Smart motorways don't feel so 'smart' when dealing with incidents on them, Kent Police Federation has warned

31 January 2020

Kent Police Officers say they don’t feel safe when dealing with emergencies on so called Smart Motorways.

Smart stretches of the motorway network aim to keep traffic flowing by allowing motorists to use the hard shoulder as an extra lane.

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.

Kent Police Federation’s Road Policing Leads Aaron Esdale (left) and Stuart Mackenzie say they ‘hate’ dealing with emergency situations on Smart stretches of the motorway network.

“I don’t feel safe whilst working on them in an emergency situation,” Aaron said.

“Not having that refuge [of the hard shoulder] available takes away a massive layer of safety and security.

“There is also the difficulty in getting to incidents in the first place. It creates a level of confusion for members of the motoring public that, to me, is unacceptable.

“No matter how quick Highways England are at getting to incidents it literally only takes seconds for an incident to occur with a stationary vehicle in a live lane.”

Speaking at this week's PFEW Roads Policing Conference in Kenilworth the officers said the different standards of driving in the county and archaic legislation affecting police driving professionals remain major issues for roads policing in Kent.

“In Kent we have two very different types of road users across the county,” said Stuart.

“On the one hand we have local people, going about their everyday lives. On the other hand, we have a very transient population who use our roads daily, and in large numbers.

“It is our role to try to allow both sets of people to use and use our road network safely and legally. This becomes difficult due to the different standards of driving that we see with drivers from other countries and their level of understanding of our rules and laws.

“In addition to this we have to manage the vast number of HGVs moving to and from our extremely busy ports.”

The Federation also want to see a change in police driver legislation fast tracked. Currently police drivers can be prosecuted to the same level as members of the public despite their vastly superior training and expertise.

Aaron said; “The changes that are planned are good and are certainly in the right direction. It is disappointing how long it’s taken and shows the disregard that past Governments have had towards policing in the UK.

“It will be interesting to see how any new powers are implemented.”