The latest Stocktake Report into the security of ‘sensible’ motorways has renewed requires the reinstatement of the arduous shoulder. The report from Nationwide Highways, together with evaluation from the Workplace of Street and Rail (ORR), has strengthened fears that eradicating arduous shoulders has made motorways extra harmful, quite than bettering security and site visitors circulate as initially meant.
AA president Edmund King stated the newest information offered by Nationwide Highways exhibits that a number of sections of ‘All Lane Operating’ (ALR) motorways on the M1 now have the next charge of individuals killed or significantly injured (KSI) than earlier than the arduous shoulder was eliminated. He additionally pointed to failures in radar detection know-how, which is meant to alert management rooms when autos break down in dwell lanes.
“Shockingly, the M62 between Junctions 10 and 12 suffered a system failure for nearly a month,” King stated. “This lack of security know-how, which drivers have been requested to place their belief in, meant they have been put in pointless hazard. It’s little marvel {that a} third of drivers say they really feel much less protected on sensible motorways in comparison with three years in the past.”
Rising issues and repeated failures
The newest Stocktake follows a survey by the AA of greater than 13,500 drivers, which discovered that three in 5 need ‘sensible’ motorways to be scrapped and transformed again to conventional motorways with a everlasting arduous shoulder. Simply 11% supported retaining the community in its present state.
The examine highlighted that drivers really feel considerably much less protected on ‘sensible’ motorways, significantly the place the arduous shoulder is typically used as a operating lane at peak instances. These stretches of highway have been rated the least protected, with 34% of drivers saying they felt “quite a bit much less protected” in comparison with three years in the past.
Extra information from the ORR revealed {that a} third of radar detection techniques examined failed to satisfy the required security commonplace, with two failing and deteriorating additional over a 12-month interval. King stated the failures additional show that the ‘sensible’ motorway system isn’t match for objective.
AA says ‘sensible’ motorway experiment has failed
The AA has been warning concerning the risks of ‘sensible’ motorways since their introduction in 2010, and the newest findings reinforce the organisation’s long-held view that the scheme has been a failure.
In 2020, the federal government pledged nearly £1 billion to enhance security by putting in 150 further emergency refuge areas to cut back the space between them from 1.5 miles to 0.75 miles. Nonetheless, solely half of those upgrades have been accomplished, with work nonetheless ongoing on key sections of the M1, M3, M4, M5, M20 and M25.
King stated the proof is now overwhelming. “It’s time to settle for that so-called ‘sensible’ motorways have failed and to facet with nearly all of drivers who need the reinstatement of the arduous shoulder,” he stated.
The federal government has already halted additional enlargement of ‘sensible’ motorways, however with the newest Stocktake confirming rising security issues and ongoing system failures, strain is mounting for ministers to take the subsequent step and start reversing the controversial scheme.
