M42 and M62: Man labels smart motorways “most useless invention ever” as public react to worst voted motorways

The M42 has been voted the worst motorway in England.

The motorway, which runs across the midlands from Birmingham into Leicestershire, came last in a Transport Focus survey of more than 9,000 drivers. The M42 received an overall satisfaction percentage of 56, while the M62, the second worst voted motorway, got 60%.

We asked members of the public if they agree with the M42 and M62 being rated the worst motorways in England.

In Liverpool, one man said: “As far as the M42 and M62 are concerned, I can see what they mean. I’ve driven on the M42 a bit myself, a lot of it is smart motorway which might be a lot to do with it, there’s a lot of controversy about that. Some people might have had bad experiences with the hard shoulder, it’s not a hard shoulder.”

Another man said: “Road works, they notify you and put bollards up, then disappear for a few days. The bollards are still there and nobody’s doing the work. It causes a lot of distress to the locals.”

In Manchester, one man said the M60 was his worst motorway.

He said: “The M60 is to the Trafford Centre, to the airport. I work in the airport so getting on that, one little accident, literally in the hard shoulder backs it up all the way up from the airport, straight down to Rochdale.

“Smart motorways are the most useless invention ever. They don’t work. They’re supposed to monitor the amount of cars on the road to sort out the speed limit but it just slows it down, creating traffic instead of stopping it.”