Drivers face an automatic £100 fine if they ignore smart motorway rule when cameras are upgraded

By September, nearly 100 smart highway cameras will be upgraded to automatically detect vehicles violating the Red X rules, and police can now issue automatic fines

Drivers violating lane closures with the ‘red X’ on smart motorways could now face an automatic £100 fine as security cameras are upgraded.

The improved cameras are able to spot vehicles ignoring the X and police could issue fines without having to spot drivers in the act, as was previously the case, the Manchester Evening News reported.

Nearly 100 smart highway cameras will be upgraded to automatically detect vehicles violating the Red X rules by September, National Highways said.

There will also be more signs indicating the distance to the nearest place to stop in the event of a mechanical problem or emergency.

According to National Highways, the camera upgrade should improve red X compliance and help ensure the safety of drivers and their passengers in trouble, or road workers and emergency services who need a safe place to work.

It is also on track to complete the rollout of radar-based technology, which can detect a stopped or stranded vehicle on over 200 miles of the All Lane Running (ALR) highway by the end of September 2022.

Smart highways with no shoulders were designed to free up space on busy roads, improve the flow of goods around the county, and ensure people get to their destinations as quickly and reliably as possible.

They are equipped with technologies and features not found on conventional highways such as: B. Emergency Areas (EAs) set back from the roadway, radar-based Stopped Vehicle Detection (SVD) and red X-signals on bridges to block active lanes.

According to National Highways, a new analysis released Thursday shows “smart highways are the safest roads in the strategic road network overall in terms of serious or fatal accidents.”

It also shows that the risk of a collision between moving vehicles on ALR and dynamic hard shoulder (DHS) highways – where the hard shoulder is only partially operated – is lower than on conventional highways.

Some drivers and other organizations have raised concerns about smart highways and specifically the risk of breakdowns in a live lane.

A very small fraction of total trips on any road results in lane failures, and National Highways said that’s the top driver concern for smart highways.

In January, the Department of Transportation halted development of new hard shoulder-less intelligent highways pending five years of collecting safety data for systems introduced before 2020.

This followed a report by the Transport Select Committee in November 2021, which said there was not enough information to justify proceeding with new projects.

Smart highways offer various methods to control traffic flow, including using the hard shoulder as an active lane and variable speed limits.

They were introduced in England in 2014 as a cheaper way to increase capacity compared to roadway widening.