Safe Speed Forums

I was on the M6 this morning, heading south. Not far before the toll road starts there is an overhead sign bearing the legend "M6 Toll Information" It said "M6 Congestion M6 Toll Clear". I was heading west so had to go on the M6 to the A461, so sighed and accepted that I would be delayed.

The M6 was clear as a clear thing on a clear day in clearland.

I wonder how many of the toll road users decided to pay the £3.50 charge based on that erroneous information?

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

Can anyone ever recall it saying "M6 Clear"?

I used it on Friday afternoon, much against my better judgement, and was equally annoyed to find that the big fancy machine that automatically takes your money doesn't give change. Sorry, but that is just a blatant con and to me typifies everything that is wrong with the current way of thinking in "rip-off Britain".

Interestingly, although the machine registered that it had taken £4 from me, when I pressed the button for a receipt it only gave me a receipt for £3.50. It would be interesting to see who in law now has ownership of the 50p balance...

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

Or the sign ever saying M6 Toll congested ?

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Yes, handy, that's a very ugly thing isn't it?

I wonder if we should make some sort of formal complaint.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

who would one complain to? Is there someone responsible in DfT?

I'm willing to bet the Midland Expressway does not have to share (by it's charter) any information on it's overhead gantry other than what IT chooses to?

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

I've just had a long conversation with a senior journalist about this. We decided that an FoI request to the Highways Agency about correspondance with the M6 Toll company about the use of the sign would be 'very interesting'. It's a little off topic for Safe Speed, but I'de be pleased to feed any interesting results to an appropriate journalist. Who wants to do the FoI?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I drove to Cosford at about 3am the other month and the sign was still displaying "M6 congestion J9 M6 Toll Clear" - I probably only saw 3 other vehicles between there and J10a, what a con.

What's the M6 Toll?

I always stay on the M6, and have never encountered more than light traffic - and it would not occur to me to pay for what I enjoy for free!!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

It's that bit they built to "ease" the congestion which they cause in first place by the mythical roadworks at the area.

You know the one.. the one with the miles of cones und no sign of a JCB let alone a fella displaying his "cleavage" "by working". Ist also the one which had the Tempo Gatso to "protect these non-existent workmen" too!

They now want to build a toll to "ease" the congestion at the Thelwall place. You know - the repairs to the bridge take longer than it take to build a bridge in first place.. so goodness know how long one would be held up to "prove it necessary to build to make money from the unsuspecting on it"


Of course - they must keep that revenue a-rolling in! After all they would miss the dosh from all those SPECS in these roadworks...


As for the sign .. well

They know driver obey such signs blindly... (ist perhaps why the Gatso sign are buried in a load of other signs ...)

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Nicht ganz im Lot!
Ich setze mich immer wieder in die Nesseln! Der Mad Doc ist mein Mann! Und ich benutzte seinen PC!

UND OUR SMILEYS? Smile ... und the the world smiles with you.
Smiley guy seen when you read
Fine me for Safe Speed
(& other good causes..)

Greatest love & Greatest Achievements Require Greatest Risk
But if you lose the driving plan - don't lose the COAST lesson.
Me?
Je ne regrette rien!

Many drivers aren't taken in by such signs, though, as traffic on the M6Toll continues to fall compared with last year:

http://www.m6toll.co.uk/newsdetail.asp?id=57

Down 21.5% at weekends

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

And it is possible that the perceived increase in speed enforcement is discouraging some too.

Never used the road myself, but given that I live 20 miles to the side of it that isn't surprising!

Now come on folks, don't knock the M6 Toll too hard !!

Whenever I go from Crewe to Rugby at weekends in the morning I take it just to avoid the big trucks, (and the other traffic as well !!). For £3.50, it is worth it just to go along a motorway with traffic levels of the 70s.

The Mersey Tunnel is £1.20 for about a mile and a half, dammit !

However, in late evening on a Saturday with lighter traffic levels, I come back via M1 and A50; its nearly as quick, and there is a cheap petrol station at Uttoxeter !!

Mind you if it creeps up to £4, I will have a re-think.

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Good manners maketh a good motorist

Never had any problems any time during the week going Rugby - Crewe - on M6 , and big advantage - decent food, decent price at either J15 or J16 Stoke side .Always come back via Stoke and M1.
If my lot are too mean to pay £7 to save two of us sitting in a jam for an hour - (if we get stuck) ---tough.But again , look at the charges - cars/MPV all less than 1.3m HIGH---£3.5 ---vans etc -£7 --not exactly a bargain is it?.Considering that that van pays £170 a year in VED, has had vat and vehicle tax paid on it and costs approx £80 to fuel --why should we have to pay to use a road,BECAUSE this government can't /wont improve it.Not as if we don't pay enough for the right .
And at £35 for the largest HGV - NOT NICE.Can see why the hauliers object to what is after all blackmail.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Was a passenger down M6 toll last week- sunday morning 4am it was £2.50. Coming back Friday night, thought it would be the same - but £3.50!

Now can someone tell me why the cheap band is only 11pm to 6am. Surely a 8pm or even 9pm start would be fine.

PS the signage coming on from T9 is awfully confusing.

One of the reasons I use the M6 Toll is that there is very little traffic using it.

Another reason is that it is a brand new motorway.

A third reason is that before the road was built the M6 often threw me a nasty surprise, whether it was congestion or continual roadworks.

Sotonsteve, just to clarify, are you saying you use it because you feel it's a better driving "experience" ....... or does it actually get you from A to B any faster? Or both, of course!

Just curious!

Personally we used it because it was the most direct way to the airport parking (and recommended by AA Autoroute, naturellement!)

I don't know about 'SotonSteve'but is is quicker for me, or at least it seems so !

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Good manners maketh a good motorist

Did anyone pick up the FoI on this, because I drive that way regularly and it has always been a it of a bugbear of mine. If no-one else has done it, I'm happy to fire a request off...

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Carl Prescott

Interesting to see that the Blogging Magistrate, "Bystander", is as irritated by inaccurate matrix signs as the rest of us and proposes an amusing tactic... See http://thelawwestofealingbroadway.blogspot.com/

He/she is, unfortunately, a camera enthusiast, but otherwise tends to talk a lot of sense.

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"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

I use the toll road regularly, but that's because work pay for the tolls and do not pay me overtime or travelling time. Why take the risk of getting home late.

When getting in home late on a Friday, I used to end up explaining "there's always a crash on the M6" and it's still true. Fortunately there's rarely one on the toll road.

It'd be interesting to do a survey of who uses that road and what for. I would bet that the majority of users are reps and van drivers, allegedly the worst drivers on the road. Lets now compare the accident rates on the toll road compared to the now rep-free M6

I bet the fall in people using it is due to all the campaigns claiming that they are doing speed enforcement on there, suddenly the advantage of the road is gone. They should try to get it classed as a private road (at least the part after the toll booths) and see if speed really does kill