Smart motorways in England could be forced into rule change after ‘pressure builds’
National Highways experienced signal outages lasting 28 days, eight hours and four minutes - with motorists, drivers and road users across the country warned this weekend.
08:03, 16 Mar 2025
Smart motorways in England could be forced into rule change after 'pressure builds'
Tech failures on major motorways caused huge delays last year. National Highways experienced signal outages[1] lasting 28 days, eight hours and four minutes - with motorists, drivers and road users across the country warned this weekend.
A new report from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR)[2] reveals that while road safety has improved, National Highways is unlikely to meet its target of halving fatalities and serious injuries by 2025. Despite a 2.2% increase in traffic from 2022 to 2023, the number of deaths and serious injuries remains at an all-time low.
But National Highways is still falling short of its safety goals, sparking further controversy over smart motorways, which remove the hard shoulder for extra lanes of traffic during peak hours. The report also shows, on the M62 between junctions 10-11, the motorway incident detection automatic signalling system suffered an outage lasting 28 days, eight hours and four minutes.
The report also found one missed false discovery rate targets, and two failed to achieve average detection time requirements.
The ORR's director of performance and planning, Feras Alshaker, said: "It is a good thing that safety continues to improve on the strategic road network, and we should recognise the work that National Highways has been doing to improve safety on its roads."
IAM RoadSmart's Nicholas Lyes noted that "the rate of fatal and serious collisions involving stopped vehicles is almost double that of both a conventional motorway."
Carwow has reported "pressure is building" to change hard shoulder rules - and AA has now intensified its call for the return of hard shoulders.
Edmund King, President of the AA, says the M1 motorway, where the hard shoulder was removed, now has a higher rate of serious accidents than before the changes were made.
A third of radar detection systems tested have also failed to meet the required standard, with some worsening over a 12-month period.
"Shockingly, the M62 J10-12 had a system failure for almost a month," King said. "This loss of safety technology, which drivers have been asked to trust, meant they were put in unnecessary danger."
"With increasing public concern, it's no surprise that a third of drivers are now feeling less safe on smart motorways compared to three years ago, King added. "It's time to accept that these so-called 'smart' motorways have failed and to side with the majority of drivers who want the hard shoulder reinstated."
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