Smart motorways? They’re no such thing

ATTACHING the prefix ‘smart’ to a concept is contrived to convince us that it is superior to whatever it has replaced.

regrettably, this is not always the case. And so it is with so-called smart motorways – with deadly consequences.

these stretches of road, the brainwave of tony Blair’s government, and pursued enthusiastically by its successors, were intended to ease congestion.

to do this, billions of pounds have been spent removing hard shoulders and converting them into regular carriageways.

Concerns that this got rid of a crucial – sometimes life-saving – safe zone for motorists in difficulty were airily dismissed by ministers and the national Highways agency, who claimed that they are ‘among the safest roads in the country’.

technology, they insisted, would protect stricken cars by closing lanes, preventing them from becoming potentially lethal obstructions to traffic bearing down at speed until recovery crews arrived.

Yet the reality is altogether more nightmarish. tragically, smart motorways have become graveyards for stranded drivers and passengers, with 53 deaths in four years.

How can this be? As the Mail’s deeply troubling investigation reveals today, one reason is that the system is fatally flawed.

Our undercover reporter, who infiltrated national Highways’ main control room, found it plagued by faults – magnifying the danger to motorists. One in ten CCtV cameras on the roads did not function properly when we audited them, meaning life-threatening delays in rescuing broken-down vehicles marooned in high-speed traffic.

Software controlling emergency signs and speed limits routinely crashes. And staff warned 418 times last year of technical glitches that could jeopardise lives.

incredibly, even though a coroner has demanded national Highways be prosecuted for corporate manslaughter, and despite the casualties, the ill-conceived network is being extended. this is insanity.

Yes, it is welcome our damning exposé has prompted the Department for transport to order an urgent inquiry.

But this is too little, too late. While the technology is suspect, ministers must reinstate hard shoulders. With fewer lanes drivers may take longer to get from A to B. But surely they’d prefer that than risk being killed if they get a flat tyre.