Combined risk of satnavs and smart motorways

Sir – I am a regular commuter from west London to Bedfordshire. The route includes 40 miles of smart motorway (Letters, September 3). It is undeniable that journey times and the number of serious accidents have increased since their implementation.

I blame the combination of smart motorways and satellite navigation. I have coined the term “satnav manoeuvre” for a driving action that involves braking in the lane of travel followed by a move to the left into a space that doesn’t exist, between vehicles travelling at the same speed.

Sean Darlington

Twickenham, Middlesex

Sir – On any long motorway journey, there clearly is a great reluctance among many drivers to obey the fundamental rule that everyone keeps to the left lane, except when overtaking. On a motorway, it was always argued that, if you pulled suddenly from an outer lane on to the hard shoulder, it should be certain that there would be no other vehicle in a blind spot on your left.

Overtaking a slower vehicle on a multi-lane highway on either side should now be normalised and written into the Highway Code. Other countries allow overtaking on both sides. Such a move would free up the outer lanes, increase the capacity of the road and reduce the frustration caused by middle-lane hogs.

George R Taylor

Croydon, Surrey

Sir – “Smart” meters and “smart” motorways – someone in government needs to buy a dictionary.

Richard Light

Hitchin, Hertfordshire