Skip to main content

Motorists worried about safety on smart motorways

The UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is calling for more information and advice on smart motorways for drivers. The call comes after seventy-one per cent of drivers said they would feel less safe on a motorway with no hard shoulder than a motorway with one, according to the latest poll by the IAM.
May 9, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The UK’s 6187 Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is calling for more information and advice on smart motorways for drivers.  The call comes after seventy-one per cent of drivers said they would feel less safe on a motorway with no hard shoulder than a motorway with one, according to the latest poll by the IAM.

One of the main concerns of respondents is the plan to increase the distance between safety refuges with forty-eight per cent of respondents believing that safety refuges should be no more than 0.45km apart.

Forty per cent of respondents are sceptical that new monitoring systems on smart motorways, such as electronic signs, can protect them in the event of stopping in a running lane.

Other survey findings include: sixty-seven per cent of respondents said they haven’t seen any publicity about smart motorways; a third of respondents (thirty-two per cent) would support the legalising of undertaking on smart motorways; forty-two per cent believe Smart motorways have reduced congestion and forty-three per cent of respondents said it has improved their journey times.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “Smart motorways are being rolled out across England but our survey shows that drivers want more reassurance and information on how safe they will be and how to use them.  The IAM has been supportive of hard shoulder running but we have always said that the 503 Highways Agency must be quick to learn and implement any real world lessons as more schemes come into use.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Should it be end of the road for right-turns on red?
    April 10, 2024
    Banning right-hand turns after stopping for a red light is gaining momentum in the US. But the debate continues about whether it will result in fewer incidents between vehicles and alternative mobility users. David Arminas reports
  • Increasing road safety with automated driver assistance systems
    January 26, 2012
    Jon Masters looks at how drivers will be trained to use the increasing number of advanced driver assistance systems being incorporated into modern cars
  • Expert calls for high-tech traffic control
    November 29, 2012
    A leading Chinese transportation expert has called for China to develop smart traffic technologies that are more customer-oriented, while boosting greener, safer and more efficient modern transportation in the country. "China's ITS applications should shift their focus to provide more solutions for public transportation in the next decade, and the industry should get a new stimulus by responding to the needs of the market," said Wang Xiaojing, chief engineer at the Research Institute of Highway under the Mi
  • Commercial vehicle cross-border enforcement needs muscle
    February 3, 2012
    A look at the current status of cross-border enforcement of commercial vehicle operation in the European Union and a look at what still needs to happen to realise a coherent working system