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Smart motorway rollout halted in order to collect safety data

Smart motorway rollout halted in order to collect safety data

A recent programme by BBC Panorama highlighted that the figure for people killed on our roads is currently 1,600 a year - the equivalent of three full jumbo jets crashing.

It was revealed by presenter Richard Bilton that most refuge areas on smart motorways are still too far apart, and that the radar technology that’s supposed to detect you if you break down in a live lane is only working on a quarter of the network.

Following a recommendation by the Transport Committee, the Government has halted the rollout of new All Lane Running (ALR) smart motorways until a full 5 years’ worth of safety data becomes available for schemes introduced before 2020. 

Once this data is available, the Government will use it to make an informed decision on next steps.

The Transport Committee’s report suggests that a hard shoulder does not always provide a safe place for drivers to stop in an emergency, and therefore the Government should focus on upgrading the safety of ALR smart motorways rather than reinstating the hard shoulder. 

In response to this, the Government is investing £900million to improve safety on existing stretches of smart motorway - £390million of which will be used to install over 150 new emergency refuge areas. The remaining £510million will be invested into stopped vehicle detection and concrete central reservation barriers. 

According to the Department for Transport, this will represent a 50 per cent increase in refuge areas by 2025. 

National Highways CEO Nick Harris said, “We have listened to public concerns about smart motorways and we are fully committed to taking forward the additional measures the Transport Committee has recommended.

“While we pause those all lane running schemes yet to start construction, we will complete the schemes currently in construction. We will make existing sections as safe as they can possibly be and we will step up our advice to drivers so they have all the information they need.

“We are doing this because safety is our absolute priority and we want drivers to not just be safer, but also to feel safe on our busiest roads.”

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