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What are smart motorways and are they being scrapped? - 2022 update

Learn what smart motorways, hard shoulder and speed cameras mean, then find out about the latest development plans for smart motorways in 2022.

Phill Tromans

Words by: Phill Tromans

Nimisha Jain

Additional words by: Nimisha Jain

Last updated on 20 January 2022 | 0 min read

What are smart motorways?

A smart motorway is a stretch of a UK motorway designed to manage the flow of traffic and increase capacity as needed. Their aim is to minimise congestion and reduce journey times.
Smart motorways prevent traffic bunching by using a range of active traffic management systems, such as variable speed limits and the option to open the hard shoulder to traffic when necessary. There are three types of smart motorway:

1. Controlled motorway scheme

Controlled motorways have three or more lanes that use variable speed limits and keep the traditional hard shoulder. Gantries above the road have screens that show the current speed limit. If no limit is displayed, the national limit applies. Speed cameras are used to enforce the rules.

2. Dynamic hard shoulder scheme

The second type of motorway opens the hard shoulder to normal traffic during busy times. Again, signs on gantries will show whether the shoulder is open or not. If there’s a big red X displayed, the hard shoulder is closed and you should move out of the lane as soon as possible.

3. All lane running scheme

In the third type of motorway - the 'all lane running' - the hard shoulder is permanently converted into lane one. Whether speed limits are changed, or hard shoulders are opened and closed is decided by regional control centres. All smart motorways are remotely monitored with sensors and CCTV, which allows staff to slow or speed up traffic depending on the conditions.

What are hard shoulders?

A hard shoulder refers to the lane on the motorway, where you’re allowed to go if your car breaks down or in case of an emergency to allow emergency vehicles to pass by quickly. It is present on the left side of lane one – the left-hand lane - and is marked with a white unbroken line on the road to make it stand out.
In general circumstances, it is illegal to use the hard shoulder unless you’re told to do so by the traffic police. On smart motorways, you’re allowed to use a hard shoulder if it indicates so – you’ll have to look out for the indication on a dynamic hard shoulder and all lane running motorways.

Smart motorway speed cameras

The chances of getting caught for breaking rules of the road are higher on the motorway.
Many of the overhead gantries have speed cameras linked to the limit being displayed on the motorway. These cameras can catch you going through the gantry too fast – if you’re caught, you’d be sent a fine through the post shortly afterwards for speeding. Don’t worry if the speed changes just as you get to the motorway though, there’s a short grace period to give motorists time to react.

Red X enforcement

Cameras in the gantries can also catch people using a shoulder when it’s not allowed. On dynamic hard shoulders, a red X will let motorists know if the shoulder is closed. Do not drive in the lane if there’s a red X – if you use a shoulder illegally, you could face a fine and points on your licence.
smart motorway red X enforcement
Red X enforcement

What is an emergency refuge area on a motorway?

An emergency refuge area (ERA) is an orange-painted layby built every 1.5 miles on the all lane running smart motorways, for you to access if your car breaks down.
If you have car troubles on the smart motorway, try to make it to one of the ERAs, stop and switch on your hazard lights, before getting out and standing behind the barriers. These areas are monitored, so someone will know you’re there, and there’s an emergency phone to speak to someone for help. It’s important to note these areas are for emergencies only, and shouldn’t be used for things like taking a phone call or going to the toilet. If your car breaks down and you can’t make it to an emergency refuge area, stop your car as far onto the left-hand verge as you can, and switch on your hazard lights. Get out of the car on the nearside (left-hand door) and stand behind the barrier. If you can’t get out safely, stay in your car with your seatbelt on, and call 999. Motorway staff will switch on the red X sign on the gantries to stop traffic in that lane.

Where are smart motorways?

The first full smart motorway infrastructure – with variable speed limits and dynamic hard shoulder – was introduced on the M42 in the West Midlands back in 2006, and more have since been rolled out across the UK.
There are almost 400 miles of smart motorways, majorly present in south-east England and the north-west around Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield. You can view where all the smart motorways are on National Highways website (external link).

Are smart motorways dangerous?

Well, that sort of depends who you ask. Most experts generally agree the concept is a good one, but there are often disagreements about the implementation.
Initially, an analysis of the first scheme on the M42 saw journey reliability improve by 22% and accidents-causing injuries reduce by half. But motoring groups like the AA and RAC have safety concerns about the use of emergency refuge areas and the absence of hard shoulders. Not least is the worry that a large proportion of motorists don’t understand how to use them, and what they should do in the event of a breakdown. In late 2018, a group of MPs said they felt that the rollout of smart motorways with permanent hard shoulders should be halted, saying the system puts both motorists and recovery workers at risk. A total of 36 fatalities took place on all lane running and dynamic hard shoulder motorways between 2015-19 in England, of which 15 happened in 2019 alone, according to a report by Highways England. Also, the report detailed that one in 12 motorway fatalities occur on the hard shoulder.

Have smart motorways been scrapped off?

The construction of new all lane running motorways has been halted to further assess the safety of smart motorways by collecting data from the past five years.
The government had already promised an additional investment of £500 million for faster rollout of Stopped Vehicle Detection (SVD) across all lane running (ALR) motorways and £5 million in a campaign to increase awareness about how smart motorways work and how to use them properly to reduce confusion and make information readily available. Another £390 million have been pledged to build 150 additional emergency areas on existing smart motorways where places to stop in an emergency are more than one mile apart.
Learn more about the new driving rules being introduced on the UK roads from 2022 onwards..