Transport Minister opens second motorway hard shoulder running scheme

England’s newest hard shoulder running scheme was opened today (Tuesday, December 1) by Transport Minister Chris Mole – cutting congestion and improving journey time reliability and safety for road users on the M6 in the West Midlands.

Motorists travelling on a seven-mile stretch of the M6 between junctions four and five will be able to use the hard shoulder as a traffic lane during busy periods – a month earlier than planned.

The scheme near Birmingham is part of a £150 million contract and has been opened following a successful pilot on the nearby M42, which, says the Highways Agency, has delivered safer and more reliable journeys.

The Transport Minister also announced that the first ‘through-junction running’ scheme – to maximise the benefits of hard shoulder running – is expected to open on the M42 on Wednesday, December 9.

Mr Mole said: “The M6 is the first motorway after the successful M42 pilot to see the hard shoulder opened up as a running lane to ease congestion and make journey times more reliable. This crucial scheme will make an invaluable contribution to business and economy.

“By 2015, an investment of around £3 billion – half of our planned spending on the national roads programme – is expected to deliver 340 additional lane miles for road users through schemes like this, making extra capacity available when needed on some of the busiest stretches of England’s motorways.”

The ‘through-junction running’ scheme will enable motorists travelling southbound on the M42 at junction five near Solihull to be the first in the UK to be able to drive along the motorway hard shoulder between junction slip roads. It means a continuous four lane section of motorway on the M42 southbound from J6 to J4. Previously drivers were required to exit the hard shoulder when approaching J5.

Results from the M42 pilot showed more reliable journey times for drivers (a 22% improvement) and safer journeys – with a reduction in the number of accidents from an average 5.1 a month to 1.8 a month.

Meanwhile, work continues on the M6 between J8 (Rayhall) and J10a (M54) to deliver hard shoulder running with the scheme expected to open to traffic in spring 2011. (Highways Agency: December 1).

Police launch annual festive season drink-drive crackdown

Christmas party goers are being warned to think before they drive the morning after a big night out in this year’s month-long police drink and drug driving campaign which started this week.

ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) Roads Policing Operations Forum chair Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs said: “If you drink and drive it will only be a matter of time before you are caught. Many people think they have to be involved in a collision or commit an offence to be stopped and breathalysed. This is not the case and our aim is to test more drivers than ever before during this campaign.”

Police forces around the country will, once again, be stopping drivers at all times of the day and night during this year’s campaign, which runs until January 1, 2010. Last year 183,397 drivers were breath tested during the month-long campaign. Just under 5% tested positive.

DCC Briggs said: “What some people don’t realise is that alcohol stays in the system for many hours after they stop drinking and they could still be over the limit the next morning when they get in their car to drive to work or drop the children off at school. People need to be aware of this.

“Police forces throughout the UK will be working hard to make sure our roads are safe for everyone this Christmas. What we are asking the public to do is be responsible and don’t drink and drive. Ensure someone in your group remains sober and acts as designated driver – that way everyone is sure to get home safely.

“Collisions involving alcohol not only devastate the lives of victims and their families, they also ruin the lives of offenders who could face a lengthy driving ban or imprisonment. As well as having to live with the lifelong guilt of having killed or injured someone through their reckless behaviour, offenders could also lose their job, home and their livelihood.” (ACPO: December 1).

GM decision looms on the future of Saab

A decision on the future of Saab from parent company General Motors is imminent following board level talks over two days.

Time is running out for Saab after Swedish luxury car maker Koenigsegg pulled out of bid talks last week, putting in doubt the future of the loss-making GM unit.

Analysts have said the most likely outcome is a closure with one quoted as saying: “The reality is that to try to get someone in at this stage just looks not feasible. There is no further quality offer likely to pop up.”

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp, which tied up with Koeningsegg in October, could still be among the possible contenders to take over Saab, which has not made a profit since 2001. Merbanco Merchant Banking Co, based in Wyoming, has also said it remains interested in Saab. (National newspapers: December 1).

Automotive business failures halve in 2009

The automotive industry saw the rate of insolvencies drop by 53% from October 2008 to October 2009, according to the latest Insolvency Index from Experian, the global information services company.

With 43 automotive businesses going under in October, the insolvency rate for automotive businesses was 0.12% in October, half of October 2008’s three-year high of 0.26%.

In addition, Experian’s late payment data for October shows that the number of days that automotive businesses were paying their bills late fell to the lowest point since July 2008.

Experian’s late payment data also shows a 7.54% year-on-year improvement in payment performance. On average, automotive businesses paid 15.47 days beyond agreed terms in October 2009, down from 16.73 in October 2008.

The health of the automotive industry, as measured by Experian’s financial strength score which predicts the likelihood of a business failing in the next 12 months, has also remained fairly stable (with one being the most likely to default and 100 being the least likely). Since October 2008 there has only been a minor increase from 79.03 to 79.94 in October this year.

Mark Nuttall, general manager of Experian’s Automotive business, said: “Insolvencies are down in the automotive industry and the improvement in payment performance hints at renewed confidence.

“For the second month in a row, the automotive industry has been among the top four industries to pay their overdue bills within the least number of days beyond terms.

“With both the drop in insolvencies and days beyond terms decreasing, automotive businesses appear to have fared quite well in October. The financial strength of the industry has seen a small improvement, suggesting that we could see this stability continue.

“However, not all industries are faring as well as the automotive sector so it is vital that dealers continue to use business information to monitor the health of their customers and suppliers.” (AM-Online: December 1).