At HGVC, we regularly produce blogs like this one to inform and educate our readers about events and news that’s occurring in the haulage and logistics sector. Today we bring you news about the Department of Transport (DfT) and Highways England who are being threatened with formal legal action over the proposed new 300 miles of Smart Highways In the UK.

The scheme plans to have these extra miles of highway in place by 2025 and it’s part of a move that’s aiming to better manage traffic in a way that keeps cost and environmental damage to a minimum by not having to build additional lanes. The main issue of contention is that these proposed motorways don’t feature a hard shoulder and are therefore unnecessarily dangerous.

Damning New Safety Report

The lack of a hard shoulder represents a major safety issue according to a study prepared by transport specialists Royal Haskoning DHV. The data from the study shows that hard shoulder-free  ‘all-lanes-running’ (ALR) smart motorways increase the risk of breaking down by some 216%

Further to this, when compared to other types of motorway, ALRs offer the lowest levels of safety and as such, the government’s decision to press ahead with them is seen as ill-advised. The enlightening details of the report took over a year to research and create and the legal action centres around the fact that a cost-driven approach borders on the irresponsible in this case.

A Refusal to Scrap the Smart Motorway Plan

The government has hitherto refused to scrap their smart motorway plan, but transport secretary Grant Shapps has admitted that it was launched too early. However, this doesn’t go far enough for Claire Mercer who’s husband Jason died on a section of ALR on the M1 back in June of 2019.

Speaking through her solicitor, Mercer said “We call on the Department for Transport, Grant Shapps, and Highways England to acknowledge that the development and roll out of ALRs was flawed.

They must act in accordance with their legal duties and take action to improve safety, or face formal legal action. Smart motorways are death traps and I want to prevent any future fatalities on smart motorways.”

A Crucial Time Ahead for Smart Motorways

The Royal Haskon DHV report came after Shapps told MPs of his intention to delay the publication of Highways England’s report into the safety of smart motorways in order for the Office for Rail and Road to review the findings. It would seem that the government has some pretty important decisions to make in the near future in order, with possible litigation and a lengthy public inquest into the matter.

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