Media playback is unsupported on your deviceBBC Panorama has obtained a 999 call, made by a family who broke down on a smart motorway
In the five years before the road was converted into a smart motorway there were just 72 near misses. In the five years after, there were 1,485. There are currently 200 miles of smart motorway and another 300 miles are due to be converted by 2025. He said:"We absolutely have to have these as safe or safer than regular motorways or we shouldn't have them at all."
Nationally, motorists currently have to wait an average of 17 minutes to be spotted, and a further 17 minutes before they are rescued. But when the scheme was expanded across the country, the safety refuges were placed further apart. On some sections, they are 2.5 miles apart. Highways England said the plans to expand smart motorways were approved by ministers and that it was working to gather the facts about safety.
You used to call them 'smart' motorways, BBC News. That was better, as it highlighted that it is not *actually* smart!
Surprising it has taken so long for people to realise smart motorways were a dumb idea to begin with. Spent millions of ££s, caused hours of delays due to construction, just to make things worse.
The new section of smart motorway on the M20 is shortly to open. Already a dangerous road with 10,000 lorries coming up from Dover docks every day. Regular accidents many with foreign trucks involved. This idea is crazy for anyone breaking down or worse with no hard shoulder.
ONLY BLUE LIGHTS SLOW US DOWN. Not red, not orange. It's fear of getting nicked. The answer is remotely controlled BLUE lights at the roadside, or even on cars themselves. Severe, even custodial sentences for misuse would maintain drivers' ESSENTIAL respect for blue lights.
Watched about these on Panarama last night, it has really put me off motorway driving, so DANGEROUS. They need to be sorted immediately, with plenty of parking places for if you breakdown, or more and more people will be killed. Absolutely terrifying, what the hell is to be done.
It’s not just smart motorways that are a problem. They’re doing exactly the same thing on the A14 upgrade which is ongoing at the moment
How many killed on normal motorways?
I attended a Motorway speed awareness course a few months ago and the instructors advised that nobody had been killed on a smart motorway !
Nothing smart about having cars drive in the hard shoulder.....inevitable consequences!
60,40,30,debris,incident,40,60,40,60,40,60don’t litter,40,60,70,40......In a one mile stretch..that’s why!!!🤬may as well flash up a decent book!
Ok so just under 8 people per year. Give me this number as a RATE based on traffic volume so it can be compared to a) dumb motorways, b) anything else.
I was driving in the uk in the summer - lorry behind me lorry each side - they turned these on from 70 to 50. Lorries either side and behind couldn’t slow down. I ended up accelerating to not get crunched. Dangerous
Nothing to do with crazy drivers (cupid stunts) and lack of active policing to control speed limit offenders, of course! Perish the thought! 🥴
'The pilot worked well because there were safe stopping points for motorists, called emergency safety refuges, on average every 600 metres. But when the scheme was expanded... On some sections, they are 2.5 miles apart' Appalling incompetence.
So what's the baseline? How many were killed per mile of normal motorway? How were near misses detected and recorded prior to the introduction of smart motorway? Is the increase in near misses due to the constant monitoring inherent in smart motorway? This article is useless.
Smart Motorways. Dumb Drivers.
It's time to put a stop to this motorway madness and while you are at it stop brexit aswell.
DaveCOU07300517 Who would have thought that taking an emergency refuge lane and allowing traffic to travel at 70 mph on it would end in tragedy...
Mmhmm. So you make the motorways 'smart' and you don't think at some point they will actively start to get rid of the people? Silly silly people.
How do the figures compare to non smart motorways? Its an unfair argument without comparable figures
How many were killed on 'stupid' motorways? An isolated statistic isn't much use.
What the article doesn't say is that when there is an accident there is no hard shoulder for the emergency services to use. This alone is a reason to bring back a semi permanent hard shoulder - like on M42.
Motorways are private roads. If this was an A or B road councils would have duty of care to public to sort out. Government own motorways as private roads but don't care. Rather give millions to other countries instead of sorting out this one. And HS2 over budget like the roads.
Lane hogging.. time to get tough.. break the red x loose licence re train to regain licence from provisional. Same for speeding over 100mph. Drunk/drug driving loose entitlement to drive start from bottom after ban. Fines don't work. Judges too soft conditional discharge laugh.
