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Select Committee · Transport Committee

The roll-out and safety of smart motorways

Status: Closed Opened: 26 Feb 2021 Closed: 7 Jul 2022 7 recommendations 4 conclusions 1 report

This inquiry will look at the safety of smart motorways and public confidence in their use as well as their impact upon congestion. Concerns about the safety of smart motorways have been emphasised recently with a number of fatalities on them and criticism by coroners investigating those deaths. In 2020, the Department for Transport published … Show more

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Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Third Report - Rollout and safety of smart motorways HC 26 2 Nov 2021 11 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
2 Conclusion Third Report - Rollout and safety of sm… Accepted

We welcome the Department’s acceleration of safety improvements to all-lane running motorways and acknowledge that...

We welcome the Department’s acceleration of safety improvements to all-lane running motorways and acknowledge that the current Secretary of State for Transport and Minister for Roads have, upon their appointment, taken steps to address safety and delivery failures on all-lane running motorways. However, it is regrettable that the Government should … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government states it agrees with the recommendation and will immediately pause the rollout of All-Lane Running (ALR) smart motorway schemes yet to commence construction. This pause will remain until five years of safety data is available for ALR motorways introduced before 2020.
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Department for Transport
8 Recommendation Third Report - Rollout and safety of sm… Accepted

The Government and National Highways should pause the rollout of all-lane running motorways to collect...

The Government and National Highways should pause the rollout of all-lane running motorways to collect more data, to upgrade and then evaluate the safety of existing all-lane running schemes and to consider alternative options for enhancing capacity on the Strategic Road Network. The Government and National Highways should pause the … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and will pause the conversion of seven Dynamic Hard Shoulder schemes to All-Lane Running motorways until the next Road Investment Strategy. They will consider alternative operating approaches, continue data collection on safety performance, and install further safety measures on …
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Department for Transport
10 Recommendation Third Report - Rollout and safety of sm… Accepted

Controlled motorways, which retain the hard shoulder and have technology to regulate traffic, have the...

Controlled motorways, which retain the hard shoulder and have technology to regulate traffic, have the lowest casualty rates of all types of motorway on the Strategic Road Network. The Department and National Highways should revisit the case for controlled motorways. The Department should set out how the business case for … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and will revisit the case for controlled motorways, comparing their business case with that of all-lane running motorways. An initial report on this comparison will be published later this year, with updates over the next few years.
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Department for Transport

Oral evidence sessions

3 sessions
Date Witnesses
30 Jun 2021 Jill Adam · Department for Transport, Mike Wilson · Highways England, Nick Harris · National Highways, The Baroness Vere of Norbiton · Department for Transport View ↗
16 Jun 2021 Jonathan Spruce · Institution for Civil Engineers, Kate Carpenter · Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation, Mike Mackinnon · MMB Associates, Miss Becky Needham · Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Professor David Metz · UCL Centre for Transport Studies, Sarah Simpson · Royal HaskoningDHV View ↗
19 May 2021 Chris Todd · West Midlands Police, Edmund King · The AA, Elizabeth de Jong · Fuels Industry UK, Mr Nicholas Lyes · RAC Motoring Services View ↗

Who gave evidence

14 witnesses
WitnessOrganisationSessions
Chris Todd · Assistant Chief Constable West Midlands Police 1
Edmund King · President The AA 1
Elizabeth de Jong · CEO Fuels Industry UK 1
Jill Adam · Director of Strategic Roads, Economics and Statis… Department for Transport 1
Jonathan Spruce · Fellow Institution for Civil Engineers 1
Kate Carpenter · Vice President Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation 1
Mike Mackinnon · Consultant MMB Associates 1
Mike Wilson · Chief Highways Engineer Highways England 1
Miss Becky Needham · Road Safety Officer Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents 1
Mr Nicholas Lyes · Head of Roads Policy RAC Motoring Services 1
Nick Harris · Chief Executive National Highways 1
Professor David Metz · Honorary Professor UCL Centre for Transport Studies 1
Sarah Simpson · Transport Planning expert Royal HaskoningDHV 1
The Baroness Vere of Norbiton · Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Roads,… Department for Transport 1

Correspondence

6 letters
DateDirectionTitle
21 Oct 2021 — Correspondence from John Larkinson, Chief Executive, Office of Rail and Road, r…
22 Sep 2021 — Correspondence from Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Minister for Roads, Buses and Pl…
14 Sep 2021 — Correspondence from Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Minister for Roads, Buses and Pl…
13 Jul 2021 — Correspondence from Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Minister for Roads, Buses and Pl…
13 Jul 2021 — Correspondence from Nick Harris, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Highways Engla…
15 Jun 2021 — Correspondence to John Larkinson, Chief Executive, Office of Rail and Road, dat…