, Member of Parliament for
Rotherham will call on the Government to end deadly smart
motorways, which have claimed the lives of at least 79
motorists.i During a debate Sarah will hold in Westminster Hall,
Sarah will urge the Government to restore the hard shoulder
across the motorway network.ii
Sarah will highlight in particular the dangers of all-lane
running motorways, in which the hard shoulder is converted to a
full-time running lane. The all-lane running motorway between
junctions 32 and 35a of the M1, which runs through Sarah’s
Rotherham constituency, has claimed four lives in recent years,
including that of Sarah’s constituent, Jason Mercer.
In her speech, Sarah will outline the risks of removing the hard
shoulder and the inadequacy of technology intended to ensure the
safety of motorists. Sarah will say:
“People are dying. And yet the Government continues to delay,
searching for an answer that is staring them in the face.’
‘Had Jason Mercer been able to pull into the hard shoulder, he
could still be alive. Claire Mercer could still have her
husband.’
‘The Government can prevent further loss of life. But to do so,
they need to recognise something even the former Minister who
commissioned them has admitted. They were a mistake.”
Sarah will also highlight evidence from National Highways that
shows that removing the hard shoulder more than triples the risk
of incidents leading to death or serious injury.iii
Sarah will say:
“The rate of incidents involving stopped vehicles in which
someone was killed or seriously injured on controlled motorways
was 0.06 per hundred million vehicle miles travelled. For all
lane running motorways, this was a staggering 0.19 per hundred
million vehicle miles travelled.’
‘In the name of increasing capacity on the cheap, National
Highways have more than tripled the likelihood of serious
accidents involving stationary vehicles.”
Commenting, Sarah said:
“The Government have been warned time and time again that
removing the hard shoulder greatly increases the risks faced by
motorists. Their own data shows this all too clearly. Yet they
continue to reject calls to undo their own tragic mistake.’
‘The Prime Minister himself, during his leadership campaign,
branded smart motorways unsafe. But now he is in office, he needs
more evidence. How much more evidence does he need? How many more
people have to die?’
‘The sad reality is that the Government is prioritising
increasing motorway capacity on the cheap and gambling the lives
of motorists to get it.’
‘We don’t need more evidence to see what is already staring us in
the face. Smart motorways are deadly. If the Government truly
carted about the safety of motorists, they would restore the hard
shoulder across the motorway network.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
i
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/smart-motorways-murder-families-say-27384048
ii The debate will take place in Westminster Hall on Wednesday,
22nd February at 11am, and will be viewable
at:http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Commons
iii National Highways, Smart Motorways Stocktake, Second Year
Progress Report, 2022, p.51, Table 4, reproduced at:
https://nationalhighways.co.uk/media/uivj2zem/smart-motorways-stocktake-second-year-
2022.pdf
