UNSAFE SMART MOTORWAYS
"The latest changes from the Department of Transport are hoped to improve safety and confidence in smart motorways, with £390 million designated for additional emergency areas.
In line with the Transport Committee’s most recent recommendations, the rollout of new ALR smart motorways will be paused until a full five years’ worth of safety data becomes available for schemes introduced before 2020. After this point, the Government will reassess the data and decide on the next steps.
Government changes to existing smart motorways include the creation of 150 additional Emergency Areas so drivers have more places to stop.
The Department for Transport welcomed the Transport Committee’s report, backing how it focused on further upgrading the safety of existing ALR smart motorways rather than reinstating the hard shoulder.
The Committee report said evidence suggests hard shoulders do not always provide a safe place to stop, and by reducing motorway capacity, they could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death or serious injury if they were to divert onto less safe local roads.
Despite this, at the inquest for Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu, Sheffield coroner David Urpeth said “a lack of hard shoulder contributed to this tragedy” and that smart motorways “present an ongoing risk of future deaths”.
Grant Schapps said >>>
“Pausing schemes yet to start construction and making multi-million-pound improvements to existing schemes will give drivers confidence and provide the data we need to inform our next steps. I want thank safety campaigners, including those who have lost loved ones, for rightly striving for higher standards on our roads. I share their concerns.”
So the driving public will die over the next five years acting as as the Government's"guinea pigs? Your thoughts?
In line with the Transport Committee’s most recent recommendations, the rollout of new ALR smart motorways will be paused until a full five years’ worth of safety data becomes available for schemes introduced before 2020. After this point, the Government will reassess the data and decide on the next steps.
Government changes to existing smart motorways include the creation of 150 additional Emergency Areas so drivers have more places to stop.
The Department for Transport welcomed the Transport Committee’s report, backing how it focused on further upgrading the safety of existing ALR smart motorways rather than reinstating the hard shoulder.
The Committee report said evidence suggests hard shoulders do not always provide a safe place to stop, and by reducing motorway capacity, they could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death or serious injury if they were to divert onto less safe local roads.
Despite this, at the inquest for Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu, Sheffield coroner David Urpeth said “a lack of hard shoulder contributed to this tragedy” and that smart motorways “present an ongoing risk of future deaths”.
Grant Schapps said >>>
“Pausing schemes yet to start construction and making multi-million-pound improvements to existing schemes will give drivers confidence and provide the data we need to inform our next steps. I want thank safety campaigners, including those who have lost loved ones, for rightly striving for higher standards on our roads. I share their concerns.”
So the driving public will die over the next five years acting as as the Government's"guinea pigs? Your thoughts?
