Key question M6 drivers have always wondered about speed limits answered

A key question about exactly when drivers can be fined on the M6 and at what speeds has been answered. Drivers who regularly use the motorway in the West Midlands may often have wondered whether they must obey temporary speed limits which flash up on overhead gantries, and if they can get into trouble for ignoring them.

The speeds show up in red circles as either 60, 50 or 40mph when traffic needs to be slowed down because of congestion or an incident. It is common to see these warnings ignored, however, possibly because some motorists believe they are only advisory.

But they aren't. The speeds shown must be followed for safety reasons and are treated as the speed limit at that time until conditions return to normal.

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And there are variable speed cameras in certain locations ready to punish drivers who don't follow them. These catch most speeding motorists between junctions 7 and 8 near Great Barr and between the M54 exit slip road near Wolverhampton and junction 10 for Walsall, a BirminghamLive investigation discovered.

Almost 20,000 motorists have been caught by variable speed cameras here this year alone - 11,477 between junctions 7 and 8, and another 8,185 between M54 and junction 10. It means around 65 drivers are caught every day at these locations on average.

So drivers have been warned that when they see temporary speeds flashing up on the motorway they must be observed, as they never know when the might be being watched by speed cameras. Anyone caught could be hit with a fine or penalty points.

The use of variable speed limits allows motorway officers to control how fast traffic moves on the motorway. They are normally in place at times of heavy congestion, such as morning and evening rush hour, or when there is an incident to control the flow of traffic and to try to keep it moving as much as possible.