According to Labour’s analysis of live lane breakdown incidents between 2016 and 2020, 60,925 were believed to be on roads without a permanent hard shoulder.
The party then drew upon detection rates published by the Office of Road and Rail to come up with its figure of an average of more than 4,000 breakdowns being missed in a year, or approximately 12 a day.
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said the “shocking” statistics show motorists have been “left at risk”, as she urged the government to reinstate the hard shoulder on such roads.
Transport secretary Mark Harper said it would cost “billions of pounds” to reinstate the hard shoulder while maintaining the capacity of the road network.
He added Labour has “no plan to pay” for such a move and instead claimed the opposition’s hard shoulder policy would cause congestion on motorways and force drivers onto “less safe” A roads.
Earlier this week, the government announced the cancellation of planned...