Is motorway electric charging about to become MUCH better? Transport Minister to enforce new rules to make them more reliable and accessible Currently one firm dominates charging points on UK motorways Transport Minister Rachel Maclean says this will change soon Anyone with a contactless card will be able to use the points By Grace Gausden … Read more
Coroner issues latest smart motorways warning after teenager who died in M1 crash became fifth fatality in two years Assistant coroner has called for urgent action after 19-year-old died in M1 crash Zahid Ahmed hit by a lorry at 56mph in a broken-down car on smart motorway Detective said teenager would not have died if … Read more
PAUL THOMAS on… ‘smart’ motorways By Paul Thomas For The Daily Mail Published: 02:05 GMT, 25 February 2021 | Updated: 02:05 GMT, 25 February 2021 Advertisement To order a print of this Paul Thomas cartoon or one by Pugh, visit Mailpictures.newsprints.co.uk or call 0191 6030 178. Share or comment on this article:
Grant Shapps has ruled out scrapping so-called ‘smart motorways’, while admitting their name was a ‘misnomer’. The Transport Secretary said yesterday that he ‘wouldn’t have gone about it like this’ were he in charge when they were launched and said mistakes were made in their roll-out which initially made them less safe. But he told … Read more
Road chiefs have pledged to accelerate the rollout of potentially lifesaving safety measures on smart motorways following crisis talks with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. The minister ordered Highways England to bring forward the deadline for installing vital technology which can detect when vehicles are marooned and prevent collisions. More CCTV is to be rolled out to … Read more
Smart motorways are ‘inherently unsafe’ and ‘should be abandoned’, a police and crime commissioner says. Dr Alan Billings, PCC for South Yorkshire, has written to the Government saying the abolition of the hard shoulder should be ‘abandoned’ before more people die. In a letter to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Dr Billings accused Highways England of … Read more
Safety measures on smart motorways will be fast-tracked after road bosses were ordered to ramp up the rollout Road bosses ordered to draw up plans to ramp up rollout of smart motorway safety measures It comes after a coroner rules this week that smart motorways present an ‘ongoing risk of future deaths’ after the deaths … Read more
Just 37 miles of smart motorway have been fitted with vital safety technology to rapidly detect broken-down vehicles, it emerged today. The radar system, which can spot stationary cars in 20 seconds, has been installed on only four of the 24 sections of motorway in England with no hard shoulder. This is despite Transport secretary … Read more
The number of speed cameras on motorways has trebled in a decade – and they are now responsible for more than one in ten of all speeding fines issued by police. The ‘stealth cameras’ have proliferated because they are deemed crucial to controversial smart motorways. Figures obtained by the Mail showed that more than 253,000 … Read more
Nine more smart motorways without hard shoulders have been granted permission to go ahead despite warnings that they are ‘death traps’. The new stretches of motorway, which cover a total distance of 138 miles, will see a 32-mile section on the M3, 17 miles on the M6, 23 miles of the M1 and another ten-mile segment on … Read more