The roll-out and safety of smart motorways

Transport Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 26 Feb 2021 Closed: 7 Jul 2022 Parliament page
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, … Read more
7 Recommendations
4 Conclusions
1 Report
3 Oral sessions
6 Letters
3 Events
Activity timeline 11 events
12 Jan
2022
Report published
2 Nov
2021
Report published
21 Oct
2021
Correspondence
22 Sep
2021
Correspondence
14 Sep
2021
Correspondence
13 Jul
2021
Correspondence
13 Jul
2021
Correspondence
30 Jun
2021
Oral evidence
16 Jun
2021
Oral evidence
15 Jun
2021
Correspondence
19 May
2021
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 3 sessions
30 Jun 2021
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Jill Adam · Department for Transport Mike Wilson · Highways England Nick Harris · National Highways The Baroness Vere of Norbiton · Department for Transport
16 Jun 2021
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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
19 May 2021
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Chris Todd · West Midlands Police Edmund King · The AA Elizabeth de Jong · Fuels Industry UK Mr Nicholas Lyes · RAC Motoring Services
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Third Report - Rollout and safety of smart motorways HC 26 2 Nov 2021 11 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
Clear
3 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Third Report - Rollout and safety …
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 … Read more
Government Response
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 a formal health and safety assessment by the ORR.
Department for Transport
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6 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Third Report - Rollout and safety …
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 … Read more
Government Response
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 inserting the emergency corridor manoeuvre into the Highway Code.
Department for Transport
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7 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Third Report - Rollout and safety …
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 … Read more
Government Response
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.
Department for Transport
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Government Response AI assessment · 11 of 7 classified
Accepted 3
Accepted in Part 3
Acknowledged 1
Deferred 3
Not Addressed 1
Total 7 recs + 4 conclusions
Correspondence 6 letters
21 Oct 2021 Correspondence from John Larkinson, Chief Executive, Office of Rail and Road, relating to the roll-out and safety motorways, dated 17 June 2021
Parliament page
22 Sep 2021 Correspondence from Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Minister for Roads, Buses and Places, relating to smart motorways and publication of Highway Code update, dated 14 September 2021
Parliament page
14 Sep 2021 Correspondence from Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Minister for Roads, Buses and Places, Department for Transport, relating to the roll-out and safety of smart motorways, dated 7 September 2021
Parliament page
13 Jul 2021 Correspondence from Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Minister for Roads, Buses and Places, Department of Transport, relating to the roll-out and safety of smart motorways, dated 9 July 2021
Parliament page
13 Jul 2021 Correspondence from Nick Harris, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Highways England, relating to the Roll-out and safety of smart motorways, dated 8 July 2021
Parliament page
15 Jun 2021 Correspondence to John Larkinson, Chief Executive, Office of Rail and Road, dated 28 May 2021
Parliament page