A new survey by the RAC has found that almost half of motorway drivers (49%) avoid using the inside lane on ‘all lane running’ smart motorways, bringing criticism that the intended benefit of the roads is therefore negated. More than two thirds of the drivers surveyed (68%) further said they also regularly see other motorists using alternative lanes when lane one is free, despite the purpose of the motorways being to increase carriageway capacity. 

Driver concerns

The survey of 1,904 drivers also asked why they chose to avoid driving in lane one, with more than three-quarters (77%) saying they are concerned they might encounter a broken-down vehicle on what would otherwise be the hard shoulder.  40% of those surveyed said that they were concerned about a collision if they themselves were forced to stop in the hard shoulder while it was in use as lane one as part of an ‘all lane running’ smart motorway.

The second most common reason given was the assumption that the inside lane is mostly used by HGVs, meaning they would frequently need to overtake. Similarly, 38% cited that traffic in lane one is usually going much slower than 70mph,  while 22% said that they usually find it too congested. 

Suggested improvements

When the RAC questioned drivers about what could be done to improve safety on smart motorways, 74% said they would feel safer if there were more refuge areas. Such areas are provided in lieu of a hard shoulder on these motorways, and their spacing has been part of the RHA’s suggested improvements surrounding smart motorways. In its policy paper on smart motorways,  the organisation put forward that refuge area spacing should be broadly consistent across the network, at every 500m to 800m as standard practice. The RHA has further suggested that refuge areas need to be longer, in order to easily accommodate the largest vehicles that need to use them, to make the areas more visible for road users, and to make entry and exit to them easier. In addition, it has been pointed out that most refuge areas do not provide a safe pathway for those with mobility issues to wait a safe distance from their vehicle, and that a gap in crash barriers (and dropped curb where relevant) to allow disabled people to get through are crucial. 

The survey continued to indicate that 72% of drivers would be reassured by technology that detects stranded vehicles, while 56% would like gantry signs at more frequent intervals to display the speed limit, and to warn when lanes ahead are closed. A further 56% said they want cameras to be utilised to enforce the ‘red X’ closed-lane signs, which have been ready since earlier this year but are only just becoming operational. In fact, National Highways, which is responsible England’s major roads, now has 122 enforcement cameras in place to automatically detect any vehicles ignoring ‘red X’ signs, and the organisation is in the process of putting radar technology in place to help identify stopped vehicles on ‘all lane running’ smart motorways more quickly and effectively in order to improve safety. 

Technology failings

However, new data shows that the system behind smart motorway systems did not work for 21 hours during September. The cameras and radar system which relay to a control room when a vehicle has stopped in a live lane was not functioning for 3% of operational hours in September, with an outage in October lasting nearly 4 hours. National Highways have apologised and said an independent investigation is under way, but it is thought that computer failures meant the software to control the gantry signs was at fault.

Public opinion

A separate study conducted by the RAC this year found that the majority of drivers (70%) want to see ‘all lane running’ smart motorways scrapped, with only 7% wanting to see further ‘all lane running’ schemes rolled out. 

RAC road safety spokesperson Simon Williams said: “Ever since the first ‘all lane running’ smart motorway opened on the M25 in April 2014 there has been a considerable amount of controversy about safety which worsened significantly following several high-profile fatal collisions. Consequently, these roads, continue to be deeply unpopular with drivers who, before their introduction, had been used to having the relative refuge of a hard shoulder available in an emergency.

“On top of this our latest research worryingly shows that half of drivers actively avoid using the inside-most lane for a variety of reasons, not least the fear of being crashed into, meaning much of the extra carriageway capacity they were meant to bring is wasted.

“It’s perhaps little wonder that 70% of drivers surveyed for this year’s RAC Report on Motoring want to see ‘all lane running’ smart motorways scrapped in favour of ‘dynamic hard shoulder’ ones where the hard shoulder is only used as a running lane during busy periods.”

Safety data

Despite overwhelming public opinion, research by insurance company GoShorty conversely shows that smart motorways are in fact safer than their conventional counterparts. The data compares five types of multi-lane roads in the UK between 2015 and 2020: A-roads, ‘all-lane running’ smart motorways, conventional motorways, dynamic hard shoulder motorways, and ‘controlled’ motorways. ‘All-lane running’ smart motorways ranked second only to A-roads, which, it was noted are narrower and less busy compared to motorways. GoShorty’s data further shows that ‘all-lane running’ smart motorways are the best in terms of reducing congestion, and are more effective than conventional and dynamic hard shoulder motorways, but public concerns about their safety and reluctance to use them efficiently may well reduce their efficacy considerably.