All the rules, laws and technology in the world won't change the public's behaviour without some enforcement.


The rot really set in when the Highways Agency took over motorway patrolling from the Police, supposedly to save money (haha).  Now they sit in their £40K 4x4s at the services with their engines running waiting for an incident.  At least Police officers could be doing useful enforcement of moving traffic offences and were available to support all other policing activities instead of sitting around.


Smart motorways should be conditional on the provision of much faster response from the HA.  Especially the removal of notifications.  My personal straw pole of matrix signs suggests they are wrong approximately 70 to 80% of the time due to being in the wrong place, typically after the incident, or in the wrong carriageway, or most often simply not cancelled for hours (personal record was 5 hours after I knew the incident was cleared as I had stopped for it and I saw the same warnings still showing when I returned later).


We kill around 3000 people a year on the roads (2020 excepted).  The majority of these deaths are entirely avoidable.  Think what the pressure on the aviation industry would be if 10 A380s a year crashed in the UK!  Sadly the political will isn't there to upset the electorate by compelling them to raise their driving standards.  Think of the boost to public transport if the drivers who couldn't understand a lane closure sign lost their licence!


Dave.

former ADI, Examiner, RoSPA Instructor.

Since no reply was made to my request for the document link a few days ago, I have found it:
https://www.theiet.org/impact-society/government-policy-and-submissions/submissions-archive/the-roll-out-and-safety-of-smart-motorways-2021/

Published 9 April.

The document is a whitewash, no real reference to the Deaths caused so far and those that will follow because of the fundamentally flawed roll out.

I apologise, you had provided the link, I didn't see it.