Motorways must have lay-bys every 1000 metres and wider lanes expert claims

He claims the planned review into smart motorways will become “utterly pointless” unless his proposals are urgently adopted. Implementation of his recommendations are the only chance transport chiefs have to give the dangerous roads a fighting chance of becoming safer, he claims. 

Mr Freeman strongly urges the government to take note of his recommendations which could offer the only fighting chance to make the roads safer.

His headline updates would be to increase the number of lay-bys on the road and widening their length of lanes in a bid to avoid collisions.

He added: “So many things are just plain dangerous, such as not having enough emergency lay-bys. The lay-bys are also too short in length to allow vehicles to build up safe speed before entering live lanes.”

He has also claimed smart motorways create a recipe for bad driving as agitation levels rise and tension between motorists becomes frayed.

Mr Freeman also took a dig at existing infrastructure, claiming information screens were confusing and distracted motorists from driving their vehicle.

He said: “It’s so annoying when the gantry has a sign saying “believe to be an obstruction”. Either there is or there isn’t.

He confirmed the group would not be building any more dynamic hard shoulder smart motorways after safety concerns.

Four people were killed in just ten months on a stretch of smart motorway on the M1 after victims were hit after breaking down.

The view also comes after eight-year-old Dev Naran was killed after his grandfather’s vehicle was struck on a section of smart motorway on the M6.

Highways England have previously told Express.co.uk that the smart motorway networks were safer than traditional roads.

The group claimed all-lane running motorway schemes had reduced casualty rates by more than 25 percent. 

source: express.co.uk