A third of drivers report feeling “a lot less safe” on any form of “smart” motorway than they did three years ago, a new study has found.
The survey of more than 13,500 drivers, conducted by the AA, found that two-thirds of those polled felt safer on a traditional motorway.
And three-fifths of drivers say they want the existing “smart” motorway network converted back to traditional three running lanes with a permanent hard shoulder, with just 11 per cent of those surveyed saying the network should remain in its current state.
Motorways where the hard shoulder can be switched on and off at peak times to create an additional running lane caused the highest number of respondents to say they didn’t feel safe.
“I believe smart motorways are incredibly dangerous”, said one respondent, with another adding, “I do not think I would feel safe if I broke down on one”. A third described them as “anxiety-inducing”.
Smart motorways were first introduced by Highways England as a cost-effective alternative to widening existing roads.
As of April 2024 there were 396 miles of smart motorways in England. These include:
- All-lane running motorway: Hard shoulder permanently removed, 193 miles
- Controlled: Hard shoulder retained and variable speed limits, 140 miles
- Dynamic: Hard shoulder sometimes open to traffic, 63 miles
Now, the AA is calling for the National Highway’s annual safety stocktake report, which was due to be published in 2024, to be released urgently.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for The AA, said: “Given the choice between ‘smart’ motorways relying on technology or motorways with a hard shoulder, drivers are clear which they prefer.
“In the last few years, there have been numerous reports of signal outages and CCTV failures across the network. It is vital the overdue Stocktake is released so we can understand the impact of these technical failures.”
He added that drivers were frustrated with a “perceived lack of urgency” to complete the work. “While many upgrades have been completed, there are several major motorways that only began work last year,” he said.
“Both The AA and drivers say this experiment has failed and urge for the reinstatement of a permanent hard shoulder.”
A 2024 investigation by BBC Panorama found that the technology used to manage England’s smart motorways had stopped working “hundreds of times”.
In April 2023, former Conservative leader Rishi Sunak cancelled all future planned smart motorway projects citing financial pressures and a lack of public confidence in the roads.
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