Smart Motorways - Why Are They So Controversial
Smart Motorways - why are they so controversial?
The Government has recently announced that it would be stopping all future so-called ‘smart motorway’ building projects, meaning that these all-lanes-running sections of highway wouldn’t be expanded to other parts of the country.
However, there are still many, many miles of smart motorway currently in operation in the UK, but why have they proven so controversial? We break down some of the key reasons.
Lack of hard shoulder
This is the main argument against smart motorways. Their design means that they’re often in ‘all lane running’ mode which means that there’s no hard shoulder. This is the primary reason why many people don’t like smart motorways as, with no hard shoulder, there’s no consistent place to take refuge if you break down.
There are safe lay-bys positioned at regular intervals on smart motorways but, for many people, these aren’t frequent enough to be safe.
Overhead cameras can’t react quickly enough to a breakdown
Smart motorways work with a series of overhead gantries. These display variable speed limits - and have speed cameras mounted on many of them - with these ‘matrix’ displays also used to close a lane if there’s a vehicle stationary in one.
However, a complaint is that the cameras and the operators behind them can’t react quickly enough to a breakdown. In some instances, drivers have had only seconds to react before an impact happened.
Drivers are unable to safely exit their vehicles if stranded
If you’re in the inside lane when a problem occurs on a smart motorway then, providing you can make it to a refuge area, you’re able to exit the vehicle safely when stopped. However, a problem arises if you have an issue in the middle or outside lane. Since you’re not able to coast directly into the hard shoulder, many people find themselves trapped.
At this point, it isn’t safe to exit the vehicle since there’s live traffic on both sides and this can leave you quite vulnerable should an impact occur.
Occasions where hard shoulder is flexible catch drivers out
On some parts of the motorway, the hard shoulder can be turned into a live lane during times of heavy traffic. However, that means that sometimes you could be allowed to drive on it and other times it’s a bookable offence.
This is reputed to have caught a number of drivers out as they’ve started driving down the hard shoulder only to be fined as it hadn’t been declared ‘live’.
They’ve not been ruled out for the future
Though the government has cancelled all plans for smart motorways citing both ‘financial pressures’ and a ‘lack of public confidence’ it hasn’t ruled out the creation of more in the future.
In fact, it said that "Cancelling these schemes will allow more time to track public confidence in smart motorways over a longer period." This could mean that smart motorways could make a return if enough data suggests that they help to increase traffic flow while reducing collisions.
