FINALLY, COMMON SENSE ON SMART MOTORWAYS

THE ROLL-OUT OF smart motorways has been a sorry mess. While the theory may have been sound, and an initial trial successful 16 years ago, in practice they have simply not been safe enough.

Our roads, above all other criteria, must first be safe. Emergency refuge areas a mile and a half apart do not allow for that. Breakdowns don’t happen at preordained intervals when you’re already in the inside lane, after all. The technology to detect and then warn other road users of a breakdown has been shown to be patchy at best, defective or non-existent at worst.

Now, they’re likely to be gone forever after a five-year pause was put on any new ones being built, pending a longerterm safety review (p13). Common sense has won through in the end.

However, almost 400 miles of smart motorways remain operational and that sends mixed messages. If the roads aren’t considered safe enough for new ones to be built, how much trust can you really have in those already open?

The reality is there is no other real option but to keep them open, and squeeze in as many extra emergency refuge areas as possible, backed up with a sustained, high-profile media campaign to educate drivers on how to use them. All of which is too little, too late for the 38 families who’ve lost loved ones on smart motorways to date.