Shadow transport minister says ‘smart motorways’ must be scrapped

The shadow minister for transport has called for the phasing out of ‘smart motorways’.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Labour MP Jim McMahon said:
“Smart motorways don’t live up to their name or countless empty promises from government.

“This report sets out the shocking scale of a system not fit for purpose, putting lives at risk.

“Our position is clear; reinstate the hard shoulder immediately.”

In the tweet, he shared a report from the Daily Mail in which he told the paper that the £122million ‘Stopped Vehicle Detection’ system is ‘not fit for purpose’.

On June 4 an operator warned there had been 48 false alarms in five hours just for one location.

One operator told the Mail that four out of five times the alerts go off there is nothing there, and he fears operators will fall into a ‘false sense of security’ and not react with urgency to motorway obstructions flagged by the system.