Making smart motorways a little safer

THE installation of new safety equipment on smart motorways without a permanent hard shoulder will be completed within the next five months, it was confirmed yesterday.

National Highways said it was on course to upgrade almost 100 safety cameras to enable automatic detection of vehicles that ignore Red X lane closure signals by the end of September. This is designed to increase compliance with the Red X, helping to ensure the safety of drivers and their passengers in difficulty, or road workers and emergency services who need a safe space to work.

It was also confirmed that it will add to the more than 330 extra signs it has already installed to inform drivers of the distance to the next place to stop in the event of a mechanical problem or emergency.

In addition, National Highways is on track to complete the roll-out of radar-based technology that can spot a stopped or broken-down vehicle on over 200 miles of All Lane Running (ALR) motorway by the end of September 2022.