Returning home from Manchester airport after dropping off my stepdaughter for her flight to America, we experienced a heart-stopping moment. My father-in-law was driving, I was in the front passenger seat, and my partner sat behind me. We noticed a vehicle in front of us had stopped with its hazards on. We slowed down and i tried to alert others with our hazard lights, but before we knew it, we were struck from behind two or three times, at a standstill. This terrifying experience could have been completely avoided if there had been a hard shoulder.

Hard shoulders are vital safety features on motorways. They serve as an emergency refuge for broken down vehicles and help prevent accidents by keeping the lanes clear for moving traffic. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, motorways with hard shoulders are statistically safer compared to those without, as evidenced by a reported increase in near-misses and fatal accidents on 'smart motorways' lacking these areas.

The removal of hard shoulders is a compromise on public safety. It endangers not only the drivers and passengers but also emergency response teams who require safe access to incident sites. These sections of the roadway provide the space necessary for essential emergency services to perform their duties without obstruction, ensuring swift response to and management of accidents. With no hard shoulder it took them longer to get to us, if my father-in-law had taken his blood thinners that morning, I dread to think what would of happened.

Reintroducing hard shoulders can avert potential tragedies and enhance overall motorway safety. Experts and road safety organizations advocate for the necessity of hard shoulders and stress the importance of reinstating these crucial safety features in all motorways across the country.

We urge the decision-makers to prioritize public safety by restoring hard shoulders on motorways. Lives depend on these vital safety measures and these smart motorways are far from smart. Please sign this petition to push for this essential change and help make our roads safer for everyone.