‘I saw emergency services struggle to reach M1 crash – it was clear smart motorways do not work’
We were told they were the way to easing traffic on our roads. Miles of hard shoulders across the county were replaced with an active lane to help improve journey times and ease congestion after a trial on the M42 in 2006.
But by May of this year, 79 people had lost their lives on stretches of motorways where there is no hard shoulder. That’s 79 families whose lives have been impacted more than most of us can imagine – and some of those mourning are leading calls for them to be scrapped.
They are calls that Nottinghamshire Live back[1] and having had my own experience of witnessing an accident on the M1 near Sutton-in-Ashfield – a stretch of so-called smart motorway – the issues were all too clear to see.
Sign our petition that calls for hard shoulders to be reinstated on existing smart motorways across the country[2]
I was one of hundreds of motorists stuck behind the scene of a lorry fire on Friday evening[3], September 15. To be clear, I am not, for one moment, comparing my delayed journey home from work to the awful grief – and anger – felt by those who have lost loved ones on smart motorways.
But as a lorry burned in front of my eyes, the issues with smart motorways were plain to see. As I approached junction 28 of the M1 northbound, the overhead matrix signs were showing 40mph with three out of four of the lanes showing as closed.
All traffic was being directed to use the outside lane due to the incident, which was labelled as ‘vehicle fire reported’ on the signage. But this was 6.30pm on a Friday with thousands of motorists[4] looking to either head home after work or heading away for the weekend.
For all that traffic to filter into one lane was bound to cause delays but the biggest issue I could see was being caused solely by the smart motorways biggest change – the removal of the hard shoulder.
As I sat in four lanes of solid traffic on the northbound carriageway, I saw seven fire engines attempting to battle through increasing congestion on the southbound carriageway to turn around at junction 28 and get to the scene.
A lorry fire on the M1 northbound on Friday, September 15 just after junction 28 (Image: National Highways)
The issue was that it was almost impossible for them to get there anything like quickly. As smoke from the lorry billowed into the sky, the fire crews were struggling to navigate their way through what was essentially four lanes of solid traffic.
A hard shoulder, as all drivers hopefully know, are to be used in emergencies only. This then allows a free lane for emergency services to use should there be an incident.
They allow them to avoid the inevitable congestion when there is such an incident. This issue was obvious to anyone who joined me in the three hours of delays.
While we welcome the decision to not build any further smart motorways, if only some of the decision makers were sat in the same delays I was, they would struggle to not agree. Drivers will always attempt to cut in when there is queueing traffic but the hard shoulder can be a lifeline – quite literally in some cases on our roads.
As National Highways scramble to install emergency refuge areas on the M1 a little further north, just past Sheffield, the issues are so clear to see. I am certain I’m not alone in feeling a little nervous every time I turn onto the M1 in our part of the country.
Thankfully, Derbyshire police said there were no reports of any injuries in this incident but the evidence that smart motorways are not safe was clear to see. It is time to take further action to help keep us all safe.
References
- ^ calls that Nottinghamshire Live back (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Sign our petition that calls for hard shoulders to be reinstated on existing smart motorways across the country (xd.wayin.com)
- ^ lorry fire on Friday evening (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ motorists (www.nottinghampost.com)