‘Smart Motorways Stocktake’

12 May 2022

National Highways has published its Second Year Progress Report which sets out its continuing progress on all actions since 2021. It also sets out the recommendations committed to as part of the Government’s response to the Transport Committee report into the Rollout and safety of smart motorways.

‘Smart Motorways Stocktake’ – a progress report reviews the latest safety data and evidence on smart motorways. As with their first year report, this report has once again shown that in terms of serious or fatal casualties, smart motorways are our safest roads. We’ve outlined some of the major headlines to come out of this latest smart motorways stocktake below, including major progress points, the ‘Driving on Motorways Campaign’, their response to the TSC report and key safety data.

As part of this second year stocktake, NH have given updates on the progress they have made based on the Action Plan they set out in 2020. Over the past year NH have:

• installed over 330 additional signs informing drivers to the next place to stop in an emergency
• put Stopped Vehicle Detection (SVD) technology on over 100 miles of All Lane Running (ALR) smart motorways
• introduced an automatic ‘report of obstruction’ message to appear on electronic overhead signs which are triggered by SVD alerts
• upgraded 96% of enforcement cameras to detect vehicles entering or driving in a Red X Lane
• worked with the Department for Transport (DfT) and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) on the update of The Highway Code

Driving on Motorways Campaign

As part of their work to provide more information to drivers, NH rolled out a ‘Driving on Motorways Campaign’. This campaign focuses on increasing public confidence in the safety of smart motorways and helps to ensure drivers know the steps they need to take if they break down on a smart motorway. Taking a creative approach, the campaign centres on a documentary style film hosted by Suzi Perry and Ortis Deley, which you can watch below and find on their ‘Driving on Motorways’ hub.