M27: Only one in 10 people feel safer on smart motorways, AA survey shows

The AA survey of more than 15,000 drivers revealed that only 10 per cent of drivers felt safer on an All Lane Running Smart (ALR) Motorway which uses the hard shoulder as an additional lane.

Seventy one per cent of respondents said they felt ALR schemes were more dangerous than a motorway with a hard shoulder with 48 per cent categorised as expressing this view ‘strongly’.

The survey results come as work is currently taking place to convert a 15 mile stretch of the M27 into an ALR Smart Motorway. The two and a half year project is being undertaken between Junction 4 and 11.

Smart Motorway technology detects traffic slowing down and adjusts and enforces lower speed limits to manage incidents and keep the traffic flowing.

Speaking at the time, Highways England route manager, John Henderson, said: ‘This scheme will add an extra 33 per cent capacity to the motorway and help with congestion.’

However, AA president, Edmund King, believes the secretary of state should now ‘announce a review into the safety of ALR schemes’.