Smart motorways safest roads in the country – National Highways
Smart motorways are the safest roads in the country in terms of deaths or serious injury, according the fourth stocktake report published by National Highways.
The stocktake report is published annually and assesses the performance and safety of smart motorways in the past year.
However, a number of national bodies such as The AA and road safety charity IAM RoadSmart have both called for urgent changes.
Nick Harris, National Highways chief executive, said: “The analysis of our smart motorway network over the past four years has helped us develop a detailed understanding of road safety, not just on smart motorways but across the whole strategic road network.
“This knowledge is helping us to improve safety for drivers up and down country, supporting our ambition that no one should be harmed while travelling on the strategic road network.
“Our latest analysis continues to show that overall, in terms of deaths or serious injuries, smart motorways remain our safest roads. This is in line with the findings of our Second year and Third year progress reports.”
Harris continued: “However, I am aware some people remain concerned about driving on motorways without a hard shoulder. We are continuing to develop a deeper understanding of drivers’ perceptions of different journey types, to allow us to support road users in travelling confidently and safely across the whole of our network.
“We will continue to evolve and develop our network, making the most of opportunities presented by new technologies, innovations and insight.”
Hard shoulders
However, the AA has pointed out a number of failures on smart motorways and has called for the reinstatement of the hard shoulder.
Edmund King, AA president, said: “Data released by National Highways shows that several sections of All Lane Running on the M1 have a higher KSI rate now than before the loss of the hard shoulder. At the same time, a third of radar detection schemes tested failed to meet the standard – two of which failed and worsened in a 12-month period.
“Shockingly, the M62 J10-12 had 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. It is time to accept so-called ‘smart’ motorways has failed and side with the majority of drivers who want the reinstatement of the hard shoulder.”
Smart motorways no safer
Meanwhile, road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has argued that the statistics do not prove smart motorways are safer than the rest of the road network.
Director of policy and standards Nicholas Lyes said, “After the many billions of pounds that have been spent on smart motorways, the metrics do not show a safer network compared to what it replaced. It also reveals that on those stretches of all-lane running smart motorways without a hard shoulder, the rate of fatal and serious collisions involving stopped vehicles is almost double that of both a conventional motorway and those with a dynamic hard shoulder.
“Given the public’s hostility towards all-lane running smart motorways, they will be relieved to know there are no plans to construct any more. However, question marks remain over what to do with existing stretches and how the government proceeds with future capacity expansion.”
