlighted another major safety issue that needs attention. While the refuge areas installed retrospectively on smart motorways don't seem anything like an alternative to an actual hard shoulder, it was something else that caught my attention - potholes.
Admittedly, a road that is used by around 140,000 motorists[3] every single day is bound to show signs of wear and tear but I would have struggled to count the amount I either avoided or couldn't do anything about on the drive of around 40 miles to pick up the A42 towards Birmingham at junction 23A[4]. Obviously, the odd one or two is to be expected on a road being used by so many every single day but I think I lost count at 10 - heading both southbound and northbound. How we didn't get a puncture at the very least when I was unable to avoid a significant one just after junction 26 heading northbound is a miracle.
Even if motorists[5] are lucky enough to avoid the craters, the swerving and sudden steering is also a serious safety issue. I don't drive as often as I used to but I do wonder how one of the busiest roads[6] in the country is crumbling. We're not talking the odd crack in the road surface.
Hitting some of these craters at 70mph could do some serious damage. If you're lucky, that could just be the inconvenience of damage to your car. But it's not just the cost to the individual motorist at play here - for me, this is creating a whole new safety issue and needs dealing with urgently - and not when it's already too late like what happened with smart motorways.
Smart motorways cost lives and left families devastated before they were scrapped. I can only hope that quicker action is taken on the latest safety issue on the M1. A National Highways spokesman said: "We know that good quality roads are important to the millions of drivers that use our network each day.
Safety is also our primary concern, and we set stringent standards for pothole repairs on our roads. We regularly inspect our roads to help reduce the potential for potholes to form and we are meeting national targets designed to ensure our road surfaces are kept in a good condition. "When potholes do occur we repair them as soon as possible, any defects that pose a risk to safety are repaired within 24 hours.
Even though regular inspections are carried out, people can report potholes to the National Highways Customer Contact Centre by calling: 0300 123 5000."
References
- ^ M1 motorway (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ the so-called smart motorway changes (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ motorists (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ junction 23A (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ motorists (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ roads (www.nottinghampost.com)