Coming down the M6 this morning, at the Toll Split, ‘INCIDENT’ 50mph, was up on the Matrix.
I was getting all excited & apprehensive at the same time, a multiple pile up, a tanker on fire, a Porsche embedded in the back of a slow moving heavy load, a bus full of small children on its side-
NO, there was a Pigeon lying on its back on the hard shoulder !
RIP Little Pidgeon. [emoji22]
There was a car fire on m6 overnight before the toll road tho, cant remember where exactly
Priest:
There was a car fire on m6 overnight before the toll road tho, cant remember where exactly
Oh, perhaps someone forgot to switch the lights out [emoji57]
Well done Highways, on the Ball, as ever !
No wonder we don’t take much notice of your Namby Pamby messages.
martinviking:
Priest:
There was a car fire on m6 overnight before the toll road tho, cant remember where exactlyOh, perhaps someone forgot to switch the lights out [emoji57]
Well done Highways, on the Ball, as ever !
No wonder we don’t take much notice of your Namby Pamby messages.
agree, that smart motorway thing is just money laundering
martinviking:
Coming down the M6 this morning, at the Toll Split, ‘INCIDENT’ 50mph, was up on the Matrix.
I was getting all excited & apprehensive at the same time, a multiple pile up, a tanker on fire, a Porsche embedded in the back of a slow moving heavy load, a bus full of small children on its side-NO, there was a Pigeon lying on its back on the hard shoulder !
RIP Little Pidgeon. [emoji22]
Why do you think it was dead ?
Could have just been resting, The Norwegian Blue Pigeon is renowned for needing a good rest following a prolonged squawk with mrs Pigeon…
It might have been just pineing for the fjords…
martinviking:
Priest:
There was a car fire on m6 overnight before the toll road tho, cant remember where exactlyOh, perhaps someone forgot to switch the lights out [emoji57]
Well done Highways, on the Ball, as ever !
No wonder we don’t take much notice of your Namby Pamby messages.
I’ve explained before, If Joe Public calls in with something reported in live lanes, RTC, Pedestrians, Debris, etc. etc. then 50’s “INCIDENT” HAVE to be set in the location given, (That’s why marker-posts are the preferred method of passing a location, not just junction x to junction y.)
Signals are set until, A) The area has been checked by a Police or HETO patrol, confirmed clear, so then the signals are cancelled, but ONLY once it’s been checked & confirmed by a patrol.
B) If the reported incident can be seen from CCTV, then signals are amended to show either reduced speeds, lane closures etc. with the correct description on the message, ie DEBRIS / OBSTRUCTION, ACCIDENT, STRANDED VEHICLE etc.
These signals / lane closure can only be cleared on the instruction of the patrol at scene, so even if cctv shows all the vehicles removed to the H/S, signals remain until told to clear, cctv might not show debris / spillage at the scene.
With certain reports, the potential incident is deemed as more serious, so the VMS Message will state what has been reported. “PEDESTRIANS” “ANIMALS” “ONCOMING VEHICLE” Aagain, the area has to be checked by a patrol before the signals & messages can be cleared.
Any message that has “QUEUE” in the wording, along with the speed settings, are set by MIDAS Motorway Midas Loop | Bridgepoint Road Markings
Bluey Circles:
martinviking:
Coming down the M6 this morning, at the Toll Split, ‘INCIDENT’ 50mph, was up on the Matrix.
I was getting all excited & apprehensive at the same time, a multiple pile up, a tanker on fire, a Porsche embedded in the back of a slow moving heavy load, a bus full of small children on its side-NO, there was a Pigeon lying on its back on the hard shoulder !
RIP Little Pidgeon. [emoji22]
Why do you think it was dead ?
Could have just been resting, The Norwegian Blue Pigeon is renowned for needing a good rest following a prolonged squawk with mrs Pigeon…
Could’ve been a protest.
martinviking:
Coming down the M6 this morning, at the Toll Split, ‘INCIDENT’ 50mph, was up on the Matrix.
I was getting all excited & apprehensive at the same time, a multiple pile up, a tanker on fire, a Porsche embedded in the back of a slow moving heavy load, a bus full of small children on its side-NO, there was a Pigeon lying on its back on the hard shoulder !
RIP Little Pidgeon. [emoji22]
How you going to cook him mate? 
Are you needing a bit of protein on your diet? 
Evil8Beezle:
martinviking:
Coming down the M6 this morning, at the Toll Split, ‘INCIDENT’ 50mph, was up on the Matrix.
I was getting all excited & apprehensive at the same time, a multiple pile up, a tanker on fire, a Porsche embedded in the back of a slow moving heavy load, a bus full of small children on its side-NO, there was a Pigeon lying on its back on the hard shoulder !
RIP Little Pidgeon. [emoji22]
How you going to cook him mate?
Are you needing a bit of protein on your diet?
