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How do we make Smart Motorways safer?

Former Community Member
Former Community Member

Smart Motorways bring significant benefits, as they have been designed and implemented to address recurrent congestion on heavily used sections of motorways. We submitted a response to the Transport Select Committee on the roll-out and safety of smart motorways.


Our view is that firstly, safety can be improved by reducing the number of times vehicles stop on motorways and then improving how they are detected, and other drivers then warned and instructed, as illustrated in this diagram. 

72ba677680cffc513876a145d8a88a22-huge-ssd4011-smart-motorways-infographic-v4.jpg
Smart Motorways Infographic.pdf


In order to achieve this we believe that the Government should:



  • Think users: through more training and increasing vehicle roadworthiness.

  • Make use of what is there already: using sat nav for in-vehicle messaging and services such as Waze, to alert drivers.

  • Safeguard the future: through learning lessons from other transport modes.


We have also written a blog on this topic with more information: How do we make Smart Motorways safer?


We are interested in your thoughts on making Smart Motorways more safe, our proposed solutions, or if there is anything that we've missed. Please log in to your IET Community account to share your comments.


Parents
  • ~I think all it needs is the lay-by areas to increased in length until they become a continuous stripe along beside the left hand lane, so there is always somewhere for breakdowns to go, and an area that can be used by police etc as an emergency access lane when there is an accident.

    Then the fact the signs do not come on when you breakdown in any lane but the LH one and the fact that when they do come on they stay on for ages after the road is clear, will be less important.

    Mike.
Reply
  • ~I think all it needs is the lay-by areas to increased in length until they become a continuous stripe along beside the left hand lane, so there is always somewhere for breakdowns to go, and an area that can be used by police etc as an emergency access lane when there is an accident.

    Then the fact the signs do not come on when you breakdown in any lane but the LH one and the fact that when they do come on they stay on for ages after the road is clear, will be less important.

    Mike.
Children
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