Readers have their say on 'death trap' smart motorways

Britain’s so-called smart motorways have been branded a “death trap” by MPs in a report which has prompted criticism of Highways England.
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Smart motorways transform the hard shoulder into another driving lane, leaving motorists who break down on parts of the M1, M4, M5, M6, M42 and M62, in the traffic.

The all-party Parliamentary group for roadside rescue and recovery's report said the change was "shocking and careless" and had led to the deaths of road users.

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Police Federation chairman John Apter said: "We were told the technology would be so advanced that if there was an obstruction the system would pick it up, help would be dispatched and the gantry would flash up a warning closing the affected lane."

Smart motorways have been branded 'death traps'Smart motorways have been branded 'death traps'
Smart motorways have been branded 'death traps'

He added that the roads should not be labelled "smart" because they "can be a death trap".

Here's what you said:

Chris Sturman said: "Whoever thought this was a good idea should never have left infant school. Ninety nine per cent of the nation could have told you that. When will the government stop throwing away our tax on things like this, HS2 and donating 1.1 billion a year to 12 of the most dangerous countries in the world? This madness must stop. The public have lost all confidence in the government for reasons like these. Wake up Parliament, walk the streets of the real world outside the bubble. "

John Furness said: "I think the motoring public realised the danger when these roads were introduced or adapted. Pity the smart authorities did not."

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Phil Heppenstall said: "They do reduce congestion though, the M62 between J27 and J26 is much slower when the hard shoulder lane is shut. Not worth someone getting killed over though."

See more: Read the original article hereTricia Pyrah said: "We broke down on a smart motorway coming home on Sunday, but we managed to get into Woodall services, otherwise we would have been in one of the emergency bays for five hours and it was freezing."

Jeremy Couplan said: "Smart motorways are, unfortunately used by not so smart drivers. Too fast, too close, lane dodging, lane hogging, and still using their mobile phones, it needs to stop."

Robert George said: "I watched a documentary on them the other night and it’s scary how many “very near misses” there are and 60-70 unlucky ones."

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Ged Walls said: "Yes - a motorway without a hard shoulder is dangerous, who would have thought it."

Scott Lee said: "It’s dumb drivers that are the problem, too busy speeding, messing with sat navs or their phones. I use them five days a week and would rather filter off on a hard shoulder filter lane to come off at the next junction than sit on lane one for over a mile."

Stephen Morton said: "They are a danger and a waste of time."

Paul Oneil said: "Put the motorways back to the way they were with a hard shoulder."