{"id":7971,"date":"2024-04-29T09:38:04","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T08:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/?p=7971"},"modified":"2024-04-29T09:38:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T08:38:04","slug":"frequent-faults-spark-new-worries-about-uks-smart-motorways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/frequent-faults-spark-new-worries-about-uks-smart-motorways\/","title":{"rendered":"Frequent faults spark new worries about UK\u2019s smart motorways"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Smart motorways have long been a controversial topic here in the UK, and it\u2019s one that we\u2019ve covered several times over the years here at Scrap Car Network. And for as long as they\u2019ve been around, people have been asking whether <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/are-smart-motorways-unsafe\/\"><strong>smart motorways are unsafe<\/strong><\/a>. The answer to that has become increasingly clear in the last few years, with the industry and general public alike consistently moving towards a consensus that they\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/smart-motorway-technology-not-currently-fit-for-purpose\/\"><strong>not fit for purpose<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Every new discovery or study seems to support that idea. Most recently, a BBC Panorama investigation has found that the technology underpinning smart motorways (i.e. the very thing that makes it smart) actually stops working on a regular basis. Using Freedom of Information requests and a variety of other techniques, researchers have discovered hundreds of incidents when vital safety equipment was out of action.<\/p>\n<p>All of that dramatically raises the chances of drivers prematurely scrapping their cars \u2013 not to mention potentially threatening their health and safety, too!<\/p>\n<h2>\nWhat is a smart motorway?<\/h2>\n<p>Smart motorways have technically been around since 2006, which means that there\u2019s a near-100% chance you\u2019ve driven on one by now. Basically, a smart motorway is a highway that uses technology to regulate the flow of traffic, and minimise congestion. They primarily do this through the use of a complex network of sensors, cameras and gantries, although there is also some human oversight.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most well-known (and notorious) points surrounding the implementation of smart motorways is the removal of the hard shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>Now, in a nutshell, there are three different types of smart motorway: controlled, dynamic, and all-lane running.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Controlled smart motorways retain full usage of the hard shoulder<\/li>\n<li>Dynamic smart motorways also retain a hard shoulder, but will sometimes open it up as a live lane, to ease congestion<\/li>\n<li>All Lane Running motorways have no hard shoulder \u2013 all four lanes are open to live traffic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you might expect, it\u2019s the last type of motorway that\u2019s the most controversial, and a significant number of deaths on smart motorways have occurred specifically on All Lane Running motorways.<\/p>\n<h2>\nHow is the technology falling short?<\/h2>\n<p>Mainly through errors and power cuts to overhead gantries, which are in turn endangering drivers.<\/p>\n<p>Now, it\u2019s worth starting by pointing out that there are lots of people who would argue that the technology isn\u2019t capable of properly ensuring the safety of drivers even when it\u2019s in full working order. The hard shoulder is normally used as a (relatively) safe haven for broken down vehicles, but now when a vehicle breaks down, cameras and sensors are supposed to detect that vehicle, and close the lane accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s dangerous as it is, since it leaves people stranded in lanes of fast-moving traffic, where emergency vehicles can sometimes struggle to get through to them.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s worse though \u2013 and what\u2019s causing so much concern at the moment \u2013 is that an unsettling amount of underlying technology is suffering from frequent outages, preventing it from properly doing its job of protecting drivers. Panorama discovered that in just under a two-year period (June 2022 to February 2024), there were 392 incidents where motorway technology lost power \u2013 effectively hobbling its ability to detect a stranded vehicle, and leaving drivers without help incoming.<\/p>\n<p>In the six months leading up to February 2024, there was almost one power outage every single day. Throughout that entire two-year period, there were several outages that lasted several days each \u2013 the shortest was three, and the longest was a staggering eleven-day outage on a stretch of road between Swindon and Reading. To reiterate, that\u2019s about a week and a half where crucial safety functions on that smart motorway were not perform their safety-critical role.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not just outages that are the problem, either. In 2022 alone, National Highways\u2019 own statistics show that there were more than 2300 faults with the radar system designed to spot stationary vehicles \u2013 so even when it\u2019s got power, that\u2019s not always a guarantee it\u2019s still able to do its job effectively.