Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello learned minds.

Strange one today and posting as I'm curious for your thoughts.

We all know that if a gantry has for example 50 displayed - that is valid until the next gantry displays anything other. If you are caught before a change by say a van on a bridge you have no legal legs.

Red X though? Usually yes - wait until the next gantry as there is a reason. Or can you move back once passed the gantry? this is the Q...

Scenario today was a lorry fire on the M1 Northbound - inside 3 lanes displaying red x and physically blocked - outside lane only available to pass directly under the gantry.

This was near Chesterfield between 28 & 29.

Key to this is that the incident happened maybe 10m before the gantry & no one could actually drive under the inside 3 lanes red X due to fire services still damping down.

I was travelling southbound slowly crawling at 0 - 5mph due to rubberneckers with a good 1/2 mile & maybe 15 mins straight visibility of the scene.

The HADECS was flashing non stop - almost every vehicle - apart I guess those who stayed in the outside lane.

Every truck, and most cars once passed the scene/gantry started slowly moving back to the inside lane of a clear motorway ahead and 'flash'

I know common sense isn't so common anymore, but the camera unit must have had several thousands today at that location - but what is the legal stance on a red X being enforced if anyone knows? I know none of the drivers physically passed under it - but the camera's were snap happy assuming they had.

Pic below from a news report where you can see the proximity to the gantry.

Cheers all

Hello Andy - that's exactly my Q - I don't know if anyone on here knows the actual legalities of it regarding red x.

We've seen many cases of people passing directly under obvious red x gantries - that's not the case here for sure, but that HADECS was going off like a strobe..

I guess if auto generated, there will be a few thousand people at least getting an S.172 after today. Pretty much all HGV's were flashed as soon as they moved out of the outside lane almost immediately after as common sense would dictate.

Should they have stayed in outside lane at 56mph for next 3 miles until next gantry showing all clear to avoid the flash, or will common sense come into play?

Who knows..

Thanks Dave for the exact TSRDG - logic says that is the case, but if they play hardball with no exemptions, then I'd expect starting in the next few weeks or so at least a few of those poor sods who were flashed after moving back to the left on an empty motorway ahead to find their way to this forum with active cases.
I reckon it would have caught well over a thousand based on the amount of constant flashes I saw and the miles long queues who were still to travel through.

surely you don't expect highways england, English highways, motorways england, highways R'us or whatever they are called now to actually use any common sense do you??

However, for competent drivers, any hazard should be able to be visible from far enough away to react at the national speed limit.

Any hazard?
What if the hazard is a reported diesel spill, something that may be invisible or not be visible until extremely close or it could be a vehicle that has totally left the carriageway making it hard or impossible to see and the potential hazard could be glass or similar in the active lane.

Quote from: andy_foster on March 13, 2025, 07:41:50 pm

However, for competent drivers, any hazard should be able to be visible from far enough away to react at the national speed limit.

Any hazard?
What if the hazard is a reported diesel spill, something that may be invisible or not be visible until extremely close or it could be a vehicle that has totally left the carriageway making it hard or impossible to see and the potential hazard could be glass or similar in the active lane.

Not sure that either of these, if not visible from a car at NSL, would be a hazard to a car. A motorcycle? Possibly. But with the majority of motorways being relatively straight even a diesel spill becomes less hazardous.

You could say the same for the lorry that overfilled its tanks at a rural petrol station, then emptied the excess in the first right hander following the fuel station. No hazard signs, no forward warning that it's there except for Mk1 eyeball and observations.

A diesel spill on a tarmac road often means a resurfacing jobby.

I'e seen instances on the northern bit of the M25 where there' been a red X over a carriageway around J25, then blank gantries all the way to the end of the M25. Common sense has to prevail sometimes.

If there is a red X over a carriageway followed by blank gantries then any vehicles joining the motorway will be unaware of the previous X so the blank gantries must mean that all carriageways can be used.