Bad design.. bad road design near junctions. Bad driver attitudes 'they are more important than the other drivers' mentality. After 18 years as an HGV driver, driving habits have gotten worse. 10yrds from junction cross lanes onto slip roads, no signals from 300yrds.
Smart motorways require smart drivers ffs !! Never gonna happen . Scrap the things and stop wasting our money
Threads like these validate my views on the English...
Smart motorways are a cheap skate method of opening up extra capacity in a mega dangerous way with money making speed cameras thrown in for good measure. They are the poisoned spawn of academics adopted by politicians.
What about the thousands of pedestrians and cyclists killed by car drivers each year?...
Only 38...? We've got some good drivers in the UK..
How many injured? I cannot think that 'smart' motorways are a good idea.
Lethal
So the Government have turned our Motorways into death traps because it was the cheapest option to widen them. This is is same people that are now going to waste over 100 billion pounds maki g trains a little quicker. What bloody idiots are making these decisions.
⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️
Why not install the radar system in before the smart mway goes live? If this is the 'safer' solution why is it being put in afterwards?
Quick, free solution. Change them all back to hard shoulders immediately. Simple, effective and easy to understand.
It’s been a few years since I was back in the UK and behind the wheel. My biggest concern has been the aggressive driving and tailgating, especially on motorways where high speeds can cause serious accidents. It seems now the roads are even more dangerous now.
The Highways Agency seems to be institutionally stupid. This isn’t about budgets, it’s about common sense.
Worse thing ever to be put on our roads.
Who in their right mind would call these smart motorways safe? It was always a money saving project without thought of human life and consequences. If a business was run this way HSE would shut it down and try its directors for corporate manslaughter
Ban them
When are the BBC going to report on what is happening in France?
They are evidently not working?
Is that the official stats? rate “smart motorway” likes to play smart motorway bingo switching from national speed down to 40mph bk to 50 60 70 every smart motor way bridge! But removing hard shoulder is very dangerous as ppl can’t plan their breakdowns where hard shoulders are!
So, smarting rather than smart.
How do they record near-misses? I had a horrific one the other day. Scariest incident in 30yrs' driving. Must be many more such events just not reported. I was lucky the middle lane was clear to swerve into. A car in front swerved revealing a stationary car with someone inside.
Absolutely stupidest idea ever. A concerted effort by drivers to stay out of the inside lane should be the action.
Who really comes up with these stupid ideas of using the hard shoulder as a lane. Thoughtless.
Common sense tells you it’s a disaster waiting to happen yet someone sanctioned this. Disgraceful
How many died on other motorways? How many cyclists killed people in that time....
And how many were killed on the hard shoulder of non-smart motorways in the same period?
Okay! Arize2hopeCharity Facebook Instagram LivesOverKnives EnoughIzEnough Bristol UK JoinUs LetsMakeAchange Arize2hope.co.uk
And how many killed on non smart motorways in the same period?
Nothing bloody Smart about them who ever gave the go ahead should face Manslaughter charge get rid now.
Whilst agree getting rid of hard shoulder is risk. Blaming Smart M ways as confusing is misleading. They're not. Its frickin obvious. Many using them are thick. Driving too close. Ignoring signs. Tailgating large 🚚. Genuine breakdowns are rare. Poor maintenance/fuel mostly?
The problem with 'smart' motorways is that drivers generally, aren't.
Why are they called smart when the are obviously stupid and dangerous. The designer probably got an OBE. He killed 38 people!
Designed by people without a clue who probably don't drive
How many on the 'dumb' ones?
Whoever came up with the idea should be facing manslaughter charges.
Because they are not “smart” - doesn’t take a genius to see the design is a death trap.
The 'experts' responsible for designing and implementing these should face manslaughter charges. It didnt take a rocket scientist to figure out that 'all lane running' was going to cause these problems. All they needed to know is cars break down.
That video clip with recording was not on a smart motorway so completely disingenuous and fake. It was in the roadworks for a smart motorway being built so not the same.
Been up and down the m1 a lot. It helps if drives pay attention to the matrix signs. Seen a lot of drives ignore when a lane is closed a few miles up.
