In response to today’s survey of AA members on smart
motorways, the Chair of the Transport Committee, MP said:
“Almost 20,000 people responded to this survey by the AA. It
demonstrates that the public still has serious concerns about the
safety of All Lane Running schemes. The permanent conversion of
the hard shoulder into a running lane on our busiest motorways is
a radical change for motorists and creates a real challenge.
In June 2016, our predecessor Committee warned Government
not to press ahead with ‘all lane running schemes’ while major
safety concerns existed – they still exist.
“One area of particular concern is the size and spacing of
Emergency Refuge Areas. While we welcome the news that Highways
England is undertaking a targeted programme to install additional
emergency areas in locations with the highest levels of potential
live lane stops, it doesn’t go far enough.
“Plans to reduce the spacing to one mile between the refuge areas
in future schemes falls far short of the Committee’s
recommendation that the areas should be spaced at 500-800 metres
apart, as in the M42 Active Traffic Management pilot which the
Committee supported. This AA survey shows qualified support
from the public for refuge areas spaced one kilometre apart (0.6
miles). I would urge Highways England to review this decision.
“The three E’s of education, enforcement and engineering continue
to be vital to the safety and success of this initiative. While
there has been some success with reducing levels of
non-compliance with red-x signals, this work needs to continue
apace. We will continue to monitor this and look forward to
further updates from Highways England.”