I was thinking Al dente, share him with the missus, our protein ration for the week. [emoji6]
(Weigh in tomorrow morning, 3 weeks in & we’re still persevering & enjoying it [emoji106])
Some years ago M1 Southbound Trowell…
Overhead gantries flashing ‘incident’. Two womble cars and a police car flying down the hard shoulder. I’m thinking the worst, downed airliner, 19 vehicle pile up, overturned Darby and Joan bus?
4 lanes and two miles of traffic later all the Wombles and two coppers are looking at the obstruction which turned out to be a plastic hubcab… actually in the gravel of the central reservation.
martinviking:
Priest:
There was a car fire on m6 overnight before the toll road tho, cant remember where exactlyOh, perhaps someone forgot to switch the lights out [emoji57]
Well done Highways, on the Ball, as ever !
No wonder we don’t take much notice of your Namby Pamby messages.
+1 especially as the most relevant ones are…drive carefully,dont use mobile phones,or the classic when your at j44 on the m6 and 6 miles from j45 at 3 a.m on a deserted motorway,journey time to j45 is 6 minutes…ffs,who thinks this retarded useless stuff up? just a waste of money with more waste spent every week employing a cabbage with a hi viz…they serve no purpose,other than to cause ostruction anywhere they go.
I love the matrix sign on the A34 north just before the M40; “to junction with M40 1 mile 1 minute” or something similar. I think “no ■■■■ Sherlock , I can see the ■■■■■■ M40 from here so I can probably work out how long it’ll take”.
the maoster:
I love the matrix sign on the A34 north just before the M40; “to junction with M40 1 mile 1 minute” or something similar. I think “no [zb] Sherlock , I can see the [zb] M40 from here so I can probably work out how long it’ll take”.
that sums it up nicely…i rest my case… 
the maoster:
I love the matrix sign on the A34 north just before the M40; “to junction with M40 1 mile 1 minute” or something similar. I think “no [zb] Sherlock , I can see the [zb] M40 from here so I can probably work out how long it’ll take”.
They should say “Oi thickheads! There’re two lanes for M40 North ahead, so why do you all queue in the left one?”
Bluey Circles:
Could have just been resting, The Norwegian Blue Pigeon is renowned for needing a good rest following a prolonged squawk with mrs Pigeon…
Some say it was an attempted squawk for help suicide which went wrong investigations are continuing.
Priest:
martinviking:
Priest:
There was a car fire on m6 overnight before the toll road tho, cant remember where exactlyOh, perhaps someone forgot to switch the lights out [emoji57]
Well done Highways, on the Ball, as ever !
No wonder we don’t take much notice of your Namby Pamby messages.agree, that smart motorway thing is just money laundering
Ignoring the signs are the reason why it sometimes doesn’t work, “stay in lane” is ignored a lot, people are always changing lanes, the speed limit is ingnored a lot also, evident by the amount of vehicles getting flashed be speed cameras especially on the latest stretch on the M1.
The stretches i’ve used that clearly work in areas that were at a virtual stand still at busy times, are the M62 east and west Leeds area, the bottom end of the M1 north of the M25 afternoons, M6 around birmingham runs well now and the M42, all that used to have virtually standing traffic in the rush hour.
It’s not suprising there are a lot more accidents involving so called professional drivers in there trucks these days.
As Biffo says, by applying a tiny bit of common sense and prior knowledge, you can get some useful info that’s not immediately apparent from the text of the message displayed. You soon learn to recognise that “Queue Ahead”, “Queue after Jct” and “Queue Caution” are generated by the system having actually detected queuing traffic and are usually good indicators of problems, “Incident” generally mean that someone has reported something, but as no-one has actually confirmed what the issue is you can (usually) ignore them. Other, more specific descriptions may or may not still be relevant as (unlike the “Queue” messages mentioned earlier) they have to be manually cancelled, although the fact that a more detailed description is present generally indicates that the Wombles/Police are (or have been) dealing with a specific issue. Nothing is set in stone of course, but in the words of a well known supermarket “Every little helps” the switched-on driver to stay ahead of the game.
Having said that, the “propaganda” messages are a waste of space.
yourhavingalarf:
4 lanes and two miles of traffic later all the Wombles and two coppers are looking at the obstruction which turned out to be a plastic hubcab… actually in the gravel of the central reservation.
Perhaps they thought that it was from a very rare Blinged up Scania & Cash in the Artic might be interested [emoji6]
smart motorway… dumb controllers …with all the cameras etc they should be instantaneous reactions to signs on or off. how many times do you see 60 then 50 then 40 signs but no incident, they cause the tailbacks, nothing happening but queues occur. in this modern technology world they cant get that right after spending millions making a smart motorway. shambles is all it is. also after years of disruption making 3 lanes 4 lanes why do some " professional drivers stay in lane 2, beyond belief.