The Roads Minister Baroness Vere has told a committee of MPs that there is a “gap” between how roads authorities and the public see the safety of smart motorways.

She told the Commons’ Transport Select Committee that the Department for Transport and Highways England have been working very hard to close the difference in public perception and that they “probably need to work a little harder on getting advocates and presenting the evidence.”

Baroness Vere told the committee it can be “very difficult” to “bring the public with us”, because “data and digitisation” drives safety now, rather than physical things like a central reservation.

The minister said she and Highways England will be “very focused on” explaining that smart motorways are a “system of systems”.

“The policy continues that we will roll out all-lane running motorways,” she said.

(Picture – Highways England)