Safety measures on South Yorkshire's stretches of smart motorway to be fast-tracked

The rollout of new radar technology to make smart motorways safer will be fast-tracked.

It was due to be in place across the entire network by March 2023, but Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says it will instead be fully operational by the end of next year.

The system picks up if there's a stationary vehicle in any of the lanes as the roads have no hard shoulder.

Highways England figures show the Stopped Vehicle Detection (SVD) upgrade has so far only been installed on three sections, totalling 37 miles out of the 500-mile smart motorway network.

Mr Shapps told the Commons' Transport Select Committee that the work will be sped up after he "put pressure on" Highways England.

It comes after a coroner ruled, just last month, that a lack of hard shoulder on the M1 near Sheffield contributed to the deaths of two people in June 2019. One of the victims was Rotherham man Jason Mercer.

A lorry ploughed into him and Alexandru Murgeanu, while they were pulled up in the first lane after a minor bump.

Mr Urpeth said the primary cause of death was the careless driving of the lorry driver.

But, recording a conclusion of unlawful killing, Mr Urpeth said: "I find, as a finding of fact, it is clear a lack of hard shoulder contributed to this tragedy.''

• Smart Motorway
• sheffield
• m1
• South Yorkshire