Indeed Big John, if i travelled unsmart motorways regularly in my old 4x4 i'd invest in one of those very low profile full-width roof strobes as used by the highways maintenance crews.

Wet dark unlit smart motorway has to be one of the most dangerous places you could break down, maybe not so bad if you and your passengers are able bodied.

You've struck a chord there ....

There was a time when I used the M3 fairly regularly and at that time they were converting it to a Smart Motorway with 13 mile stretches of roadworks with 50 mph limits and reduced lanes etc. Not pleasant.

In short - it caused me sufficient concern that I did go out and buy a red magnetic revolving beacon with a full strength halogen bulb as well as a magnetic Britax LED strobe unit. (OK, I'll confess I already had a Brtish Standard amber magnetic revolving halogen bulb jobbie which I've kept in the boot for years). They're all still in the car, along with a very comprehensive set of waterproof Hi-Viz gear (one full set each, in fact).

I also bought one of those little manetic LED warning lights that have multiple LEDs all round it and have a dozen different flashing patterns - and I have to say I would think it was about as powerful as the one in the clip, shown above. And in reality it's not a life saver in my opinion. Not visible enough from a distance.

Having had an HGV come within whisker of wiping out my car (stationary on the hard shoulder with the Mrs. inside) I reckon I've learned a lesson about motorway traffic.

In a previous life I used to have to work, in emergency, blue light, situations, on motorways - day and night ..... and it's only when you're working on the road in close proximity to motorway traffic that the reality is brought home.

Re. the link you show above, GB - have to say whilst it could be amazing, I feel if you're gonna go to the trouble of getting one and want one you feel you could rely on to give you the best chance .... then it might be you have to pay a tad more.

I have no particular affinity or inside knowledge about the place but I finished up buying from CommercialVehicle Products in Tamworth, Staffs. The two items I got from them were 1. Britax 390 series magnetis 12 volt SKU BRI 394 00 12v - and they still do it. I ordered mine with a red lens at no charge. 2. BritaxA100 mini lightbar, magnetic, amber SKU BRI A100 .00. LDV.

The first one is almost certainly brighter than the second but the main reason the second one is that being LED it uses next to no current and I felt that it would be OK to leave it on with the engine off and not drain the battery if I were stuck for any length of time. Whereas the 12 volt halogen might be considered high drain with the engine off?

I had good service from the company and wouldn't hestitate to recommend them based on the way they dealt with me.

Having said all that, the Britax mini light bar that I got is at the cheaper end of the range of mini light bars and I'm certain you can get brighter ones (but maybe they're more expensive). Check the website, they're all listed there. For example my local refuse collection vehicles, and some breakdown rescue vehicles seem to have lights that you can see from the moon.

There are absolutely millions of them on Ebay and Amazon ... all promising the earth. Do a bit checking and strike the right balance .... mnaybe ring the company and tell them what you want and what yopu want to pay as a maximum and see what they say.

For many years I worked for a Highways Authority and one day out of the blue a sales rep came to our office selling a device like this. It was a kit of five lamps that lived in a very neat box and they all could be charged up together by plugging the box in to the mains. Good quality professional items that like cats eyes could withstand a wheel going over them. The clever thing was that when you set them out on the road in a taper, kerb to centre line and switched them on they adopted a flashing sequence from the furthest away to the nearest to the car, like some modern indicators. Very effective but also expensive at over £300 a set.

Are any of these things really that much more effective than your hazard flashers?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=calhSEv177Y

I have two of these - one for each car, both readily to hand inside the car, and they seem a bit like the ones you describe. I have seen adverts for that sort of thing and they looked like mine. Mine are rechargable and hold their charge for ages - BUT in all honesty they simply not very bright - especially not just one stuck on your roof. Millions of different flashing patterns but ultimately - not very bright.

Are any of these things really that much more effective than your hazard flashers?

