top of page
CMT Jan 25.gif

MPs look to halt smart motorways

A group of MPs are looking to stop the roll-out of smart motorways across the UK.

An all party group has raised concerns that the removal of the hard shoulder on motorways, thus creating a fourth lane, could put both motorists and recovery workers lives at risk.

There is over 300 miles of smart motorway in the pipeline across England, with 100 miles of upgrade already in operation.

The three types of smart motorways are: 

controlled smart motorways, which is self explanatory, motorways with a dynamic hard shoulder which is where the hard shoulder is used as an extra lane in busy traffic and ALR, which is where the hard shoulder is permanently used as a fourth lane. 

The BBC have reported that it is the ALR scheme which is causing the most concern with fears that motorists will become "sitting ducks." 

Campaign for Safer Roadside Rescue and Recovery leader Samantha Cockerill has branded the ALR scheme crazy and has called for the project to be halted.

Ms Cockerill has also called for recovery workers to be able to use red warning lights, rather than the current orange ones. 

The campaign was started by Samantha after her partner, Steve Godbold, tragically lost his life after an HGV ploughed into him whilst he was working on a vehicle recovery job on the M25 in September 2017.

Despite an all party parliamentary groups backing for Samantha's campaign, Highways England, which controls Britains motorway network, insists that smart motorways are safe and the technology behind it is reliable.

Subscribe to our FREE TaxiPoint newsletter. Receive the latest news to your inbox.
(Please note this does not include our Premium access content)

Thanks for subscribing!

Already a Premium Subscriber? Log-in to access ALL Premium content here using your TaxiPoint Premium subscribed email address:

TaxiPoint_WebBanner_700x200.jpg
RENT WITH (720 x 200 px) (1).gif
Taxipoint - Web Banner - 12.24.png
IMG_2814.jpeg
Save £££ £3.50 per hour - Compressed (1).gif
1comp.gif
Taxipoint Ads -Fleet Web Banner -April 2025.jpg

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers.

All written and image rights are reserved by authors displayed. Creative Common image licenses displayed where applicable.

Reproduction in whole or in part without prior permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

All written content Copyright of TaxiPoint 2025.

bottom of page