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Smart motorway radars fail to spot broken down cars

Graeme Paton, Transport Correspondent
The Times
Stationary vehicles were sometimes missed because of blind spots or shadows
Stationary vehicles were sometimes missed because of blind spots or shadows
STEVE PARSONS/PA
Graeme Paton, Transport Correspondent
The Times

Ministers faced calls last night to suspend the smart motorways programme as it emerged that new safety technology installed to detect broken down cars may fail to spot at least one stranded vehicle in seven.

Trials of the much-hyped radar system showed that some vehicles were not picked up when stationary on the motorway because of “blind spots” and shadows caused by obstacles.

Highways England admitted that around 15 per cent of vehicles were not identified by the technology, which is now being installed on a new generation of smart motorways without a hard shoulder. A report published by the company said that low vehicles such as the Mazda MX5 sports car were a particularly “testing target” for the system.

An analysis by Highways Magazine