Petition · Department for Transport

Restore continuous hard shoulders on smart motorways

Open for signatures 98 signatures

What the petition asks

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.

Timeline

23 Jun 2026 Petition opened for signatures

Key facts

Signatures 98
Status Open for signatures
Department Department for Transport
Opened 23 Jun 2026

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 26 Jul 2026.