Road Safety GB has issued a comment on the back of news confirming the rollout of new smart motorway schemes will be paused until five years’ worth of safety data is available.
The Government announcement, made on 12 January, says once five years’ safety data is available for smart (all lane running) motorways introduced before 2020, the Government will “make an informed decision on next steps”.
Bill Smith, Road Safety GB’s director of communications, said: “It is encouraging to see that, following extensive scrutiny by the Transport Select Committee, the Department for Transport and National Highways have pushed forward without delay and adopted all of the recommendations contained in the committee’s report, published in November 2021.
“Effective road safety interventions, whether are they educational, engineering or enforcement, should always be based on robust data-led information. Accordingly, policymaking should be founded on the same principles.
“Therefore it is particularly encouraging to note that, along with several other recommendations, a full ‘before and after study’ will be undertaken to enable an informed decision to be made about all lane running on our motorways in the future.
“Road Safety GB looks forward to working with all stakeholders in developing communications campaigns, particularly concerning the insertion of ‘the emergency corridor manoeuvre’ into the Highway Code to help emergency services and traffic patrol officers to access incidents when traffic is congested, and also promote the educating of drivers on what to do if they breakdown in a live lane.
“In the years ahead we look forward to our motorways (and all our roads) continuing to be among the safest in the world.”
Comment on this story