I've heard that a trial on the M42 allowing people to drive up to 50mph in the hard shoulder has been successful, so now it is likely the idea is going to be taken up by motorways across the country.

Did anyone else think that hard shoulders were for safety reasons? I've broken down once on a motorway before, and have no idea what I would of done if I couldn't stop in the hard shoulder. What exactly are you meant to do if you break down?

At least the proposed road charging scheme doesn't look like it's going to happen.

It sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. What happens if you need to pull over in an emergency only to be met by someone doing 50mph on your inside? I don't know how busy the M42 is but I would cringe at the thought of applying it to the M25. I also assume that where the hard shoulder gives way to a slip road will be another area for trouble. And what will the emergency services use to get to the scene of an accident if the hard shoulder is clogged with traffic?

It sounds like a terrible idea, but if they've done a trial, either these problems must not of come up or they've found a solution? We all know that people never stick to the speed limit on motorways. Can you imagine most people doing 50mph on them? I certainly can't, at that makes it even more dangerous if you have a problem. And as Timberwolf points out what happens if there is a big accident and the motorway is gridlocked on all lanes including the hard shoulder, how are the emergency services going to get through?

It's another ridiculous, short sighted idea. I have to say it is one of the best of the lot though....

The general rule of road traffic is that it will always increase to fill up the available road space, so what will happen once the hard shoulder is clogged with traffic?

It seems to me to be another short-sighted attempt to solve the symptom rather than the underlying problem i.e. too many cars on our roads. Whatever happened to this government's promise of an integrated transport system?

Improving public transport seems to have been forgotten in favour of a quick fix.

Speaking to someone who has driven on the trial road, apparently there are safety bays quite regularly and lots of patrols in case anyone breaks down Which is fine, but if all motorways used this scheme the amount of workers needed to patrol for break downs would be huge!