Fareham MP says M27 becoming a smart motorway is 'terrifying'

Fareham MP Suella Braverman voiced her concerns about smart motorways during a transport debate in the House of Commons yesterday.

Work is currently ongoing to transform the M27 into a smart motorway, but the government is urgently reviewing them after a BBC Panorama study showed that 38 people have been killed on smart motorways in the past five years.

Smart motorways allow motorists to drive along the hard shoulder, with refuge areas to pull into for breakdowns and crashes.

Under the current proposals, the M27 will act as a smart motorway from junction 4 to junction 11.

But Ms Braverman says the prospect of driving on the new motorway is something that genuinely scares her.

She said: ‘I understand that motorways are dangerous – there is no doubt about that.

‘Many motorists, including me, are often nervous about driving on a motorway, but for the many thousands of people in Fareham who use the M27, which is in the process of being converted into a smart motorway, the prospect of using it is becoming terrifying.

‘Many local people in Fareham are concerned about safety and are calling for the smart motorway upgrade on the M27 to be scrapped and reversed.’

Ms Braverman has called for the government to not only review the safety measures in place, but also whether the hard shoulder should be reintroduced.

‘Vehicles do not always break down at a refuge area,’ she said.

‘The refuge areas on some smart motorways can be up to 1.5 miles apart, when they should be located every 600 metres.

‘The technology for smart motorways is not always responsive or effective. We need to improve the robustness of the safety measures so that public confidence can be restored.’

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