But the Government has now suspended their further roll out due to worrying fatality figures and public safety fears. And debate remains about their use at all.

Radar technology should be used to spot broken down vehicles to help aid their speedy recovery and keep other road users safe.

He said: “Motorways historically are the safest roads in the country and that’s invariably because there’s somewhere for you to go if things go wrong, if your car breaks down or you have a collision.

"Obviously by removing that place of safety for road users, for me it’s a recipe for disaster because there’s nowhere for those people to go and with the way that cars are developing in terms of their electronics, how multi-functional they are, the level of distraction caused by not just cars themselves but mobile phones - there’s a real concern.”

The problem is being exacerbated by a lack of officers in cars on the road, Rik added.

He said: “I’m dealing with fatality where somebody has been on their mobile phone and just not seen a car that’s broken down.

"Because of the austerity cuts and the lack of roads police officers now, I think people think, and if you look at the enforcement figures, people think that it’s acceptable to be using your mobile phones. Clearly that’s not the case.

"But until we get more police officers and it becomes socially unacceptable to be using your mobile phone, or mobile phone industries put technology in where it recognises a vehicle’s on the move, you can’t use your phone, people will continue to do so.”

Phone use on the roads is “one of the biggest issues to road safety”, he added.