It would be a good idea to get the number of deaths on the same stretches of road pre smart motorway. As for the idiot who didn't think removing hard shoulders would be a significant risk...... hmmm what happened to common sense?
Such a ridiculous badly thought out idea. What kind of idiot would think it safe? One does wonder how many brains decide these unsafe ideas.
I thought they were supposed to be safe! Does not maķe sense to have cars broken down on moving carriageway? That's why they were built with hard shoulders!
Smart Motorways are bloody lethal… people bunch up in them and treat them like slow moving traffic. These become far too close — so if anything thing happens unexpectedly, they literally have no reaction time, let alone 2 seconds!
...car based economy needs...to go away...busses trains and trams...walkways, cycle paths...mobility scooter paths...electric scooters...come on Britain...we don’t need cars anymore...they’re shit...
Aren't motorways the safest type of road? Everyone who's shocked by what they read here... wait until you hear about the wider road network!
Smart motorways, dumb drivers
I make this 0.038 deaths per mile per year on smart motorways and 0.039 deaths per mile per year on the network as a whole. What's all the fuss about smart motorways?
Whoever dreamt that idea up, is round the bend. SmartMotorways
Its obvious to anyone with common sense. Removing hard shoulders = More accidents Yet another highly costly disruptive thing foisted on us due to mass immigration. But of course don't admit this is why. Does that cheap imported labour seem to cheap now ?
Should be scrapped I say to dangerous 🙄🙄
'In the five years before the road was converted into a smart motorway there were just 72 near misses. In the five years after, there were 1,485. A 'near miss' is counted every time there is an incident with 'the potential to cause injury or ill health'.'
Bloody dangerous things who ever came up with the idea is a total twat
And they haven't finished yet. Their next big idea is to make the outside lane a cycle lane.
Surprise surprise. Its obvious to anyone with common sense. Removing hard shoulders = More accidents Yet another highly costly disruptive thing foisted on us due to mass immigration. But of course don't admit this is the reason. Does that cheap imported labour seem to cheap now ?
Surprise surprise. Its obvious to anyone with common sense. Removing hard shoulders = More accidents Yet another highly costly disruptive thing foisted on us due to mass immigration. But of course don't admit this is the reason. Does that cheap imported labour seem to cheap now ?
More dangerous than drink driving.
Even in the most reliable of cars, vans or lorries, you shit yourself every time you end up on a bit of smart motorway
And of course they have to shut the motorway in order to move the disabled vehicle 😡
Can you find out how many people have died due to illegal mobile phone usage on our roads , I’m betting far more .
TimScottUK Panorama tomorrow BBC 1 8.30 on that subject. Killer lanes.
LeaveHQ I hate smart motorways - they are unsafe. Junction 11a of the M1 was recently closed twice because of vehicle accidents. Between M25 & Junction 11a there are significant stretches of 'dumb' motorways & they are creating more up to J14. Sheer madness. Roads are not safer.
Over a 1000 people a year die falling downstairs. Less than 1 a month on a motorway over 5 years is no reason to close them
Doesn’t sound very smart, taking away the hard shoulder. Another cost cutting exercise that’s costing lives.
They should only be used at rush hours and when the speed limit is down to 40mph.
Nothing 'smart' about these motorways,they are just a 'cash cow' to make money.
That’s what happens when you do things on the cheap
On 200 miles of smart motorway there ought to have been less than 8 deaths per annum. Almost 5x more dangerous. 30% of all MW deaths are on Smart MWs, which generally operate at slower speeds and are provisioned with more driving signs.
Without context this is meaningless. Where’s the comparison ?
Blame the road instead of the people who are oblivious to the fact they drive a 1.5+ ton lump of metal .
Not that smart then, nearly 8 deaths per year 8 too many
Why are they continuing with the M27 then?
✍️ if I ever breakdown on a smart motorway I'll stop my car where the emergency lane should, get out the car and wait for help.
Smart motorways 100% cause more congestion as opposed to relieving it...just another bullshit cash cow.
lottcha How many deaths is too many before this STUPID idea gets replaced with hard shoulders again
But how many were killed on roads that aren't smart motorways?
450 deaths on all motorways. Just remember these sections are some of the busiest. Drivers need to slow down and keep safe distances.