<\/p>\n<h2>\nWhy is that so dangerous?<\/h2>\n<p>Outages and errors are dangerous because it means that drivers in distress are often being forced to stop dead in a live lane of traffic, where other drivers are generally going at 70 miles an hour, and don\u2019t necessarily expect to have to stop. In other words, if you break down in a live lane, the longer you\u2019re there without assistance, the greater the chances of someone cannoning into you at terminal velocity.<\/p>\n<p>One National Highways insider \u2013 who understandably wished to remain anonymous \u2013 said that the radar detects 89% of stopped vehicles. However, that leaves one in ten drivers who are sitting in a live lane when they break down. Now, a 2019 study (reasonably old already) by Highways England noted that 224,225 cars broke down in a 12-month period on motorways alone. Even if roughly 90% of those vehicles are detected, the remaining 10% of that figure is well over 22,000 drivers. To put that in perspective, that\u2019s almost enough people to fill the Manchester Arena, or around 60 drivers every day. All of whom the system just isn\u2019t accounting for.<\/p>\n<h2>\nWhat has National Highways said?<\/h2>\n<p>It would be unfair to say that the National Highways agency \u2013 and the government at large \u2013 isn\u2019t recognising the issue. In light of the safety concerns raised, the government has said that it\u2019s halting the roll-out of new smart motorways, and announced that it\u2019s spending \u00a3900m on technology to make the existing network safer.<\/p>\n<p>However, the flipside is that there are no plans to put the hard shoulder back. National Highways has said that it would increase congestion, nor to scrap smart motorways entirely. Notably, transport secretary Grant Shapps has gone on record before saying that doing so \u201cwould require the equivalent land of 700 Wembley Stadium-sized football pitches\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>National Highways operational director, Andrew Page-Dove, made sure to say that \u201csafety is our highest priority, and our motorways are statistically some of the safest in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>As things stand, it looks like the public have yet to be convinced.<\/p>\n<p>Smart motorways may not be scrapped anytime soon \u2013 but if you think your car might be, then you\u2019re in exactly the right place. We now have more than 40 years of experience behind us, so you can trust us when we say we can get you the very best price, right here at Scrap Car Network! All you need to do is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/\"><strong>enter a few details into our homepage<\/strong><\/a>, and we\u2019ll provide you with an instant online quote! Curious to see how much your car is worth?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smart motorways have long been a controversial topic here in the UK, and it\u2019s one that we\u2019ve covered several times over the years here at Scrap Car Network. And for as long as they\u2019ve been around, people have been asking whether smart motorways are unsafe. The answer to that has become increasingly clear in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":7975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Smart motorways have long been controversial, and their safety concerns have been well documented. 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But new Panorama research has raised even more concerns.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/frequent-faults-spark-new-worries-about-uks-smart-motorways\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scrap Car Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-29T08:38:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Smart-Motorway.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jack Barron\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Scrap Car Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scrapcarnetwork.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scrapcarnetwork.png\",\"width\":368,\"height\":65,\"caption\":\"Scrap Car Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Scrap Car Network\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/frequent-faults-spark-new-worries-about-uks-smart-motorways\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Smart-Motorway.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Smart-Motorway.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\"Smart Motorway\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/frequent-faults-spark-new-worries-about-uks-smart-motorways\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/frequent-faults-spark-new-worries-about-uks-smart-motorways\/\",\"name\":\"Frequent faults spark new worries about UK\\u2019s smart motorways\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/frequent-faults-spark-new-worries-about-uks-smart-motorways\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-29T08:38:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-29T08:38:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"Smart motorways have long been controversial, and their safety concerns have been well documented. 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