• Joss @Joss Malden - updated 3y

    UPDATE - Smart Motorways

    This was a thread a little while ago, and having written to those in power to review the concerns of SL members, here is the political response.
    Grant Shapps, our transport minister hasn't replied, as yet.
    Ed Davey of the LibDems is my local MP and has sent his thoughts, so please read on.

    Dear Jocelyn,

    Thank you for your email.

    I am sceptical about the safety of smart motorways – and believe you raise some valid points. I raised my concerns about smart motorways with the Transport Secretary, Grant Schapps, last year. I have copied my letter to Grant Schapps below and attach a copy of his response as a PDF.

    As you may be aware, the Government commissioned a review of the evidence regarding smart motorways which you can view here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936811/smart-motorway-safety-evidence-stocktake-and-action-plan.pdf

    The review made a number of recommendations to improve public confidence and safety and my party has been pressing the Government about the progress towards implementing these recommendations. I believe these recommendations are a step forward – but I’m concerned that they still may leave people vulnerable in certain circumstances. My party and I will continue to scrutinise the Government on this.

    Yours sincerely,

    Ed Davey

      

    Rt Hon Sir Edward Davey MP
    Kingston & Surbiton (Liberal Democrats)

    House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

    Dear Grant,

    I have been contacted by a number of my constituents who are extremely concerned at the safety implications of introducing smart motorways without a hard shoulder.

    I have held back on sending this e mail due to the priority which it has been necessary to give to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, but feel that I cannot leave this matter any longer.

    I appreciate that you had already announced a review into driver safety on smart motorways last October as concerns had already been raised then, and that you said then that none of the smart motorways currently proposed would be rolled out until that review had taken place. Now that the action plan to boost smart motorway safety has been published, I should be grateful for your clarification on a number of points.

    1) As I understand it, there are currently around 200 miles of smart motorway currently in operation which continued to be in use while the review was in progress. Very few of the proposals set out in the review appear to have timescales set and, where they are, they appear to be unacceptably lengthy. For example, whilst the installation of signs within emergency areas giving information on what to do in an emergency "by the end of spring 2020" is helpful, a period of 36 months to install “stopped vehicle detection” technology is simply too long - we cannot have another three years of unsafe operation and the Government should return these stretches of road to hard shoulders again until radar is installed. Will the "end of spring 2020" deadline be met? Please explain what immediate steps you are taking to ensure the safety of drivers using the sections of smart motorway currently in operation.

    2) My understanding is that safety lay-bys were originally envisaged to be every 600 metres, but you are now saying that they will be up to a maximum of one mile apart. Please explain the change in thinking on this.

    3) A number of the commitments in the action plan are vague in the extreme; please would you clarify, for example, what actual action is to be taken when you say you are "considering a national programme", "investigating M6 Bromford viaduct …. we will look to make changes".

    4) Please confirm that any new sections of smart motorway will only be rolled out after the targeted communication campaigns that you identify as being necessary have taken place and that these new sections will incorporate all the safety features identified in your action plan from the start.

    5) At a time when we are increasingly looking to turn to electric cars as the cleaner option, what allowance is being made for the way in which they operate? In particular, as my colleague Baroness Randerson, Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson in the Lords pointed out in debate earlier this year: "when an electric vehicle ceases to function, it stops; it does not coast in the way that other vehicles do. Smart motorways are supposed to be the future, but the future is electric. Those vehicles stop very suddenly. They also cannot be towed; they have to be put on a low-loader, which is a much more complex and longer process that will put rescue teams in greater danger."


    You state that "Overall, what the evidence shows is that in most ways, smart motorways are as safe as, or safer than, the conventional ones. But not in every way" and I am sure that you will have been aware of the allegations made in the Paronama programme at the end of January and the subsequent report by the all-party parliamentary group on roadside rescue and recovery, led by the former roads minister Mike Penning in preparing your action plan.

    That report accused Highways England of “casually ignoring commitments” on safety and failing to implement the Stopped Vehicle Detection system. I and my constituents are alarmed at the failings there have been and I should like your assurance that you will personally be ensuring that Highways England will be required to take full account of the Panorama allegations and the all-party parliamentary group's findings in executing your action plan.

    Steps need to be taken as a matter of urgency to ensure that no more lives are endangered on the existing smart motorways and that no more sections of motorway will be opened until the problems there have been have been fully resolved and the public can be completely satisfied that the removal of the hard shoulder is not creating any danger to road users.

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    Yours sincerely,

    Ed


    Sent: 16 March 2021 10:37
    To: DAVEY, Edward
    Subject: Smart Motorways

    Dear Mr. Davey,

    please advise your thoughts on "Smart Motorways".

    From what I can find, it appears they are marginally safer than the motorways they are replacing.

    This is hard to believe.

    I'd invite any MP to park on the inside lane of the M3, 2miles south of the M25 junction.

    The night will be dark, wet and windy, and that section is unlit.
    Any pet travelling with the driver must be left inside the vehicle, as instructed.
    Then he/she driver will stand behind the crash barrier, for their own safety and observe what happens.

    In which instance the common sense policy will swiftly become apparent.

    Would it be more sensible for Motorways to retain a hard shoulder, and the maximum speed limit to be reduced to 60mph.

    it that means slower journeys and more congestion, so be it.

    Please note the following statement.

    Transport Minister Baroness Vere said that she was ‘astonished’ to learn that electric cars slow to a stop comparatively quickly, rather than coasting to a stop like a normal car. There are also concerns that electric cars are more difficult, and therefore slower, to remove.

    Smart motorways are supposed to be the future, but the future is electric. Those vehicles stop very suddenly. They also cannot be towed; they have to be put on a low-loader, which is a much more complex and longer process that will put rescue teams in greater danger."

    I look forward to your reply.

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