Safety evaluations of recently completed smart motorways highlight a “concerning” rise in serious collisions after upgrade work was finished, according to motorists’ body the RAC. Highways England recently published post opening project evaluation (Pope) reports for eight smart motorway schemes, following the stock take of smart motorway safety in March.
In half of the cases, a rise in serious collisions was recorded in the first year after a motorway was upgraded. Highways England defines a serious collision as “one in which at least one person is seriously injured but no person (other than a confirmed suicide) is killed”.
But the number of fatal collisions fell on six of the eight motorways and remained at zero on one. There was also a drop in the number of slight collisions on six of the schemes. RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes told NCE that the increase in serious collisions was “concerning”.
“It’s very concerning these Pope reports have identified an increase in serious collisions,” he said. “The findings won’t be a surprise to the majority of drivers who believe the removal of the hard shoulder compromises safety in the event of a breakdown.”
On the M25 Junctions 5 to 7 scheme, serious collisions rose from an annual average of five in the three years before the upgrade, to nine in the year after it had been converted into an all-lane running (ALR) smart motorway. But fatal collisions fell from an average of 0.7 to zero, while slight collisions also fell from 68 to 55.