Labour MP Rob Flello has today welcomed the report of Parliament’s Transport Select Committee, which concluded that the ‘attendant safety risks’ of the loss of the hard shoulder in All Lane Running schemes has not been fully addressed, and called on Government not to proceed with further such schemes whilst these safety concerns exist.
All Lane Running, which sees the hard shoulder of motorways converted into a live lane, with signage on gantries above the carriageway advising drivers of speed limits and hazards further down the road, is set to be expanded from the existing handful of schemes to 300 miles of motorway across 30 schemes by 2025.
Reacting to the report, Mr Flello said,
“This report makes it very clear to Government that they need to think long and hard about both about existing schemes and any future All Lane Running schemes, given that the evidence shows these schemes are making our motorways more dangerous . There is clear evidence that the Government has tried to fudge the figures and misrepresent the data in order to make such schemes seem safer than they really are, and for the sake of saving money they are putting the lives of those who work on and use our motorways at serious risk.
“It was clear from listening to the evidence that the number of emergency refuge areas is completely inadequate, that those which do exist are being misused by drivers who do not have an emergency, and that the Red X gantry signs are routinely ignored by drivers who could then strike the emergency operatives and stranded drivers in the road whose safety the signs are supposed to ensure..
“I sincerely hope that the Government will now listen to those in the know – the people who work on our roads day in and day out – and abandon their plans for 300 more miles of All Lane Running schemes unless safety concerns can be properly addressed.”
The Government had presented these changes as an incremental step but the report refutes this, urging the Department to present the changes as being radical and carry out the necessary steps to ensure that concerns are addressed, and the public are sufficiently educated as to how all lane running works.
The Committee, of which Mr Flello is a member, took evidence from the recovery industry, emergency services and roadside assistance companies, as well as Highways England and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Andrew Jones.
