Third Report - Rollout and safety of smart motorways
Select Committee
Transport Committee
HC 26
2 November 2021
Government response
Rollout and safety of smart motorways: Government Response to the Committee's Third Report · published 12 Jan 2022
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
3
Recommendation
Accepted in Part
The design of our motorways and major roads can currently be altered without any independent...
Recommendation
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 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 a formal health and safety assessment by the ORR.
Department for Transport
View Details
6
Recommendation
Accepted in Part
Para 29
The Department and National Highways should: a) retrofit emergency refuge areas to existing all-lane running...
Recommendation
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 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 inserting the emergency corridor manoeuvre into the Highway Code.
Department for Transport
View Details
7
Recommendation
Accepted in Part
While we welcome the action plan, it is not clear whether the interventions that the...
Recommendation
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 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.
Department for Transport
View Details