Moratorium on motorways is smart move

THE Government is pausing the further roll-out of smart motorways until five years’ worth of data on safety has been examined.

I hope that they will ultimately scrap the idea altogether.

I use the smart sections of the M5 and M42 regularly and am always nervous.

I have witnessed first hand close shaves when vehicles on the former hard shoulder suddenly veer out to avoid a stationary vehicle, causing me to brake.

I have observed several near accidents on the M5, especially during the holiday months when relatively inexperienced drivers are on their way to the West Country with their buckets and spades.

For many, this is the only long-distance journey undertaken in a year and concentration drops off after several hours of driving.

The idea of creating such lanes had some virtue for it helped to cope with the ever-increasing volumes of traffic.

The snag has been that the ability to observe such stretches of motorway has been relatively poor with many blind spots, especially in bad weather and at night.

Cameras have to be monitored continuously, and if they cease functioning, then there are major hazards for the unsuspecting driver.

The current lay-bys are far too small, especially if an HGV is parked up – then there is no escape and a threatening situation can develop in a second.

One of the spin-offs of Covid is increased road traffic on long haul routes as people seek to avoid crowded buses and trains. I don’t see this abating anytime soon.

So I hope that smart motorways will not be re-implemented until the safety of drivers and passengers can be assured and this means that every yard will have to be monitored continuously with rescue services close at hand 24 hours a day.

I also hope that stretches presently in use will be shut off as often as possible, for safety is more important than speed.