Concerns about safety on Britain’s so-called “smart motorways” were highlighted in a BBC One documentary, titled “Britain’s Killer Motorways”, that was broadcast on 27 January 2020. These concerns are shared at the highest levels, having led Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to announce a review of smart motorways back in October 2019. The need for such a review is supported by the fact that as many as 38 deaths have been directly linked to smart motorways in Britain since 2015, not to mention many more “near-misses” that do not make it into the news . More recently, on 30 January 2020, Shapps has announced a complete halt to the national rollout of any further smart motorways until the recommendations of the safety review are known.
What then is “smart” about a smart motorway? In the presence of a dynamic hard shoulder, the smart motorway can adapt itself to changing traffic conditions through a feedback mechanism. The hard shoulder can be opened temporarily, albeit with controlled and variable speed limits, at times of heightened traffic congestion. The process of converting the hard shoulder for use by live traffic is controlled from control centres, guided by information from CCTV displays and from on-scene traffic reports. Radar-based vehicle detection systems, designed to identify stationary vehicles, can provide an additional safety mechanism that is, however, largely unavailable, except on certain sections of the M25.
The loss of a hard shoulder can convert this particular lane from a safe space into a potential death trap when vehicles inadvertently break down within the lane. Unless there are regularly spaced emergency rescue areas on the motorway, duly marked with blue signs and an orange SOS telephone symbol, stalled vehicles and their occupants are at high risk of collision with oncoming and fast-moving traffic. These emergency rescue areas are ideally spaced at 800-metre intervals to be useful, and this is not the case on many motorways.
Currently, there are more than twenty sections of smart motorway in England. These are to be found on seven different motorways, including the M1, the M4, the M6 and the M25. The scheme was first successfully trialled on the M42 in 2006, and then gradually rolled out across the motorways network. At the time of putting things on hold, there were plans to construct six more sections of smart motorway, with a further eighteen schemes in the pipeline.
For reasons of safety, Highways England has provided a list of recommendations. These include never driving under a red ‘X’ sign, keeping to speed limits as displayed in electronic warning signs on overhead gantries, using refuge areas for emergencies if there is no hard shoulder, and putting on hazard lights in the case of breakdown. But this does not appear to be enough. Smart highways have been criticised by both major motoring organisations, including the AA and the RAC, and by the emergency services. The absence of a hard shoulder makes it difficult, if not impossible, for emergency response vehicles to reach people and vehicles stranded on the motorway. People who have come out of their vehicles seeking assistance are particularly vulnerable to being struck down, and often killed, on collision with other vehicles.
There appears to be little support for smart motorways, especially from frequent motorway users. It is but right that a temporary moratorium on further expansion is in place until safety can be guaranteed. Every death on smart motorways is an example of a tragic event that could have been otherwise prevented.
Ashis Banerjee (will knowingly avoid smart motorways)