Its flashing light at a higher level that i'm looking for, at lorry driver eye level, plus in the centre'ish of the roof and a rapid flashing sequence in theory more likely to be noticed than standard hazards which are after all simply indicators so only the equivalent of a 21w bulb and generally low set.

Its lorries which are the deadliest vehicles obviously for such circumstances (and the ones most likely to be travelling after several hours driving in that very left hand lane), in the cut and thrust of modern traffic its not the lorry driver who travels at a good distance from the vehicle in front who is the danger, generally he'll spot the breakdown from hundreds of yards back and be taking action with plenty of warning to other traffic, its the bod further back who can't see anything in front because of the body of the lorry in front and if he's following too close (as so many now do, tailgating is now a serious problem) and the lorry in front swings out last minute?

Much obliged for the further info KB, i shall be looking at the options here, don't want something too big because i want them to be within reach of the driver's seat and able to be plonked on the roof and active literally as soon as the car has stopped rolling.

If we didn't have the dogs in the boot of both cars regularly i would fit smaller strobes along the top of the rear window line, inside the rear screen and perma wire them in with a dash switch.

Edited by gordonbennet on 13/10/2019 at 19:34

To my mind it's not anything like bright enough. A proper halogen rotating beacon is what's needed IMHO. On a smart motorway you would need more than one!

Hence me having an amber one and a red one in the Yeti. And, l don't even have to go on Smart Motorways very often now ... but the A38 and A380 between Exeter and the Plymouth/ Newton Abbot direction (Splatford Split) is the next best thing when it comes to hazardous stretches of dual carriageway.

Edited by KB. on 14/10/2019 at 12:13

What a joy to see someone pick up on something like this, do a bit of research, and get the job done straight away. Really heartwarmingstuff!

I should have reminded you to look for the R65 - but you went for one that fulfilled that anyway.

Do come back with your thoughts - will be interested to hear them.

Does look like the dog's nadgers - hope I don't get envious.

Many thanks Bilboman for starting this thread and everyone for contributing. Like others, I hadn't thought about it, but I need to now, gven that it seems nothing will stop the Highways Agency's thoughtless plunging into the death traps that are "smart" motorways.

The only thing that worries me about lights like the 12v-socket-powered ones the GB has ordered is - what happens if the reason for the breakdown is that all the car electrics have gone dead? A rechargeable light would avoid that problem, but would it be bright enough?

Fair point Avant about complete electrical failure, but that was part of the reason i went for LED units and will do so again if i upgrade, battery power would have to run really low for leds not to work effectively, and there should be enough warnings from the car's lights getting dimmer and not get to a point the battery dies completely, obviously it could happen but the risks should be low, the two torches i carry in each car have flash functions too, so could be placed on the roof facing backwards, not great i admit but better than a completely unlit vehicle on a dark section of unlit road.

I'm glad we've had these two similar threads running here, this one and the one titled Smart Motorways, sometimes discussing these things make you think about them more deeply than maybe we have been, it's not just a case of breaking down any more on a normal motorway where the chances are you would be pretty safe on the hard shoulder, your life and those with you really is in danger on these new bodged up motorways.

People often say its no different to being on a dual carriageway with no hard shoulder, but it is, dual carriageways you are expecting traffic entering and leaving laybys as well as poorly designed junctions, there's slow moving vehicles, bicycles, even horses, sometimes public footpaths cross the road, on motorways non of this applies, but the big difference is that on many dual carriageways as your car came to an unplanned halt there's a decent chance of being able to run the car onto the grass at the side of the road, it doesn't matter if gets stuck at that point once its mobile again the breakdown lads will sort that out, its gets you clear of the road, that's what counts.

A lucky and quick thinking chap in a van on that M1 Northants section i speak about only a couple of weeks ago, the armco to the left is solid for almost the entire section between refuges, but he'd managed to get his van onto the grass where there was a break in the barrier beside one of those signs gantries, in the dark i might add, that quick thinking action probably saved an accident from happening.

Edited by gordonbennet on 14/10/2019 at 16:04