Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current guidance is for disabled people should the vehicle they are driving break down on a smart motorway.
National Highways’ objective is for all road users, including disabled road users, to feel confident that they will have the help they need if they break down, or need assistance on England’s Strategic Road Network (SRN), including on smart motorways. It has produced a short film in partnership with Disabled Motoring UK: Driving on England’s motorways – a disabled driver's perspective - YouTube.
This is alongside the following guidance for road users in the event of a breakdown if they are unable to exit their vehicles:
Additionally, in September 2021, National Highways launched a partnership with Hidden Disabilities Sunflower to create a free Sunflower for their vehicle, as part of National Highways’ commitment to ensuring disabled road users travel safely on its roads. Displaying the Sunflower indicates that a road user has a non-visible disability and may need additional support from traffic officers and others. Displaying this means that the road user will get the help they need if they break down on the motorway.
It should also be noted that the Secretary of State has paused the rollout of future ALR smart motorway schemes until a full 5 years’ worth of safety data is available, and during the pause, we will continue to make sure all existing ALR smart motorways are equipped with best-in-class technology and resources and are as safe as they can possibly be.