Controversial 'smart motorways' are safer, says highways agency
National Highways has said that 'smart motorways', those which use the hard shoulder for traffic and instead employ technology like CCTV in the event of a breakdown, are still safer following a Daily Mail investigation this week.
In 2016 an inquest heard that Telford man Anthony Marston was killed on a section of the M6 with all lane running (ALR) after he stopped to check a trailer he was towing.
Data released by the Department of Transport earlier in the year reveals that the fatality rate on motorways with 'all lane running' - so-called smart motorways - was higher than on conventional motorways for two years in a row.
The Department of Transport and National Highways say that ALR roads are safer, however John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation, has called the roads 'inherently dangerous' in the past.
There were 62 fatalities on normal motorways - those with a hard shoulder - recorded in 2018, and 60 in 2019. On those with all lane running there were 10 deaths in 2018 and nine the following year.
However, as there are many more miles of normal motorways compared with those with ALR, this means that the fatality rate has been higher on ALR motorways for those two years.
In 2018 there were 0.14 deaths per hundred million vehicle miles (HMVM) on conventional motorways, compared with 0.19 on ALR roads. In 2019, there were 0.13 deaths per HMVM on regular motorways, and 0.14 per HMVM on smart motorways.
National Highways say that if the data for the years 2015 to 2019 is taken as a whole, then ALR motorways are safer. They add that looking at average trends over a number of years helps account for volatility in the data. However critics say that this is a way of fudging the numbers.
National Highways chief executive Nick Harris said: “Safety remains our top priority and our motorways are the safest type of road in the country.
“Data shows fatalities are less likely on smart motorways than on conventional ones, but we recognise concerns continue to be raised.
“We are determined to do all we can to help drivers feel safe and be safer on all our roads and we are investigating these allegations as a matter of urgency.”
