Ironically my favourite motorway in the UK is the M6 expressway toll that bypasses Birmingham. It is always quiet, not having to negotiate heavy goods and there is still a hard shoulder lane. The latter I find trully astonishing is being removed from almost every other motorway in the UK under the name of "smart" motorway. It seems incredibly dangerous and completely stupid, just to save a buck instead of building more proper lanes and keeping the safety lane in place for emergencies and emergency vehicles.
Last time I was back in the UK I hopped on the M4 and it was scary how narrow the lanes are. I'm sure they're no narrower than when I lived there but you kind-of get used to not being able to count the nose-hairs of the guy driving the car in the next lane.
Yup there are some bad sections but they are even worse when they are actually building these smart motorways. Fair enough they drop the speed to 40 or 50 but it not fun having a truck pass you by that takes up about 98% of his lane's width.