Benefits provided by all lane running Smart Motorways are not worth the additional safety risk posed to vehicle recovery operators, the Transport Select Committee heard this week.

 

Members of the European Rescue & Recovery Initiative Committee Richard Goddard and Dave Gregory told the Select Committee that the concept of all lane running had been ‘ill conceived’.

 

“Loss of the hard shoulder will cost lives,” said Richard Goddard. He noted that in instances when a broken down vehicle is unable to get to an emergency refuge area, recovery operators are forced to work in a live lane where a red ‘X’ is displayed on overhead gantries – indicating the lane’s closure.

 

“A lot of people that go on the motorway don’t understand what the red crosses mean and don’t know what they should do if they break down,” he added. “This is putting their lives and ours in danger.”

 

Both Richard Goddard and Dave Gregory called for improved education and public awareness to ensure road users understand how to behave on all lane running Smart Motorways.

 

The Transport Select Committee also heard from Transport Minister Andrew Jones and Highways England chief operations officer Mike Wilson, who said there was a compliance rate of 92% with the red ‘X’s.

 

“That remaining 8% is a concern for us,” said Mike Wilson. “We have a programme in place to educate and inform road users about the importance of red ‘X’s and are working with the Department for Transport to look at how we can enforce compliance.”

 

Andrew Jones added: “All lane running would not have proceeded as an idea had the safety assessment undertaken shown we were going to be increasing risk. This is something that has been developed over many years of working.”

 

Richard Goddard also called for firm measures to be put in place defining what vehicle recovery operators are allowed to do on the motorway. Currently operators have to ask for permission to use the hard shoulder, which is not always granted.

 

“We are an emergency service and safety of our people is of paramount importance, but we are not given the proper concessions to be effective,” he said.

 

He added: “Use of the hard shoulder and our ability to get to incidents as quickly as other emergency services is an integral part of what we do. But without a hard shoulder present getting to incidents is virtually impossible if all lanes are congested, because people will not move over for amber lights.”

 

This second and final Transport Select Committee evidence session on all lane running followed concerns raised in February by motoring groups over their safety (see TP Weekly News issue 167, 17 February).

 

(Photo: Highways England)