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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
3 Recommendation Third Report - Rollout and safety of sm… Accepted in Part

The design of our motorways and major roads can currently be altered without any independent...

The design of our motorways and major roads can currently be altered without any independent assurance on safety by a regulatory body, which is a systemic weakness. The Department should make the introduction of changes to the design and operation of the Strategic Road Network depend on a formal health … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government agrees in principle with the recommendation but primarily responds by detailing a £390m commitment to retrofit over 150 additional Emergency Areas (EAs) on all-lane running motorways by 2025. It does not commit to making all changes to road design and operation dependent on …
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Department for Transport
6 Recommendation Third Report - Rollout and safety of sm… Accepted in Part

The Department and National Highways should: a) retrofit emergency refuge areas to existing all-lane running...

The Department and National Highways should: a) retrofit emergency refuge areas to existing all-lane running motorways to make them a maximum of 1,500 metres apart, decreasing to every 1,000 metres where physically possible; b) commission the Office of Rail and Road to conduct an independent evaluation of the effectiveness and … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government agrees to commission the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to evaluate the success of the Action Plan in reducing live lane stops and breakdowns, with annual reports starting later this year. However, the response does not address retrofitting emergency refuge areas or …
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Department for Transport
7 Recommendation Third Report - Rollout and safety of sm… Accepted in Part

While we welcome the action plan, it is not clear whether the interventions that the...

While we welcome the action plan, it is not clear whether the interventions that the Government and National Highways are rolling out will effectively mitigate the specific safety risks associated with the removal of the hard shoulder. Beginning in September 2022, the Office of Rail and Road should be tasked … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government agreed with the recommendation to evaluate the action plan. It highlighted existing Post Opening Project Evaluation (POPE) reports by National Highways and committed to continuing work with the ORR to improve data and insights, and with Transport Focus on safety perception research.
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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…