Petition · past parliament
Scrap smart motorways and bring back permanent hard shoulders.
Closed
1,563 signatures
What the petition asks
When your vehicle has issues on a motorway, you look for the relative safety of the hard shoulder. Smart motorways have removed that safety and are not smart enough to recognise lane 1 blockages quick enough. As a consequence, lives can be put at imminent risk!
As a HGV driver, I struggled to understand completely the concept of a smart motorway. If there was no hard shoulder to stop on, what happens next?
The answer, after pounding the smart tarmac, is ... it isn't smart enough. It isn't quick enough to put lane restrictions/closures in place. It is in fact....a death trap! Emergency services take longer to reach an incident due to no empty lane. It doesn't work!
The answer, after pounding the smart tarmac, is ... it isn't smart enough. It isn't quick enough to put lane restrictions/closures in place. It is in fact....a death trap! Emergency services take longer to reach an incident due to no empty lane. It doesn't work!
Timeline
| 5 Dec 2017 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 5 Jun 2018 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
1,563
Status
Closed
Opened
5 Dec 2017
Closed
5 Jun 2018
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.