Survey suggests smart motorways are misunderstood
A new survey of drivers in England suggests nearly half of drivers don’t know what to do if they break down on a smart motorway. Research by Maru/Blue for the insurance comparison site GoCompare found 45% of drivers surveyed said they wouldn’t know what to do, while 52% of respondents were not aware that you […]
National Highways launches new Red X campaign
Drivers are being urged to follow safe driving rules on smart motorways in a new campaign from National Highways. The “Don’t Ignore The Red X” campaign is trying to boost understanding of driving on the motorways without a hard shoulder. “Would you know what to do when you see a red X?” it asks, “Move […]
Smart motorway scheme “put on hold”
It’s reported that Highways England has paused work on the M3 smart motorway project after safety fears from MPs. The website Construction Enquirer reports Balfour Beatty is “the first to be hit with National Highways confirming that its team on the M3 Smart motorway project should be stood down”. The report says civil engineering arm […]
MPs call for smart motorways “pause”
There is not enough safety and economic data to justify continuing with the roll-out of smart motorways, according to a new report by the Transport Select Committee. The Committee is calling for National Highways to suspend the roll-out of new all lane running schemes until there is more data. It has said it wants to […]
DfT promises investigation into newspaper’s Smart Motorway safety story
The Department for Transport has told the Daily Mail it will investigate the newspaper’s claims of faulty equipment used on smart motorways. The paper says it based an undercover reporter in the South Mimms control room, who found that cameras did not work, were misted up or facing the wrong way and software used to […]
M56 smart motorway opening delayed for SVD
National Highways says there’ll be a delay in opening the £85 million upgrade of the M56 between junction 6 for Hale and 8 for Bowden because of the need to introduce Stopped Vehicle Detection technology. The four-mile section is one of the busiest in the North West, carrying 100,000 vehicles a day and is having […]
Six in 10 people believe all-lane running smart motorways should be scrapped, according to new report
Six in 10 drivers believe that all-lane-running ‘smart’ motorways should be scrapped entirely with the hard shoulder reinstalled, a new report by the RAC has shown. The RAC’s Report on Motoring 2021 questioned 2,652 drivers about the sections of smart motorways which do without a hard shoulder, with only a quarter of respondents supporting the […]
ORR report on All Lane Running finds no errors were made in the calculations and comparisons about relative safety
No errors have been found in the underlying calculations and the comparisons about the relative safety of All Lane Running motorways and these were made in an appropriate way, said an independent report by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The report, commissioned by Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, follows a Progress Report […]
Whistleblower claims smart motorway system failure
It’s been claimed that computer systems controlling signs on smart motorways crashed three times in four days, meaning signs across hundreds of miles of motorway could not be changed. The Sunday Telegraph spoke to a member of staff at National Highways (formerly Highways England) who said the system failed in April and that a Freedom […]
Highways England apologises for delays caused by “technical fault”
Highways England has said sorry to drivers stuck in a traffic jam on a stretch of the M62 in West Yorkshire because signs incorrectly told them three lanes were shut. The signs did not turn off after overnight roadworks were carried out between Huddersfield and Brighouse so only one lane was open. “#M62 westbound J27 […]