They are quite simply death traps and should not be pursued with. I regularly travel on M27 and when that gets 'upgraded' by 2021 I will try to avoid using it whenever possible. The whole thing should be scrapped and put back to a proper motorway.
The M60 in Manchester cost millions and is effectively new tarmac and speed cameras. The issue with the speed camera is they change randomly, people spend more time looking for these to change and have to break dangerously. The speed limit changes do not match the traffic flow
The motorways might be smart but a lot of people driving on them are morons.
Its drivers that are unsafe not roads.
If the pilot was constructed with safety refuges at 600m intervals, why was the rollout allowed with refuges up to 2.5 miles apart? Someone has a lot of explaining to do, and that's before the legal actions start!
Compared to how many previously?
I don't like smart motorways but, a quick calculation shows 38 deaths/200 miles in 5 years is comparable to 90 deaths/2300 miles per year. More significant then is the 72near misses v 1485 near misses, if the amount of traffic is the same, if the drivers, vehicles etc is same.
No hardshoulder nowhere to escape if you get into trouble, stupid idea, car suddenly stops and your in the path of fast moving traffic, great idea 🙄
If you want to improve traffic flow and cut congestion........robustly enforce lane discipline. It really is that simple.
38 deaths over 5 years on 200 miles of smart motorway = 0.038 deaths / mile / year (90 - 7.6) deaths p.a. on 2100 miles of non smart motorway = 0.039 deaths / mile / year
What upsets me is these „Smart“ motorways are MadeInBritain, and show just how far our standards have slipped over the years. If car-heavy nations like the United States and Japan won’t implement this technology, why is the UK trying it? 🇬🇧🛑😖
We have a lot of smart motorway miles where we live, it's a nightmare , most of the fatalities round here will be people who haven't a clue what the smart motorway is or how to use it correctly.
How many killed on 'idiot' motorways in last 5 years? Just for comparison
That wasn’t hard to predict..they’re terrifying, absolute death traps!!!
Billions spent to kill us, well done highways agency
Thus proving that “Smart Motorways “ really aren’t a smart idea.
No good having smart motorways if most of the drivers using them are bloody idiots. Saw a car last Friday doing 3 miles up the closed hard shoulder. Where’s the Police?
I propose we settle this with a TV show. Is your 5 year old smarter than a motorway? We put cars on a smart motorway and cars on a 5 year old. Then we see who has less deaths.
So we’re blaming TARMAC for accidents now? I think we’ve hit peak bullshit.
Ban them reinstate the hard shoulder this is madness. Petition needs to be raised banning them.
There'll be many more. I've said this for a while now.
if they hand out massive fines and high points for not using a smart motorway correctly the numbers might come down. It's bad drivers not bad roads.
Motorways are smart, drivers? Not so much.
I had a near miss at 65mph late last week,no warning signs whatsoever about the broken down car in Lane 1,missed it by inches,it scared the shit out of me.
Smart motorways are dangerous. Do you have comparative figures for traditional motorways?
I witnessed the smart motorway signs being blatantly ignored a couple of weeks ago on the M3 just so some lorries and cars could skip a few hundred metres ahead. The issue isn’t the motorways, it’s the people who use them and ignore the signage telling them to get out of a lane
Oh come on, relate it to how many killed on on smart motorways for the same amount of driving time you wankers!
Smart motorway does not equate to smart drivers sadly
They don't sound too 'smart'.
They are so dangerous, I keep thinking exactly who benefitted from this and how many hands were greased in the process. Only the contractors come to mind.
They were used to widen northern roads on the cheap. The ones on the M42 and M25 work (funny that’s the ones you show) plenty of signage
Lethal idea, a vehicle in a live lane has no chance if struck by any vehicle, let alone a 40t Lorry at 56 mph.
Motorways have always been dangerous with a Hard shoulder, so whoever thought SMART motorways was the idea for expansion and safer then they need to have their brain examined. Simply an extra lane and hard shoulder.
There was nothing wrong with the motorways before the rollout of the so-called smart motorway, the smart motorway was just another way to fine drivers who were going faster than the recommended speed limit, ot all boils down to money,
I’ve witnessed 2 near misses on a smart motorway. Caused by cars stopping in an open lane when they thought it was a shoulder, and lorries driving in a closed shoulder when they thought it was open.
