Liberal Democrat MP says West Midlands motorway pilot project is a grossly irresponsible action

1.04.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 13th Sep 2006

The hard shoulder of an 11-mile stretch of the M42 between junctions 3A and 7 is being opened to traffic to cut rush-hour congestion. This section includes Birmingham airport, the NEC and links between other routes such as the M6. The M42 is one of the most heavily congested motorways in the country. Sensors measure the volume of traffic and if it appears to be at risk of grinding to a halt the "active traffic management" system will come into operation, allowing cars to use the hard shoulder at a maximum speed of 50mph.

There are safety fears for drivers who break down and the greatest concern has been over breakdowns or collisions during heavy traffic. The Highways Agency has built "emergency refuge areas" every 500 metres but the first drivers using the M42 this morning as the scheme started say the refuge areas are too short making it difficult to rejoin moving traffic. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) remains to be convinced about using hard shoulders. ROSPA fears this could be a dangerous precedent giving road users the idea that it is permissible to use the hard shoulder when motorways are busy.

Liberal Democrat MP, Bob Russell, who has campaigned on road safety issues, uncovered the latest available statistics showing 33 people were killed in crashes on hard shoulders in 2002 and 2003. Mr Russell said "Hard shoulders have been provided on motorways as a place for broken down vehicles to stop in relative safety, but even so there have been deaths. I consider it grossly irresponsible for the Government to even experiment with using hard shoulders for moving traffic. They are putting people's lives at risk. Putting to one side the observation that the Government is not sure whether ten or 11 people were killed in 2003 in crashes on the hard shoulder, the stark fact is that a deliberate decision to use hard shoulders for moving traffic is not in the interests of road safety and is likely to increase - not decrease - the number of crashes, injuries and deaths. This is a grossly irresponsible action."