The AA has warned about the dangers of ‘smart’ motorways since their introduction in 2010, and the organisation’s president has reiterated the view that the scheme has failed, following the recent Stocktake Report.
In 2020, the Government pledged almost £1bn to improve safety by installing 150 additional emergency refuge areas to reduce the distance between them from 1.5 miles to 0.75 miles. However, only half of these upgrades were completed, with work still ongoing on key sections of the M1, M3, M4, M5, M20 and M25.
AA president Edmund King said: “It is time to accept that so-called ‘smart’ motorways have failed and to side with the majority of drivers who want the reinstatement of the hard shoulder.”
The Government has already halted further expansion of ‘smart’ motorways, but the latest Stocktake confirmed rising safety concerns and ongoing system failures.
The recent Stocktake Report into the safety of ‘smart’ motorways renewed calls for the reinstatement of the hard shoulder. The report from National Highways, along with analysis from the Office of Road and Rail (ORR), reinforced concerns that removing hard shoulders made motorways more dangerous, rather than improving safety and traffic flow.
King said the latest data showed that several sections of ‘All Lane Running’ (ALR) motorways on the M1 now have a higher rate of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) than before the hard shoulder was removed. He also pointed to failures in radar detection technology, which is supposed to alert control rooms when vehicles break down in live lanes.
King said: “Shockingly, the M62 between Junctions 10 and 12 suffered a system failure for almost a month. This loss of safety technology, which drivers have been asked to put their trust in, meant they were put in unnecessary danger. It is little wonder that a third of drivers say they feel less safe on smart motorways compared to three years ago.”
The latest Stocktake followed a survey by the AA of more than 13,500 drivers, which found that three in five wanted ‘smart’ motorways to be scrapped and converted back to traditional motorways with a permanent hard shoulder. Just 11% supported keeping the network in its current state.
Drivers felt significantly less safe on ‘smart’ motorways, particularly where the hard shoulder is sometimes used as a running lane at peak times. These stretches of road were rated the least safe, with 34% of drivers saying they felt “a lot less safe” compared to three years ago.
Additional data from the ORR revealed that a third of radar detection systems tested failed to meet the required safety standard, with two failing and deteriorating further over a 12-month period.
