A PROPOSAL to turn sections of the Glasgow to Edinburgh M8 into a smart motorway have been branded by critics as a ‘recipe for disaster’ following a catalogue of deaths and injuries in England blamed on the concept that removes the hard shoulder to ease congestion.
The problem is, in the event of breakdown, the vehicle is virtually a sitting duck with nowhere to go, said a police spokesperson.
When the idea was first mooted, promises were made of ‘emergency refuges’ every mile and radar technology to spot vehicles stranded in the ‘live’ lanes. Both programmes are behind schedule, with the radar scheme not likely to be fully installed by 2023.
Meantime, not only did the smart motorway plan go ahead regardless, the predicted carnage ensued with 38 deaths in the five years the system has been in use.
Now Highways England has launched plans for a £27 billion programme for seven massive new stretches of smart motorway stretching from the M25 orbital all the way north to the M62.
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