The smart solution to dangerous motorways

sir – Many lives could be saved on so-called “smart” motorways (Letters, January 30) by limiting the speed of traffic on the inside lane to 50mph.

The critical factor in a typical smart-lane accident is the stopping distance of following traffic. At 80mph (the speed of many cars, even on the inside lane) it is 133 yards. At 70mph it is 105 yards, while at 50mph it is only 58 yards.

If the cameras on the overhead gantries were set to award heavy fines to offenders, the number of accidents would plummet. The technology for this is already in place. It would cost nothing to implement and there will be people still alive next year who might otherwise have died. Peter Horrobin

Preston, Lancashire sir – While I sympathise with those who have lost loved ones due to collisions on smart motorways, and while it would appear that insufficient refuges have been provided to protect broken-down vehicles, I suggest that one of the main principles of motorway driving or, indeed, any driving, has been overlooked.

As a driver one is supposed to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front, ensuring that one can stop safely in the event of a problem. Drivers of vehicles that run in to the back of a stationary one must be mainly to blame, in that they either were not looking ahead or were travelling too fast to take evasive action.

Clearly, one can see a stationary vehicle ahead if one is concentrating. Why is Highways England being blamed for bad driving? Ken Mitchell

Kings Langley, Hertfordshire