The AA is increasing pressure on National Highways to reintroduce conventional hard shoulders in place of smart motorways, following findings from its latest survey.
The breakdown cover provider reported that almost a third (30%) of drivers feel far less safe on smart motorways than they did three years ago. It added that around double this amount of drivers now feel safer on traditional motorways than previously.
The poll gathered responses from over 13,500 drivers, with the vast majority voicing their dissatisfaction with existing smart motorways. Only around one in nine (11%) motorists supported keeping things in their current form.
Interestingly, 14% of respondents felt that smart motorways should be converted into controlled motorways, which combine traffic management technology and a hard shoulder. A further 9% said that the all-running-lane sections of smart motorways should be made into dynamic hard shoulders, where the hard shoulder is turned on and off as an active lane in response to traffic flow.
However, most drivers were against any form of smart motorway, with three-fifths calling for them to be converted back to their traditional layout.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, says drivers have made their preferences clear when it comes to motorways: “In the last few years, there have been numerous reports of signal outages and CCTV failures across the network. It is vital the overdue stocktake [report] is released so we can understand the impact of these technical failures.
“Both the AA and drivers say this experiment has failed and urge for the reinstatement of a permanent hard shoulder.”
The AA has also demanded that National Highways publish its fourth annual progress report, which was due to be released last year. National Highways says this was delayed due to the change in government and will be published in March.
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