250 drivers a day use hard shoulder illegally across region
Around 250 drivers a day are illegally using the hard shoulder in the West Midlands, it has emerged – as a new crackdown was launched which could see motorists fined.
The clampdown was today being launched by the Highways Agency and Central Motorway Police Group, with drivers warned they could be forced to pay fines or given points on their licence for flouting the rules.
A pilot scheme is being launched next month to reduce the amount of motorists who use the hard shoulder at the wrong times.
The stretch of the M6 between junctions eight at West Bromwich and 10A for Essington is already part of a 'managed motorways' scheme, which sees the hard shoulder opened up as a fourth lane at busy times in a bid to cut congestion.
Work to expand it into Birmingham is now under way and plans are then in place to roll it out to Staffordshire.
Overhead signs are used to display when this is in force.
However police said today that on three of the busiest motorway links across the West Midlands – at the M42 south between junctions six and seven, and M6 northbound and southbound between junctions nine and 10 – figures show an average of 250 vehicles per day illegally using the hard shoulder.
Most of this was just before the hard shoulder opened to traffic for the peak periods or just after it had been closed. As part of a pilot scheme, police will be proactively monitoring drivers in the region.
Any drivers misusing the hard shoulder will initially receive a joint letter from the force and the Highways Agency, along with an educational leaflet clearly explaining the correct use of the hard shoulder.
Repeat offenders could find themselves facing a fine and points on their licence, as driving on the hard shoulder is illegal, as well as unsafe.
Chief Insp Derek Roberts, from Central Motorway Police Group, said: "We don't want to issue fines and instead want to encourage good driving behaviour, but people need to understand that travelling on the hard shoulder when it is not available as a traffic lane is illegal and unsafe they could cause a traffic collision and put lives at risk."
Jamie Hassall, Highways Agency national enforcement co-ordinator, said: "Whether drivers are doing this because they are unaware or deliberately trying to exit the motorway more quickly, they are putting themselves and others at risk.
"Driving on the hard shoulder when it is not available for use could lead to collisions with vehicles who have stopped in an emergency or with the breakdown and emergency services who have stopped there to offer assistance."
