Is there a conspiracy on British Motorways?

[Birdie2006]

I travel into London daily on the M1, its not an easy journey and it definitely isn't a short one. On a couple of occasions in the last week traffic has been brought to a stand still by the electric signs, Normally it goes 'Queue Ahead', then the speed drops to '60' then '40' and then you hit the queue.

Everyone of these queues that I have been caught in over the last week has immediately started moving again with free flowing traffic when it passes a sign saying end. No obstruction, no incident, no police nothing. The signs appear to slow the traffic creating the queue.

Is this some new insidious conspiracy to make motorists burn more fuel so they have to buy more and the government maximises tax. Or am I being paranoid?

 

[Lord_Darkclaw]

Sometimes it IS down to bureaucracy and incompetence but very often it's a kind of illusion; it takes time for traffic ahead of you to (even though they are out of sight) to even out because they will all have raced ahead when the normal speed limit was reinstated which causes them to bunch-up further down the road.

When the speed limit goes back to normal most drivers have a bad habit of putting their foot down to "catch up" but when a hundred cars do the same thing they all end up in another snarl two miles up the road.

Ever seen that effect when a driver at the front of a queue gently touches his brakes it causes a shockwave effect where the drivers behind him have to brake harder and harder because they are all driving too fast and too close to the next car in front? It's the same kind of thing.

 

[brummyneil]

I think the Highways Agency is trying to slow traffic down in general. There are signs on my route to work, advising to slow down, stick to the limit, wintery conditions etc - the wording changes on a daily basis, I guess so it does not cause boredum lol

 

[Mrfinklestein]

it could be a rolling road block to allow a labour politician to get his money to the bank with out having to sit in traffic