We call on the Government to restore permanent hard shoulders on all-lane running smart motorways, including the M4. We believe removing hard shoulders creates unnecessary danger for stranded motorists and for drivers forced to take evasive action at high speed.

Official parliamentary evidence found live-lane breakdowns are nearly four times more common on all-lane running motorways than on conventional motorways with hard shoulders & around 40% of breakdowns occur in a live lane. We feel that removing hard shoulders creates unnecessary danger for stranded motorists and for drivers forced to take evasive action at high speed. We believe that “controlled motorways” which retain hard shoulders while using smart traffic systems have lower casualty rates and should be adopted instead.