Pressure builds to reinstate hard shoulders amid smart motorway concerns

A new report from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) reveals that while road safety has improved, National Highways is unlikely to meet its target of halving fatalities and serious injuries by 2025.

Despite a 2.2% increase in traffic from 2022 to 2023, the number of deaths and serious injuries remains at an all-time low. However, National Highways is still falling short of its safety goals, sparking further controversy over smart motorways, which remove the hard shoulder for extra lanes of traffic during peak hours.

Why are smart motorways facing criticism?

Smart motorways have sparked significant safety concerns, particularly due to its reliance on technology and the removal of hard shoulders. Critics argue that allowing vehicles to use the hard shoulder during peak times increases risks if the technology fails.

The National Emergency Area Retrofit (NEAR) program, designed to improve safety by adding emergency stopping areas, partially addresses these issues. However, the ORR report finds that the data collected was insufficient for a thorough analysis, leaving unanswered questions about the system’s effectiveness.

Although National Highways points to safety upgrades like radar-based Stopped Vehicle Detection (SVD) systems and enhanced enforcement cameras, the report highlights multiple failures. Notably, SVD technology, meant to detect stopped vehicles in live lanes, has underperformed in some areas, with a critical system outage lasting nearly a month on the M62.

Could hard shoulders make a comeback?

The AA, one of the most vocal critics of smart motorways, has now intensified its call for the return of hard shoulders.

Edmund King, President of the AA, pointed out in response to the latest data that several sections of the M1 motorway, where the hard shoulder was removed, now have a higher rate of serious accidents than before the changes were made. A third of radar detection systems tested have also failed to meet the required standard, with some worsening over a 12-month period.

“Shockingly, the M62 J10-12 had a system failure for almost a month,” King said. “This loss of safety technology, which drivers have been asked to trust, meant they were put in unnecessary danger.”

With increasing public concern, it’s no surprise that a third of drivers are now feeling less safe on smart motorways compared to three years ago, King added. “It’s time to accept that these so-called ‘smart’ motorways have failed and to side with the majority of drivers who want the hard shoulder reinstated.”

National Highways’ response

National Highways maintains that it has made significant strides in improving safety, including completing actions from its 2020 Smart Motorway Evidence Stocktake. These include adding more than 700 emergency signs and installing SVD systems on all all-lane running motorways.

While National Highways has met the targets set out in the government’s 2020 plan, the controversy over smart motorways remains far from resolved. The ORR’s report urges the agency to improve its data collection on technology failures, but the larger debate about the safety and effectiveness of these roads continues to rage.

With public opinion increasingly swaying toward the return of the hard shoulder, the government may soon face mounting pressure to reconsider its stance on smart motorways. Until then, the debate continues to highlight the tension between innovation and safety on the UK’s roads.

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