Taylor welcomes the cancellation of new smart motorways

I am pleased by the announcement by the Prime Minister that new smart motorways won't be built in the UK.

The number of deaths per mile on smart motorways increased from 1 in every 43 miles in 2017 to 1 in every 17 miles in 2019 and many of these have resulted because the victims had nowhere safe to stop because of the lack of a hard shoulder.

Having previously broken down on the M25 between Junctions 6 and 7, it is a scary enough experience with a hard shoulder so the thought of breaking down without one is horrifying. It's significantly more dangerous breaking down on a smart motorway.

A lot of residents no longer have confidence in smart motorways after the deaths of motorists who have broken down in a live lane so the cancellation of further smart motorways and the building of more refuge areas is a step in the right direction.

I'd be keen to see hard shoulders built to further increase safety on motorways.