Olympic Lanes Opening

LONDON--July 18, 2012:

The first of the Olympic Lanes has opened this week in London with many more set to follow. MotorQuoteDirect has taken a look at the impact so far as the Olympic Lanes on the M4 are the first to come into operation.

This first Games Lane comes into affect where the M4 bus lane used to operate, between junctions 3 and 2. The lane was opened before any others in order to deal with an expected rush of Olympic arrivals over coming days; Heathrow Airport is situated near to the London-bound M4 carriageway.

Joe de Vries, of MotorQuoteDirect, an online motor insurance quote [Motor Quote] engine, has been looking at how the M4 has coped so far: "There has already been a huge amount of traffic reported, however, that was purely due to accidents on the M4 in Berkshire, rather than Olympic activity. Other than the usual accident based traffic, the M4 has been fine with drivers clearly respecting the fact that these lanes are only to be used by athletes, officials and media."

The M4 Olympic Lane is in operation from 5am until 10pm and forms part of the Olympic Route Network. Additional lanes will be opening as the start of the Olympic Games gets closer.

Mr de Vries further added: "It's important that drivers therefore pay attention to all the signage when driving in and around London as accidentally using the Olympic Lanes could prove very costly."

MotorQuoteDirect understands that the 3.5 mile lane between Heston and Brentford will be patrolled by the Metropolitan Police and a GBP130 fine will be handed out to any unauthorised lane users.