Due to financial pressures and safety concerns, prime minister Rishi Sunak has scrapped plans for future smart motorways. The PM states that this is ‘in recognition of the current lack of public confidence felt by drivers’. The government had originally pressed pause on the project for five years to allow for a significant amount of […]
Smart motorway technology is not working properly on any section of all-lane running (ALR) smart motorways, according to Highways magazine. National Highways has been unable to ensure the efficient running of stopped vehicle detection technology (SVD) – which alerts operators of cars that may have broken down in moving lanes – including on stretches of […]
Approximately half of smart motorway drivers admit to avoiding lane one, despite this defeating the whole point of the converted hard shoulder, according to a new study. In a survey conducted by the RAC, over 1,900 motorists were questioned about their driving habits on all-lane running (ALR) smart motorways. 21% of respondents said they frequently […]
National Highways has chosen not to deploy potentially life-saving CCTV systems on smart motorways. A successful trial of the CCTV system demonstrated that analytical technology can identify stranded vehicles in live lanes in all conditions. National Highways, however, has determined the video analytics service platform (VASP) is not up to scratch. AA president, Edmund King, […]
National Highways’ latest instalment of smart motorway schemes is failing to meet the terms of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) recent pledge on emergency refuge areas. The standard distance between refuge areas was recently lowered to 0.75 miles, however, it’s thought that four out of six smart motorways currently under construction will not meet the […]
According to data from the RAC Report on Motoring 2021, 62% of drivers believe all-lane-running (ALR) smart motorways should be scrapped. Smart motorways use the hard shoulder as a running lane with variable speed limits. However, 84% of motorists surveyed believe safety is compromised by the permanent removal of the hard shoulder. This figure has […]
New data provided by the Department for Transport (DfT) has shown that fatality rates on smart motorways have overtaken conventional motorways in recent years. This has sparked further discussion around the safety of these “high-tech highways”. In 2018 and 2019, the fatality rates on smart motorways rose to 0.19 and 0.14 per hundred million vehicle […]
Data from a recent report by the RAC has revealed that as many as 68% of drivers in England think that all lane running smart motorways compromise road safety. Specifically, fears lie around the safety of motorists who breakdown in a live lane, with 72% of drivers being concerned that they’d be unable to reach […]
Big plans have been made to drastically change roads over the next six years, by introducing ‘digital motorways’ to improve congestion and make travelling more efficient. These digital, or smart motorways, will be without the traditional emergency lane, but will have emergency laybys closer together to compensate for this. Highways England have assured drivers that […]
National Highways is progressing on its promise to deliver 150 new smart motorway emergency areas (EAs) by 2025. It is pushing to meet its target by announcing plans to install 52 new EAs in the South East by next year. The government-owned company assured that progress has been made in designing and delivering the programme, […]