00:00Smart motorways were introduced to increase motorway capacity and reduce congestion using technology,
00:07sometimes replacing the hard shoulder with a live lane.
00:10New reports, however, suggest most schemes are not delivering the financial benefits first promised.
00:17Safety standards are being met in many areas, but critics argue confidence remains low.
00:22One campaigner, Claire Mercer, whose husband Jason died on a smart motorway, has spent years highlighting the risks.
00:29You rely on your vehicle breaking down at a refuge area, which is not going to happen.
00:34The chances of you being able to break down at a refuge area are slim to none.
00:39They've tried to offset taking away the hard shoulder with technology, but technology was never going to match the hard
00:45shoulder anyway.
00:46It was always there, always available, and you could get to it in seconds.
00:50Whereas no technology was ever going to be able to get you, swoop down and get you out of danger
00:56in seconds.
00:57National Highway says its evaluations show most smart motorways are meeting safety expectations
01:04and have a lower collision rate than conventional motorways.
01:08But only three out of 16 projects are on track to deliver the financial benefits originally forecast.
01:14Sections of the M25 and M6 were found to offer very poor value over their projected lifetimes,
01:21raising questions over whether these schemes are cost-effective in the long run.
01:25The more the public has learned what a smart motorway is, the more they don't want them.
01:30And it's costing our money. It's our tax money that's going on it.
01:33And so, you know, I get an awful lot of contact from the public telling me how smart motorways have
01:39affected them
01:40and their lives and what's happened to them.
01:42And I've actually collated an exhibition where I have gathered all the comments together
01:49and looking through, I could see that there was about 15, 16, 17 different repeated themes.
01:55So I organised them into these themes.
01:57And these themes were everything from the government doesn't care about us.
02:01I've got more than two children.
02:03Which one do I grab first in a breakdown?
02:05So I'm disabled.
02:06What am I meant to do?
02:07The AA has described smart motorways as a catastrophic waste of time, money and effort,
02:14citing concerns about the lack of a continuous hard shoulder.
02:18The RAC agrees that breakdowns on live lanes remain hazardous,
02:22even with technology like variable speed limits.
02:25Directly attributed to just the lack of the hard shoulder and two years out of date is 78 people dead.
02:31But like I said, that's two years out of date.
02:34And they said that, and I've since heard that 24 died last year alone.
02:39So you've got, you're over 100, you're over 100 easily.
02:43But that is one, just attributed to the lack of the hard shoulder,
02:47not taking into account that emergency vehicles can't get through.
02:51So who else died, you know, waiting for an ambulance to get to them?
02:55Claire Mercer has been campaigning for the return of the hard shoulder
02:59since her husband Jason died on a smart motorway in 2019.
03:03Claire's campaign highlights the deaths and serious injuries linked to these roads
03:07and calls for clear, consistent safety measures to protect drivers and prevent further tragedies.
03:13When I first started campaigning, there was a lot of people that just dismissed Jason as daft,
03:20saying, well, he shouldn't have stopped there.
03:21There were more of them were kinder.
03:23It was, yes, but he shouldn't have stopped there.
03:26There was no signs to tell him he was on a smart motorway.
03:30There was no signs to tell him where the next refuge area was.
03:33And it's your legal obligation to stop after an incident.
03:36So I don't even know if he knew he was on a smart motorway,
03:40if he knew he was in a library in Lane.
03:41I've got no idea.
03:43I never got to see him again after that morning.
03:45The government has cancelled plans for new smart motorways,
03:49citing safety and cost concerns, while existing routes remain operational.
03:54Campaigners like Claire Mercer continue to call for the reinstatement of the hard shoulder,
03:59arguing it is the only reliable safeguard for drivers.
04:02National Highways maintains the roads are among the safest in the country.
04:06The debate over safety, public confidence and value for money is set to continue
04:11as motorists assess the risks for themselves.
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