Smart motorways

In a statement released today, transport secretary Grant Shapps said that no further all-lane-running (ALR) motorways will be allowed to open without radar technology to spot stopped vehicles.

He noted that government has taken further steps to improve the safety of smart motorways without hard shoulders, including banning such motorways from opening if they lack measures to detect stopped cars, adding that technology will be rolled out on all operational ALR roads by September 2022.

Driving in closed lanes is to be dealt with too, Highways England upgrading the motorway cameras, the so-called ‘red X’ violations, which can be enforced by the police.

Shapps said: “This government takes the safety of our roads very seriously. We are determined to do all we can to help drivers feel safer and be safer on our roads – all our roads.”

Smart motorways were introduced in England in 2002, with the controversial ALR versions, in which the hard shoulder is used as an extra lane, arriving in 2014. They have been linked to more than 38 deaths.

In February, a coroner referred Highways England to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider a charge of corporate manslaughter following the death of a woman in South Yorkshire when motorway monitors failed to detect her vehicle had broken down.

Shapps’ statement coincided with a report by Highways England that said fatality rates on ALR motorways are lower than on any other type of UK road. ALR motorways have a fatal casualty rate of 0.12 per hundred million vehicle miles, compared with 0.16 for conventional motorways and 0.44 for strategic road network A-roads.

See BTN 29 March Smart motorway problems

https://highwaysengland.co.uk/media/bb4lpkcp/smart-motorways-stocktake-first-year-progress-report-2021.pdf

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Brian Madge, United Kingdom

I will NOT drive on a "Smart" Motorway - my cutch went without warning on the M4 some years ago - scary. Logic tells us that with no hard shoulder immediately available there has to be an element of danger.

Gillian Jones, Luton

I have never experienced a breakdown on a Smart motorway but the thought of my car failing in a four lane high speed carriageway is very worrying. In in the interest of safety should these be returned to three lane, with one extra for emergencies.