More than 20,000 motorists are left as ‘sitting ducks’ on smart motorways as the life-saving technology fails to detect stricken drivers, figures reveal
- The tech failed to detect stricken motorists 21,100 times on roads over 5 years
- Read more: PM scraps plans for deadly smart motorways after safety concerns
More than 20,000 drivers have been left as ‘sitting ducks’ on smart motorways, according to new figures.
The data reveals that life-saving technology failed to detect stricken motorists as many as 21,100 times on the roads over five years – the equivalent of 12 vehicles a day.
Live lane breakdowns can happen on smart motorways because their hard shoulder has been removed and turned into an extra lane of traffic.
The figures were compiled by the Labour Party, which is pledging to end smart motorways by restoring all the hard shoulders. It could become a key issue at the next election.
Last week Rishi Sunak halted new smart motorways from being built but stopped short of scrapping existing ones.
An emergency refuge area on the M3 smart motorway near Camberley in Surrey
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said yesterday: ‘The decision we’ve reached is a balanced one which reflects both the actual safety record of smart motorways, which is very good, but the fact that for whatever reason we haven’t done a very good job in persuading the public of that.’
But Tory MP Greg Smith said it was ‘luck’ that more motorists hadn’t been killed on smart motorways.
The Department for Transport said the 21,000 figure may not be accurate because stopped vehicle detection (SVD) technology had not been rolled out fully between 2016 and 2020.
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