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How can motorways be made safer? Join The Independent Debate


The government is being urged to bring back hard shoulders on smart motorways, following concerns about safety and wasted money on cancelled projects.

A year after the government scrapped the plans, the RAC is calling for either permanent hard shoulders to be reinstated or “dynamic” lanes on existing smart motorways.

Campaigners have labelled smart motorways as “death traps,” citing incidents where stopped vehicles were hit from behind.

And polling by the RAC in 2023 found that around seven out of 10 drivers (69 per cent) wanted the hard shoulder reinstated on all-lane-running smart motorways. At the time, the government claimed it would be too disruptive and expensive to do so.

We want to know what you think would improve safety on the UK’s road network. Would the reintroduction of the hard shoulder on existing smart motorways make you feel safer when you’re behind the wheel?

And what other measures – from lowering speed limits to more regular driving tests – should the government consider?

Share your thoughts by adding them in the comments – we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.

All you have to do is sign up and register your details – then you can then take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.

Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.

Join the conversation with other Independent readers below.



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