Im not sure what the previous statistics are, this doesnt exacly say whether the figure 38 is an increase or decrease over a span of 5 years, for all i know that could be the lowest figure ever over 5 years
Nyugodjanak békében!
Smart motorways my ass
With no hard shoulder if there's a problem with your car ...... I just wonder why they call them smart. Scares me.
I wonder what imbecile thought of the idea 💡
Having been stuck on a smart motorway last week, I am glad I managed to find an emergency layby. You don't realise how fast even 57mph is until you are sat feet from a truck doing just that. Either bring back hard shoulders or make a lot more laybys.
Needless to say, the minister responsible for this won't take the blame and will instead say that the public are to blame as they don't understand how to use these motorways.
They need to be stopped right now and an immediate review started.
There's nothing smart about them
Not so smart then! 😡
What a waste of public money, smart my arse
Worrying for us motorway commuters.
I avoid using the Dumb Motorways wven if I have to travel a lot further, I prefer to arrive at my destination safely. I avoid using the Dumb Motorways even when I have travel a lot further, I prefer to arrive at my destination safely.
How do you get out of your car if it breaks down, without being hit by other vehicles? Never understand the logic of these motorways.
Not very smart then !! Also if using the hard shoulder as a lane how do the emergency services get to an accident?
The 20-fold increase it near misses is scary.
Ridiculous idea obvious outcome just save money!
And how many on other motorways? I don’t know who writes the news these days but they have no brains!
Everyone blaming the motorways rather then cunt drivers who couldnt care less if they smashed into someone 👀👀 its only dangerous because od dangerous drivers and tbh more people probably die on country roads or even normal roads a year 🤔🤔
Going to have to light them! Those long dark stretches of the M6 at 70mph and all of a sudden a broken down vehicle in the inside lane? M5 between Birmingham and Worcester, and a re-think about the M4 as well!
There are currently 30+ miles of roadworks and 50mph speed limit on the M4 coming in and out of London, all so it can be “upgraded” to a smart motorway (i.e. variable speed limits and speed cameras installed). Does this report mean the whole thing will be scrapped?
Surely the Government should be in court for manslaughter
So they are really dumb motorways
Smart motorways have not killed anyone, very bad drivers kill people! (Fact)
They generate a lot of money the M62 cameras were flashing away this morning
That statistic is only relevant when you compare it to non smart mways. It doesn't get any better though 38 deaths on 200 miles of smart mways. 90 deaths on 2300 non-smart mways. Scandalous, they're dangerous
The thing about smart motorways is everybody is doing exactly the same speed which eventually switches the brain off
I remember a chief constable saying that they were death traps. A cheap and dangerous way of increasing capacity.
The worst idea ever thought off. Hard Shoulder is there for refuge in the case of a break down.
Oh no, how could anyone have known that removing the hard shoulder could lead to many more crashes, it's not like it's just common spatial awareness! TurningPointUK DumbMotorways BringBackHardShoulder
39 if you include the hard shoulder!
So many motorists use them to overtake so dangerous
That statistic tell us very little except cars keep on killing, about 50 000 000+ since the first fatality.
Naively, I thought they’d be on the ball when it comes to breakdowns. If they had been, then the fatal accidents wouldn’t have been so high. It needs constant monitoring. 🤦🏻♀️
At what point did anyone think these were a good idea
stupid, dangerous idea right from the start! friends of mine are recovery drivers and they hate these sections! Save money AND save lives - stop creating new sections; and remove existing ones!
They do sums too. That is smart.
So not very smart then after all
grantshapps Stop A1m Welwyn to Stevenage smart motorway going ahead, a major route for emergency vehicles to the hospital and the diversion spite will cause chaos for all, save the money and out into our schools
How many fatal incidents have there been on comparable mileages on non smart motorways and were the fatal incidents when the vehicle was stationary in the nearside?
How many were killed in the 5 years before smart motorways?
They’re lethal, I’d be the middle and outside lanes constantly, the inside one would be too dangerous!
Not so smart then.
manus_odonnell
Not so smart motorways so.
vacarr1
🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
Because they are dangerous and who ever signed them off should be up on manslaughter charges transportgovuk
Bring back the hard shoulder
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