Skip to main content

Transport Focus: Highways England need to equip driver knowledge of smart highways

The UK’s drivers need help to better understand Smart Motorways, Red X signs and breakdown procedures, according to research by Transport Focus, an independent transport user watchdog. Its research showed that safety is not at the forefront of drivers’ minds and few know what to do in the event of a breakdown.
September 28, 2017 Read time: 1 min
The UK’s drivers need help to better understand 5062 Smart Motorways, Red X signs and breakdown procedures, according to research by Transport Focus, an independent transport user watchdog. Its research showed that safety is not at the forefront of drivers’ minds and few know what to do in the event of a breakdown.


The organisation has called on 8101 Highways England to help drivers understand smart motorways’ benefits; reassurance that motorways without hard shoulders are safe (even during a breakdown) and; installation of orange surface and new signage to emergency refuge areas if trials prove successful.

UTC

Related Content

  • July 4, 2017
    Drivers are avoiding hard shoulders converted to running lanes
    Two fifths (38 per cent) of UK drivers say they will not drive in lane one of a smart motorway where the hard shoulder has been permanently converted into a running lane, according to a survey of more than 18,000 drivers conducted by the AA.
  • January 15, 2014
    South west’s first smart motorway opens
    The first smart motorway scheme in the UK’s south west has been officially launched, covering seven miles of motorway around the Almondsbury interchange and including junctions 19-20 on the M4 and junctions 15-17 on the M5. It is designed to help reduce congestion and improve safety and journey times by introducing variable speed limits and opening the hard shoulder during busy traffic periods. The improvements to the M4 and M5 use a range of technologies and operational systems to reduce congestion and
  • April 16, 2014
    UK’s latest smart motorway goes live on M6
    The Midlands got a boost today with the launch of the latest stretch of smart motorway, making greater use of technology on the M6 near Birmingham, bringing improved journeys and less congestion. Opening the hard shoulder to traffic during the busiest times between junctions 5 and 8 on the M6 will improve journey times, especially around Birmingham and marks a milestone for the Highways Agency, after several years of investment in this section of the M6. This ten mile stretch means the benefits can now b
  • February 2, 2016
    Smarter motorway for West Yorkshire
    Drivers on the M1 near Wakefield will benefit from reduced congestion and improved journey times after the final phase of a new US$172 million smart motorway went live. The Highways England scheme along a seven-mile stretch of motorway between junction 39 and junction 42 is the first all lane running motorway in the north, where the hard shoulder has been permanently converted to an extra lane. The smart motorway uses the latest technology to monitor traffic levels and variable speed limits on overhea