News Published on : 31-Jan-2022 16:05:16

The UK s largest independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has commended the government s decision to put the brakes on the rollout of controversial new All Lane Running (ALR) smart motorway schemes. The government s announcement falls in line with the Transport Committee s latest recommendations that the rollout of new ALR smart motorways should be paused until a full five years worth of safety data becomes available for schemes introduced prior to 2020. After this point the Government will assess the data to make an informed decision on the next steps. ALR smart motorways were first introduced in 2014 and as the name suggests are motorways that permanently use the hard shoulder increasing the road capacity by an additional lane. The lane is only closed by digital signage when there has been an incident obstruction or other danger to motorists. Despite this many motorists hold anxieties about their safety heightened by several fatal collisions involving stationary cars being hit from behind. Such concerns are demonstrated by a recent IAM RoadSmart survey which revealed that the vast majority of respondents (85 per cent) want a halt on their construction until the safety case is fully proven. Furthermore 84 per cent of those surveyed has little faith in the current safety systems abilities to detect them if they were to breakdown in a running lane and protect them until assistance arrived. Neil Greig Director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart commented: The news that the government will pause all new smart motorways is strongly welcomed by IAM RoadSmart. As demonstrated by our survey it has become increasingly clear that for many drivers and riders the initial scepticism has not been overcome with many having lost all confidence in the safety of smart motorways. This decision will give National Roads time to rebuild trust and win them back.