M1 Southbound Jcn 26 - Jcn 25

The request was successful.

Dear Highways England Company Limited,

Please advise on speed limit in place between Junction 26 - 25 on Southbound M1 at 09.28 on 04/10/2018, and advise reasons for any reduction in national speed limit at the above time/date and what the speed restrictions were.

Yours faithfully,

I Lee

Highways England,

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Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[5]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[6][Highways England request email]

 

Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ 

 

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EM&WM speedenforcement,

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Lee,

 

Thank you for contacting Highways England with your query on why speed
restriction were set on the M1 between Junctions 25 – 26 on 4 October 2018
at 09:28am.

The information you have requested is information we make available to the
public on a regular basis, therefor your request has been handled under
normal business practices and not in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act.

Please note that speed enforcement is only one of a number of measures
which are used to encourage speed compliance; and the regional enforcement
authority (the police) are responsible for speed enforcement. Thresholds
at which enforcement begin are applied at local level by the respective
police forces. I have also included some information on speed restrictions
as asked for.

 

The attached data shows that the speed limit was set at 60mph from
09:23:09 due to congestion. It is the duty of the police to prosecute any
driver who fails to comply with reduced speed limits, Highways England own
and maintain speed enforcement cameras.

 

Speed camera warning signs are used to ensure drivers are aware that
enforcement is in operation where applicable. Variable speed limits will
often be triggered when congestion is starting to build up ahead, or when
the volume of traffic has reached a point where this is about to happen.
If the problem is successfully cleared, drivers may not see what caused
the speed restriction, although where possible we use the electronic
signing to explain this. The system is designed to ensure that
restrictions are listed as soon as they are no longer needed. In some
circumstances reduced speed limits are also used to protect stationary
vehicles or incident scenes, by slowing down the approaching traffic. In
such cases the signs on the gantry will show LDR – lane divert right, with
reduced speed in order to free affected lane of vehicles. In an emergency
the overhead signals can be used to display warning messages to drivers,
close lanes to protect vehicles until assistance arrives, and provide more
information about the cause of any delay or restriction.

When we receive reports of debris or an accident from a member of the
public, we treat the report as being unconfirmed until we are able to
verify that something has actually happened and are able to correctly
locate it. During this time of verification we set signs of ‘incident’ and
reduce speeds to 50mph, and this might be along the whole length of the
between junctions that are reported to us. Once we have checked that
stretch of road by CCTV or a traffic officer patrol, we update the signals
so that warnings are only shown at the location of the incident, or if we
find no evidence of the reported hazard they are removed altogether.
However we have a duty to take the necessary safety precautions and alert
drivers to the potential danger bases on the information we have at the
time.

 

In all cases smart motorway schemes are designed with sufficient
visibility between signals to allow drivers time to adjust their speed
safely. When the speed limit changes, drivers who are close to the signal
are not expected to brake suddenly, but rather to reduce their speed so
that they are within the limit as soon as it is safe to do so. There is a
60seconds time lag between when the speed limit changes and when the
camera captures a speed violation.     

If you need more information on Smart Motorways please visit:
[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/sy...

 

I hope the information contained in the data provides you with adequate
response but should you wish for further action the complaints procedure
is available via our website at:

[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

If you require a print copy, please phone the Information Line on 0300 123
5000; or e-mail [3][Highways England request email].

Kind regards,

 

EM & WM speed enforcement

Highways England | The Cube | 199 Wharfside Street | Birmingham | B1 1RN

 

 

This email may contain information which is confidential and is intended
only for use of the recipient/s named above. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any copying, distribution,
disclosure, reliance upon or other use of the contents of this email is
strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and destroy it.

 

Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[4]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[5][Highways England request email]

 

Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ 

 

Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
need to.

References

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2. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
3. mailto:[Highways England request email]
4. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
5. mailto:[Highways England request email]